I can't believe 2009 is already coming to a close! It feels like yesterday we were all preparing for Y2K, right?? And it REALLY feels like it was yesterday when we got this incredibly sweet e-mail from my mother-in-law last New Year's Eve :
This has been a very good year! As we are ringing out 2008, I'm thinking about how special this year will always be because of Carter's birth! Think of how many times Carter will write "2008", or just "08" throughout his lifetime. He's the highlight of the whole year. He's sure a precious little guy, and we look forward to being with him and y'all next week. Happy New Year!
Love, Mom & Dad
I hope she doesn't mind that I shared that. It's one of those e-mails that I want to save.
I don't know that 2009 will hold the same precious memories for Jack as 2008 held for Carter. After all, his due date was TODAY (!!), and even though he came a tad earlier than anticipated (my induction date was scheduled for the 28th), I think his arrival is still sinking in. Instead, I think 2010 will get the honor of being 'Jack's year'. So with that in mind, I'm certainly looking forward to a great year and many many happy memories that are yet to be made. Including Jack's second 'first Christmas', since this year's shouldn't really count in my opinion :)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Imagination blossoms in Dallas
The weekend before Jack was born, Little C, Mom and myself hitched up the wagon for a trip to Dallas to visit my mom's parents and a few college girlfriends.
Our first stop was to see my friend Lindy who just had her (ADORABLE!) second little one in October. We had visited them back in August and her daughter Reese and Carter hit it off famously, so it took them no time at all to pick up where they left off playing like old friends. Carter at one point had a cup and spoon and was 'eating' out of the cup with the spoon...so cute to see him using his imagination. It was however not-so-cute when he freaked out at me holding Lindy's baby. I thought for sure it was a foretaste of what was to come when baby Jack arrived, but luckily it seems it was an isolated incident.
The rest of the time we mainly tried to visit with my mom's parents. This proved to be a challenge since it was a REALLY cold weekend - it was actually the weekend it snowed here in Houston, and mom practically drove through a blizzard to get from the south side of Houston to my house to meet up with us on Friday, and even though Dallas didn't have any snow, the temperature made it really difficult to spend any time out side. Visiting hours at the independent living facility where my grandparents live don't really float the munchkin's boat in the entertainment department and a park is usually our go-to activity to break things up, but was out of the quesiton this trip. So, desperate for a little kid-friendly activity, we hit up a local pet shop on our way back to the hotel on Saturday and let him play with a puppy for a little while. It was wonderful!! He had so much fun. The puppy they let us play with was a havanese (sp??), and it was this tiny little thing that I was sure my son was going to hurt, but the people that worked there assured me that it was a sweet breed and good with kids and that's why they chose it. It was great, it ran around like a wind up toy while my son shrieked with delight. Then when we got back to the hotel, Carter was crawling all over the place. my mom and I couldn't figure out why he was doing this since he hasn't crawled anywhere for the better part of the last 9 months. Finally he sat up and said "roof roof!" He was pretending he was a dog!! It was so cute. I've seen him pretend to do stuff, but it was the first time I'd ever seen him pretend to be something. It was such a neat milestone.
We had a great time and I even had the opportunity to sneak away Saturday night for a girl's dinner with Lindy and Jessica who recently turned the dirty 30. We had sushi, and wine and then closed down the starbucks catching up. The cherry on the sundae was the by-the-seat-of-our-pants win that Texas pulled out at the last second (literally!) to take the title of Big 12 champs and secure us a seat in the national championship!
Who could have guessed, that the very next weekend I would have Jack, but it was an awesome way to spend my last weekend sans an infant!
Our first stop was to see my friend Lindy who just had her (ADORABLE!) second little one in October. We had visited them back in August and her daughter Reese and Carter hit it off famously, so it took them no time at all to pick up where they left off playing like old friends. Carter at one point had a cup and spoon and was 'eating' out of the cup with the spoon...so cute to see him using his imagination. It was however not-so-cute when he freaked out at me holding Lindy's baby. I thought for sure it was a foretaste of what was to come when baby Jack arrived, but luckily it seems it was an isolated incident.
The rest of the time we mainly tried to visit with my mom's parents. This proved to be a challenge since it was a REALLY cold weekend - it was actually the weekend it snowed here in Houston, and mom practically drove through a blizzard to get from the south side of Houston to my house to meet up with us on Friday, and even though Dallas didn't have any snow, the temperature made it really difficult to spend any time out side. Visiting hours at the independent living facility where my grandparents live don't really float the munchkin's boat in the entertainment department and a park is usually our go-to activity to break things up, but was out of the quesiton this trip. So, desperate for a little kid-friendly activity, we hit up a local pet shop on our way back to the hotel on Saturday and let him play with a puppy for a little while. It was wonderful!! He had so much fun. The puppy they let us play with was a havanese (sp??), and it was this tiny little thing that I was sure my son was going to hurt, but the people that worked there assured me that it was a sweet breed and good with kids and that's why they chose it. It was great, it ran around like a wind up toy while my son shrieked with delight. Then when we got back to the hotel, Carter was crawling all over the place. my mom and I couldn't figure out why he was doing this since he hasn't crawled anywhere for the better part of the last 9 months. Finally he sat up and said "roof roof!" He was pretending he was a dog!! It was so cute. I've seen him pretend to do stuff, but it was the first time I'd ever seen him pretend to be something. It was such a neat milestone.
We had a great time and I even had the opportunity to sneak away Saturday night for a girl's dinner with Lindy and Jessica who recently turned the dirty 30. We had sushi, and wine and then closed down the starbucks catching up. The cherry on the sundae was the by-the-seat-of-our-pants win that Texas pulled out at the last second (literally!) to take the title of Big 12 champs and secure us a seat in the national championship!
Who could have guessed, that the very next weekend I would have Jack, but it was an awesome way to spend my last weekend sans an infant!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
The arrival of our newest addition has been one of many mixed feelings. I know I would have had a lot of these same feelings regardless of when/how Jack arrived, but I can't help but look at Carter and feel the tiniest sense of sadness that our time with just him was cut short. He was supposed to get three more weeks as our only child, the star of the show. And I was supposed to get three more weeks to adjust to the idea that I wouldn't forever be available to completely and utterly devote all my attention and love to one child.
Carter has been such a trooper with all the changes taking place around him, but we've definitely had a few difficult moments. The other day, he hauled off and hit me and a few hours later he bit me. I've read repeatedly that kids his age are overwhelmed by their emotions and, incapable of handling them, will take out their frustrations on a trusted care giver or loved one. I guess I should be flattered that he trusts me and feels safe enough to take out his frustrations on me, but it just made me cry. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for bringing this tiny newborn into his life and demanding that he adjust to it.
Don't get me wrong, I love Jack. I look at him and I'm overcome by a sense of care and devotion, but then I look at Carter and I'm reminded at how little I really know our new little addition. I KNOW Carter, though. Even though he's only 19 and 1/2 months, I know what his tastes are and I know what his personality is like and I know what his laugh sounds like and I know the sound of his voice. My love for Carter has grown exponentially since the day he was born, and as horrible as this sounds to admit, I often wonder when my love for Jack will catch up.
My mother gently reminds me that a time will come very soon when I can hardly remember the brief period in our lives when it was just the three of us, and while I know she means to comfort me with this notion, it makes me sad. It was such a beautiful and special time, I hate the idea that it is over, let alone that it might be forgotten. But when I think about how abundantly and dramatically more amazing our lives became the moment Carter entered them, I am reminded that they will be equally, if not more abundantly touched and enriched by Jack's precious life.
So once again, a chapter of our lives has ended. Our family of three is no more, but another exciting chapter has begun, and I can't wait to see what joys and challenges our family of four will bring.
Abundantly blessed.
The morning after the last post I made (elf yourself of all things!), our lives were changed forever. Our newest addition made an early showing (3 weeks early!) after a very scary series of events.
I was in a car accident Friday morning, December 11th, on my way to my 37 week OB appointment. I am embarrassed and ashamed to say I fell asleep at the wheel. Carter was with me and we were south bound on 288. I veered off the left side of the road and hit the barrels in front of a concrete column support of an overpass going approx 40-50 mph. After the initial impact, the car ricocheted back across all four lanes of the highway before hitting the concrete retaining wall on the opposite side of the highway where we finally came to a stop. We truly were being watched over by guardian angels. Any one of a million things could have happened in those split seconds to have made the outcome very different, but as it was Carter and I walked away without a scratch and no other vehicles were hit.
We were taken to Memorial Herman by EMS just as a precaution. Carter was immediately given the green light to go home, but because I was pregnant they wanted to admit me for observation since a potentially fatal complication can occur after an abdominal trauma called placental abruption. It is where the placenta separates from the uterus causing blood loss to baby, mom or both. While baby Jack appeared to be fine, the doctors all agreed that since he was 37 weeks, he needed to come on out.
They began the induction Friday evening around 6pm, and despite a slow start, baby Jack arrived safe and sound at 1am on 12/12/2009.
It turned out I had developed a mild abruption...about 15 percent of my placenta separated from my uterus, so I am very grateful that my doctors talked me into the induction because I was initially against it.
We have been so abundantly blessed throughout this process...I cannot begin to thank our friends and family enough for their prayers and support. We were fortunate to have my mom as well as Stephen's parents available the weekend of Jack's arrival to watch Carter and prepare our very messy house for our baby boy's homecoming. They even washed the bassinet and dug out all the baby clothes that were still in Tupperware bins and washed them so Jack would have something to wear when he arrived home!
Our homecoming was so special. My sister-in-law and her fiance were even able to come in town for the afternoon. We just have the most amazing family. Even the people that couldn't be there were so supportive and sent their love.
As hard as it was to let her take him, Mom took Carter home with her and we were blessed to have dinners brought over during our first week on our own so that we could just focus on feeding Jack since it was initially an around-the-clock job. As a sleeply late pre-term baby, it took him almost an hour and a half to eat in the beginning and he needed to be fed every 2 hours. Luckily, it's only taking him about 45 minutes to eat these days and the time between feedings has stretched closer and closer to the 3 hour mark (though we are not quite there yet).
I just can't begin to put into words how blessed our little family has been this holiday. Despite the circumstances, Jack's arrival was miraculous and the love and support of our family and friends has just been overwhelming.
Our love and thanks to all of you this holiday season and always,
The Childress Family
I was in a car accident Friday morning, December 11th, on my way to my 37 week OB appointment. I am embarrassed and ashamed to say I fell asleep at the wheel. Carter was with me and we were south bound on 288. I veered off the left side of the road and hit the barrels in front of a concrete column support of an overpass going approx 40-50 mph. After the initial impact, the car ricocheted back across all four lanes of the highway before hitting the concrete retaining wall on the opposite side of the highway where we finally came to a stop. We truly were being watched over by guardian angels. Any one of a million things could have happened in those split seconds to have made the outcome very different, but as it was Carter and I walked away without a scratch and no other vehicles were hit.
We were taken to Memorial Herman by EMS just as a precaution. Carter was immediately given the green light to go home, but because I was pregnant they wanted to admit me for observation since a potentially fatal complication can occur after an abdominal trauma called placental abruption. It is where the placenta separates from the uterus causing blood loss to baby, mom or both. While baby Jack appeared to be fine, the doctors all agreed that since he was 37 weeks, he needed to come on out.
They began the induction Friday evening around 6pm, and despite a slow start, baby Jack arrived safe and sound at 1am on 12/12/2009.
It turned out I had developed a mild abruption...about 15 percent of my placenta separated from my uterus, so I am very grateful that my doctors talked me into the induction because I was initially against it.
We have been so abundantly blessed throughout this process...I cannot begin to thank our friends and family enough for their prayers and support. We were fortunate to have my mom as well as Stephen's parents available the weekend of Jack's arrival to watch Carter and prepare our very messy house for our baby boy's homecoming. They even washed the bassinet and dug out all the baby clothes that were still in Tupperware bins and washed them so Jack would have something to wear when he arrived home!
Our homecoming was so special. My sister-in-law and her fiance were even able to come in town for the afternoon. We just have the most amazing family. Even the people that couldn't be there were so supportive and sent their love.
As hard as it was to let her take him, Mom took Carter home with her and we were blessed to have dinners brought over during our first week on our own so that we could just focus on feeding Jack since it was initially an around-the-clock job. As a sleeply late pre-term baby, it took him almost an hour and a half to eat in the beginning and he needed to be fed every 2 hours. Luckily, it's only taking him about 45 minutes to eat these days and the time between feedings has stretched closer and closer to the 3 hour mark (though we are not quite there yet).
I just can't begin to put into words how blessed our little family has been this holiday. Despite the circumstances, Jack's arrival was miraculous and the love and support of our family and friends has just been overwhelming.
Our love and thanks to all of you this holiday season and always,
The Childress Family
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Time Out
Carter had to go to time out for the first time last Monday at Mother's Day Out. He pushed another kiddo in his class. He's gotten very aggressive lately pushing and pulling on other kids that he feels have somehow invaded his space. He doesn't seem to be scared of pushing around kids twice his size either as I watched in disbelief while he shoved a 6 year old out of his way at Chick-fil-a the other day.
Little C also has started throwing things that are a no-no (e.g. anything 'hard or heavy'). While MOST of the times he gets in trouble, it's because he threw a toy out of frustration or defiance, but there are other times when he's just playing around. It's been a challenge to try to determine when/if a punishment is necessary because to a certain degree I know we've brought this on ourselves. Up until about a month ago, we would praise and encourage him when he would throw small balls and such, but his pitching practices started expanding to things like blocks and rocks, so we now are having to back-track and enforce a no throwing in the house rule, and a no throwing anything hard or heavy outside rule. I know it will be a good thing in the long run, because he can do quite a bit of damage even with a light weight ball, but it's just coming at a really difficult time.
The munchkin has also started down the road of undressing himself. Luckily he has not managed to get anything more than one arm out either through the bottom of his shirt, or one time through the neck (where it got stuck), but I have no doubt we will soon have a naked toddler running around. He's also gotten very good at taking his shoes and socks off, particularly when we are running late.
Of course all of this is just PERFECT timing with the arrival of a new baby around the corner. Lord beer me strength.
Little C also has started throwing things that are a no-no (e.g. anything 'hard or heavy'). While MOST of the times he gets in trouble, it's because he threw a toy out of frustration or defiance, but there are other times when he's just playing around. It's been a challenge to try to determine when/if a punishment is necessary because to a certain degree I know we've brought this on ourselves. Up until about a month ago, we would praise and encourage him when he would throw small balls and such, but his pitching practices started expanding to things like blocks and rocks, so we now are having to back-track and enforce a no throwing in the house rule, and a no throwing anything hard or heavy outside rule. I know it will be a good thing in the long run, because he can do quite a bit of damage even with a light weight ball, but it's just coming at a really difficult time.
The munchkin has also started down the road of undressing himself. Luckily he has not managed to get anything more than one arm out either through the bottom of his shirt, or one time through the neck (where it got stuck), but I have no doubt we will soon have a naked toddler running around. He's also gotten very good at taking his shoes and socks off, particularly when we are running late.
Of course all of this is just PERFECT timing with the arrival of a new baby around the corner. Lord beer me strength.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
18 mos, pics, trip to Austin and wordpalooza
Carter turned 18 months old this past Wednesday and to celebrate we took some photos and a trip to Austin. The photo session coincided nicely with the fact that I am now HUGE so in actuality it was a maternity session, but I couldn't help but schedule it on the munchkin's 1.5 year birthday in order to kill two birds with one stone. Mackenzie Wheatley of chubby foot photography once again did a great job, and we braved mosquitoes and some chilly morning weather to get these among other cute shots.
As soon as we wrapped the photo shoot, Carter and I headed off to Austin to see Mr. C's grandparents. The visit was brief, but well worth the trip. Unfortunately the munchkin had been fighting off something that came to a head Thursday morning and our trip was cut short just before we got to see our favorite Aunt Bethany :(.
Despite the seemingly constant run of little viral bugs the munchkin has been fighting off this fall, his talking has really taken off. His vocabulary is quite expansive these days, considering just one month ago I couldn't even imagine him hitting the '10 words with meaning' milestone most 18 month olds hit. I figured I had to get a list together now, before I forgot and before the list gets so big I can't think of all of his words (which it may already be too late for that, since it took both Stephen and I a good hour to come up with this list which we were still adding to as I typed it up!).
Carter's words at 18 months (and his pronunciation)
Cheese
Please (pees)
Pray (pay)
Amen (uh-men)
Cat/Kitty (ca/kee-kee)
Daddy (sadly still no mommy!)
Baby
Water (wa)
Milk (ma)
Banana (ba...long pause...na-na or just na-na)
Cookie (coo....long pause...key)
Eat (ee)
Food (foo)
Bath (ba)
Bottle (Ba-ba)
Teeth (tee)
Tree (tee)
Stick (tik)
Park (pa)
Play (pay)
More (mo)
Video (bee)
TV (tee bee)
Texas (exshas)
Night night (nigh-nigh)
There (dare)
Light (yite)
No (nah nah nah nah said while vigorously shaking his head 'no')
Paci (pa)
Moon (moo)
Car (ca)
Blue (boo)
Cow (ca)
Keys (tchees)
Bye-bye (buh-bye)
Poop
All done/all gone (gon-ga)
Apple (appa)
Happy (appy)
Cold (co)
Ball (ba)
Kick (kik)
Kix, as in the cereal (kik)
Sit (tschit)
Outside (oushide)
Shoe (schoo)
Balloon (boon)
Cup
Hat (ha)
Bib (beebp)
He's also gotten very good with sounds like "beep-beep, moo, woof, meow, etc." and with repeating the sounds of letters when we're playing with the alphabet magnets, tub toys, books, etc, but he can't really identify them yet.
As soon as we wrapped the photo shoot, Carter and I headed off to Austin to see Mr. C's grandparents. The visit was brief, but well worth the trip. Unfortunately the munchkin had been fighting off something that came to a head Thursday morning and our trip was cut short just before we got to see our favorite Aunt Bethany :(.
Despite the seemingly constant run of little viral bugs the munchkin has been fighting off this fall, his talking has really taken off. His vocabulary is quite expansive these days, considering just one month ago I couldn't even imagine him hitting the '10 words with meaning' milestone most 18 month olds hit. I figured I had to get a list together now, before I forgot and before the list gets so big I can't think of all of his words (which it may already be too late for that, since it took both Stephen and I a good hour to come up with this list which we were still adding to as I typed it up!).
Carter's words at 18 months (and his pronunciation)
Cheese
Please (pees)
Pray (pay)
Amen (uh-men)
Cat/Kitty (ca/kee-kee)
Daddy (sadly still no mommy!)
Baby
Water (wa)
Milk (ma)
Banana (ba...long pause...na-na or just na-na)
Cookie (coo....long pause...key)
Eat (ee)
Food (foo)
Bath (ba)
Bottle (Ba-ba)
Teeth (tee)
Tree (tee)
Stick (tik)
Park (pa)
Play (pay)
More (mo)
Video (bee)
TV (tee bee)
Texas (exshas)
Night night (nigh-nigh)
There (dare)
Light (yite)
No (nah nah nah nah said while vigorously shaking his head 'no')
Paci (pa)
Moon (moo)
Car (ca)
Blue (boo)
Cow (ca)
Keys (tchees)
Bye-bye (buh-bye)
Poop
All done/all gone (gon-ga)
Apple (appa)
Happy (appy)
Cold (co)
Ball (ba)
Kick (kik)
Kix, as in the cereal (kik)
Sit (tschit)
Outside (oushide)
Shoe (schoo)
Balloon (boon)
Cup
Hat (ha)
Bib (beebp)
He's also gotten very good with sounds like "beep-beep, moo, woof, meow, etc." and with repeating the sounds of letters when we're playing with the alphabet magnets, tub toys, books, etc, but he can't really identify them yet.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sweet reminder
Since Carter started eating solids, we've always tried to make a table prayer part of our meal time routines. Doesn't always happen and when it does, it's usually about halfway through his meal since we tend to get him going while I finish getting the food on the table. But, all that aside, the munchkin has definitely picked up on the praying, and we had a really memorable moment the other day.
We were all having lunch together, and as usual he was well into his meal by the time Mr. C and I sat down with our food. Once we were all seated, Carter stopped eating and looked at us with hands folded and said, "pay??". We both (mid-bite) realized we hadn't said our table prayer yet, so we put our forks down to pray and when we were finished, Little C enthusiastically echoed us with a cheerful, "uh-men!" before returning to his lunch.
I know he does not fully grasp the concept of our table prayer just yet, but it was so sweet to be reminded by our toddler to say our prayers. :)
We were all having lunch together, and as usual he was well into his meal by the time Mr. C and I sat down with our food. Once we were all seated, Carter stopped eating and looked at us with hands folded and said, "pay??". We both (mid-bite) realized we hadn't said our table prayer yet, so we put our forks down to pray and when we were finished, Little C enthusiastically echoed us with a cheerful, "uh-men!" before returning to his lunch.
I know he does not fully grasp the concept of our table prayer just yet, but it was so sweet to be reminded by our toddler to say our prayers. :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Cream Cheese and Crecent Roll Dessert
Took this to a breakfast meeting I helped host and it was so good I may or may not have eaten almost half the pan over a period of two days. Definitely serve it with a STRONG cup of coffee though because it's super sweet and super rich.- 2 cans original crescent rolls
- 2 (8 oz.) cream cheese (softened)
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 lg egg (separated)
- 1 c. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 c. chopped pecans
Alternate recipe:
- Eliminate egg
- Add 1 stick butter (melted)
- Swap 1/2 c. granulated sugar for 1 c. brown sugar
- Eliminate nuts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Trick or treat!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Look who's talking!
All of a sudden Little C has decided he wants to use words to communicate! I know, I know...I've posted similar announcements in the past, but the brief phenomenons never lasted and the talking was never consistent enough to make me feel like my child could 'talk'. Even now, he's much more of a repeater than an initiator when it comes to talking. He'll point, and then when Mr. C or I say what he's pointing at he'll repeat it (or repeat the first syllable). 'Co' for 'cold', 'ma' for milk', etc. As a result many of his monosyllable words have multiple meanings. For instance, 'ba' means bottle or bath or bottle or even bye depending on the scenario. 'Chee' means the dairy product or the camera (because we always tell him to 'say cheese' when we pull out the camera). 'Tee' means teeth, the letter T, or a tree. And the list goes on, but oddly enough, the one syllable word we have been dreading the most has yet to pop up in his limited vocabulary. That would of course be the word 'no'! :) He's gotten quite good at shaking his head, though, so I don't know how much longer we'll be able to dodge that bullet. Still, it's so nice to know he can actually speak! I'm sure in a year or two I will be begging him for some quiet time, but for now I am reveling every little word crumb he throws our way :)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Just a spoon full of sugar
Little C has been fighting off the crud for what seems like forever now. He is supposed to take a decongestant twice a day to keep all this crud from turning into a sinus infection, but he has absolutely developed a black belt in medicine refusal. It takes both of us holding him down and sometimes holding his nose to get him to open his mouth. Once we get the medicine IN his mouth, it usually gets spit back in our face.
Tonight however, we discovered the power of candy-bribery. I had a dum-dum in my mouth during all this hooplah (hard candies help when I'm feeling nauseous), and when I took it out to avoid getting impaled by the stick as he was squirming he opened his mouth REALLY wide wanting the sucker. We seized the opportunity and squirted in the medicine then immediately followed it with the sucker. It took two seconds to get him to take a syringe full of medicine without spilling so much as a drop! I couldn't believe it. He cried when we took the sucker away, but we let him suck on it long enough he definitely (hopefully) has figured out there is a reward to taking his medicine. And yes, I will be stocking up on dum-dums for as long as we have to force him to take this medicine.
So, add this to list of things I swore I would never do as a mom - bribing my kid with candy to get him to take medicine!
Tonight however, we discovered the power of candy-bribery. I had a dum-dum in my mouth during all this hooplah (hard candies help when I'm feeling nauseous), and when I took it out to avoid getting impaled by the stick as he was squirming he opened his mouth REALLY wide wanting the sucker. We seized the opportunity and squirted in the medicine then immediately followed it with the sucker. It took two seconds to get him to take a syringe full of medicine without spilling so much as a drop! I couldn't believe it. He cried when we took the sucker away, but we let him suck on it long enough he definitely (hopefully) has figured out there is a reward to taking his medicine. And yes, I will be stocking up on dum-dums for as long as we have to force him to take this medicine.
So, add this to list of things I swore I would never do as a mom - bribing my kid with candy to get him to take medicine!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Don't want to forget...
Little C has been achieving all sorts of seemingly small accomplishments, but when I think of them all together, it's pretty impressive. Well, at least to his momma :) So I wanted to list them down so I wouldn't forget.
At 17 months, he can:
Ok, those last three aren't accomplishments so-to-speak, but I wanted to remember them :)
At 17 months, he can:
- Eat with a spoon, although it's still a messy process (still working on forks)
- Eat off a plate (until he's done and starts playing)
- Eat at the table in a big chair (likes to do this for his snack-time)
- Drink from a sippy cup and out of a straw and out of a regular cup (in the bath tub)
- Spin
- Stand on one foot
- Flash-dance (we'll say 'do the feet!', and he marches in place as fast as he can like the move from flash-dance)
- Name his belly-button, tummy, nose, eyes, mouth, ears, head, hair, and feet/toes.
- Ride the parachute at gymboree AND wait his turn for his gymbo stamps (this is huge, we've been going to gymboree for over three months and this just started happening last week).
- Sign, 'more', 'all-done', 'please', 'apple', 'milk', 'drink' and is very good at pointing to what he wants and vigorously shaking his head 'no' when he doesn't want something.
- Say 'kitty', 'outside', 'gone-gone' and 'bye-bye' with moderate consistency.
- Say 'mommy', 'daddy', 'pretty' and 'hi' on rare occasions.
- Make the elephant noise (with arm movement), monkey noise and 'meow' for cat noise.
- Crawl up on the couch/chairs/ottomans by himself
- Move a chair over to the counter and crawl up on it to see what I'm doing when I'm working in the kitchen
- Climb up and down stairs by himself (if thw steps are small enough he can come down the steps without eveing having to sit down to scoot)
- Climb up and down ladders (with a spotter)
- Go all over the playground equipment and down the slide at the park by himself (have to REALLY watch him to keep him from trying to go off the side of the tall equipment like the big kids, though).
- Bring me his shoes/socks/a certain toy when asked
- Finger paint and scribble with crayons and markers
- Knows how his shoes and socks go on his feet and tries to put them on himself (he still needs a little help, though).
- Can 'brush' his hair and 'brush' his teeth (needs help to actually do these things, but he likes to do it himself, when we're done).
- Can put blocks into a square hole, we're still working on simples puzzles and shape sorters, though.
- Can take lids off and put lids on tupperware containers
- Can stack the rings on the ring stacking toy (not necessarily in the right order, though)
- Can 'blow' on things, like food that is too hot, and can blow into a whistle
- Loves to crawl on Stephen's back for pony-rides
- Knows what it means to 'scrubby-scrub our hands' and can wash his own hands as long as I turn the water on for him and give him a little soap because he can't reach those things.
- Knows what it means to 'shut the door' and can help me shut the fridge, shut the door, shut the dishwasher, etc.
- LOVES dogs
- Reacts VERY badly to mosquito bites
- Is possibly allergic to our cats, and definitely seems to have seasonal allergies.
Ok, those last three aren't accomplishments so-to-speak, but I wanted to remember them :)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Stick 'em up.
Stickers stickers stickers. Little C is obsessed with them these days. His favorite place to put them? On his belly button, which he just recently discovered. He's also just recently discovered other people have belly buttons, so don't be surprised if the next time you see him he tries to lift up your shirt to see if you have one too.
The best trips are the ones you don't plan.
So a few weeks back we had a rather eventful Friday for our quiet little group. A water main in our area broke early that morning and we woke up without water. We did alright for the day, but as the sun set and the water company couldn't give us an estimated time of repair completion, we decided to head to Mr. C's parent's for an impromptu visit.
With the car packed and the munchkin loaded, I grabbed a pacifier for the car trip and out of shear habit turned on the faucet to rinse it off. Lo and behold, the water was back on, but by then, we decided we were headed to Victoria anyway.
I had a million things I had wanted to get done that weekend, and with our free weekends between now and the baby's arrival quickly diminishing, it was more than a little frustrating to feel like we were giving one up, but as it turned out we didn't give anything up at all. We had a fantastic weekend; Mr. C got to watch the Texas football game with his dad instead of here by himself, Little C had a great visit with his Grammy and Grandpa, and I actually got to sleep in on Saturday! With another opportunity for a visit the Mr. C's family several months out, it was, without a doubt, the best possible way we could have spent the weekend.
The most amazing part of the weekend was that it turned out to be a family friend's last weekend as the pastor of Mr. C's childhood church in Victoria. Pastor Bill is in failing health, and so the service was more than just a celebration of his career at that church, it was really a celebration of his entire career and of his life in general. I don't personally know him well, but on the Sundays we have visited over the past few years, he's given some very memorable sermons. I know he's meant a lot to Mr. C's family and to Mr. C and it was a very emotional service to say the least. Mr. C got to take Little C up for the last children's sermon Pastor Bill did and I'm so glad that we were able to be a part of that service and join so many other in saying goodbye to this amazing man.
On our way back home that weekend, Mr. C and I couldn't help but look back at the way things played out and wonder if God didn't have just a little bit to do with our last minute trip. Maybe He's trying to show me that the most rewarding and worth-while adventures in life are the ones you don't plan for :)
With the car packed and the munchkin loaded, I grabbed a pacifier for the car trip and out of shear habit turned on the faucet to rinse it off. Lo and behold, the water was back on, but by then, we decided we were headed to Victoria anyway.
I had a million things I had wanted to get done that weekend, and with our free weekends between now and the baby's arrival quickly diminishing, it was more than a little frustrating to feel like we were giving one up, but as it turned out we didn't give anything up at all. We had a fantastic weekend; Mr. C got to watch the Texas football game with his dad instead of here by himself, Little C had a great visit with his Grammy and Grandpa, and I actually got to sleep in on Saturday! With another opportunity for a visit the Mr. C's family several months out, it was, without a doubt, the best possible way we could have spent the weekend.
The most amazing part of the weekend was that it turned out to be a family friend's last weekend as the pastor of Mr. C's childhood church in Victoria. Pastor Bill is in failing health, and so the service was more than just a celebration of his career at that church, it was really a celebration of his entire career and of his life in general. I don't personally know him well, but on the Sundays we have visited over the past few years, he's given some very memorable sermons. I know he's meant a lot to Mr. C's family and to Mr. C and it was a very emotional service to say the least. Mr. C got to take Little C up for the last children's sermon Pastor Bill did and I'm so glad that we were able to be a part of that service and join so many other in saying goodbye to this amazing man.
On our way back home that weekend, Mr. C and I couldn't help but look back at the way things played out and wonder if God didn't have just a little bit to do with our last minute trip. Maybe He's trying to show me that the most rewarding and worth-while adventures in life are the ones you don't plan for :)
MOPS
My sister-in-law turned me on to MOPS (Mothers of preschoolers), and I just have had nothing but good things come from my involvement in this organization. It's an amazing ministry that is designed specifically to support and nurture moms. There are MOPS groups all over the world, and if you are a mom-to-be, new mom, old mom, stay-at-home mom, work-at-home mom, or any kind of mom, and looking for a group of women to connect with, you can learn more at http://www.mops.org/.If you happen to live in or near Northwest Houston, check out http://www.trinitymops.org/!! We have only just begun the year, and still have room for more moms - we'd love to meet you and so come check us out! ;)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Trip to SA and 1st day of Mother's Day Out.
Last month took a weekend trip to San Antonio to celebrate my cousin Casey's wedding. So happy for him and his new wife Kristina! It was a quick trip, but the wedding was wonderful and we managed to get in a good visit with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their two adorable girls who graciously put our motley crew up for the weekend and provided child care while we enjoyed the reception sans Little C. I think we only left a quarter of our belongings behind which is a far cry better that what normally gets left in our wake.
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While he was in 'school' I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, just little errands and some light housework....I kept looking at the clock, eager to pick him up!! I'm glad we are starting him in the program now, since I know these days will be like gold when the new addition arrives, but it's still a hard adjustment. One of the biggest hurdles is having to take him down to one-nap-a-day a little earlier than I would like, but it makes the most sense in order to keep his schedule consistent. I tried to take some pictures that morning, but we were running a little late and my camera flash was acting up, and this is the best I could do. I'll have to take more some other Monday and we'll just pretend it's his 'first day' :)
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Sorry, no pics for the next few posts...we have our eyes on a new computer, but in an attempt to be good fiscally responsible people, we are holding off on the purchase for another month or so, and until then, I'm on Mr. C's work laptop which they apparently frown upon employees uploading tons of memory space worth of photos to. So, until the new computer arrives, you'll just have to use your imagination as to how adorable the munchkin is and how incredibly exciting all of these little adventures are :)
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After church we headed over to my cousin Sarah's house for a fun wedding/birthday celebration lunch. We had the opportunity to catch up with all sorts of family we hadn't seen in ages and of course show the little guy off. I don't' know how she fit us all 45 of us in her house and backyard, but she did it and we had a blast!!
We made it home Sunday just in time to start getting geared up for Carter's first day at Mother's Day Out the next day. According to the slip that came home with him, "he ate all of his lunch" (the teacher recommended I pack more next time...go figure, he never eats that well for me!), "he only cried for 10 minutes when first dropped off" (all 10 of which, I was standing outside the door crying myself), and "he loves playing in the kitchen" (maybe we have a budding chef on our hands, wouldn't that be nice!!).
We made it home Sunday just in time to start getting geared up for Carter's first day at Mother's Day Out the next day. According to the slip that came home with him, "he ate all of his lunch" (the teacher recommended I pack more next time...go figure, he never eats that well for me!), "he only cried for 10 minutes when first dropped off" (all 10 of which, I was standing outside the door crying myself), and "he loves playing in the kitchen" (maybe we have a budding chef on our hands, wouldn't that be nice!!).
He did not take a nap, and even though the teacher assured me that was pretty normal when they are not used to a nap-mat setting, it meant I picked up a SUPER cranky and over-tired child and the rest of the day was kind of a bear. I've started putting his nap mat in his crib so he'll associate it with sleeping - lets keep our fingers crossed he gets a little more sleep next Monday!
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Sorry, no pics for the next few posts...we have our eyes on a new computer, but in an attempt to be good fiscally responsible people, we are holding off on the purchase for another month or so, and until then, I'm on Mr. C's work laptop which they apparently frown upon employees uploading tons of memory space worth of photos to. So, until the new computer arrives, you'll just have to use your imagination as to how adorable the munchkin is and how incredibly exciting all of these little adventures are :)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Radio Silence
I am oh-so-many blog posts behind...let's see, we did our first day of Mother's Day out (and our second), the first MOPS meeting of the year, a trip to San Antonio for my cousin's wedding and a trip to Victoria, but alas, our computer crashed last Sunday and my e-mailing/facebooking/blogging has been subject to the limited capabilities of my now-dead itouch. I need to charge it, but considering we charge all of our igadgets on the afore mentioned computer (may it rest in peace), even my e-mailing and facebooking has been sorely neglected this week.
I know you all stalk my blog for updates, and are crying over the lack of new material, but I really do promise to post several updates when we are back up and running; mainly because this blog is my excuse for not doing a scrapbook or even a decent photo album for our life post-children, and I do plan to print out all my posts someday and have them bound for our enjoyment/amusement, not because I actually think my loyal fans are truly losing sleep at night ;).
Oh, and in case you are curious, our computer is not the only appliance around our house that decided to kick the bucket recently. Our vacuum is busted, the dryer is acting up, the dishwasher is on the fritz, and the spray faucet in the kitchen sink broke. The last two problems, I'm convinced, are a direct result of the fact that we have incredibly hard water and no water softening system, which we always questioned whether we could afford, and are subsequently questioning if we can afford to put it off any longer. And, as if that were not enough, we had a user-related problem with our frige (I though I was making it colder, but apparently I made it warmer) and had to throw out over $150 worth of groceries. So if you are keeping track, that's about a gillion dollars worth of stuff we are sorting though on top of the impending expenses of adding a new child to our home. Jeez, when it rains it pours.
Ok, I'm done with my pity party and putting my big girl pants back on now, but thanks for listening - have a great weekend!
I know you all stalk my blog for updates, and are crying over the lack of new material, but I really do promise to post several updates when we are back up and running; mainly because this blog is my excuse for not doing a scrapbook or even a decent photo album for our life post-children, and I do plan to print out all my posts someday and have them bound for our enjoyment/amusement, not because I actually think my loyal fans are truly losing sleep at night ;).
Oh, and in case you are curious, our computer is not the only appliance around our house that decided to kick the bucket recently. Our vacuum is busted, the dryer is acting up, the dishwasher is on the fritz, and the spray faucet in the kitchen sink broke. The last two problems, I'm convinced, are a direct result of the fact that we have incredibly hard water and no water softening system, which we always questioned whether we could afford, and are subsequently questioning if we can afford to put it off any longer. And, as if that were not enough, we had a user-related problem with our frige (I though I was making it colder, but apparently I made it warmer) and had to throw out over $150 worth of groceries. So if you are keeping track, that's about a gillion dollars worth of stuff we are sorting though on top of the impending expenses of adding a new child to our home. Jeez, when it rains it pours.
Ok, I'm done with my pity party and putting my big girl pants back on now, but thanks for listening - have a great weekend!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Lactation Cookies
These are supposed to help nursing mom's with their supply...I made them for a nursing mom I'm taking dinner to tonight, and thought I'd post the recipe for anyone interested. Even when I'm not nursing, I like to make them as a healthier alternative to reg choc chip cookies - they are really tasty and for the record Mr. C loves them too! :)
I would eat at least 4 a day while I was nursing...for medicinal purposes of course :)
- 8 Tbs water
- 4 Tbs flax seed meal (no subs)
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 lg eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 Tbs brewers yeast (no subs - can be found at HEB in the those bins near the health food stuff)
- 3 cups thick cut oats (not instant/quick cook)
- 1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer dark choc and use the Ghiradelli 60% choc chips...I also tend to use closer to 1 and 1/2 cups, but since a lot of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, in mom's diet can sometimes upset a newborn baby's tummy, I recommend milk choc chips if you are making these for a new mom :)
I would eat at least 4 a day while I was nursing...for medicinal purposes of course :)
Monday, September 7, 2009
Labor Day Weekend Getaway to Fredericksburg
Our Texas road trip started with a trip to Ikea (hey, this is Houston...just because a store is also in 'Houston' doesn't make it close by!), then it was off to Fredericksburg, TX. We rolled in just in time to check into the Camp David B&B, scope a few shops and clean up for dinner at the Navajo Grill (excellent food, but service was a miss. In fact, had we not gotten our dinner for free, I wouldn't even be mentioning them here).
Next morning we got up not-so-bright-and-early for the late service at Bethany Lutheran church (totally thought of you Bethany! :). Then we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Peach Tree Tea Room, and then...lots of shopping of course! We shopped til we dropped with a brief break at the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe for this decadent mexican chocolate cake thing that was so rich Mr. C and I couldn't finish it, though we tried. Our shopping excursion ended a little early when a big rain store blew through. I normally would have been put out, but they needed rain so badly, I figured the storm was a blessing for the the area as well as our checking account, so we headed back to the B&B for a nap (yes a NAP!) and then to clean up for our second delicious dinner at the Cabernet Grill (formerly the Cotton Gin Restaurant).
Today we got up (again, not-so-bright-and-early :) and hiked Enchanted Rock. Then it was time to go home, but first we made a quick stop at the Pottery Barn outlet store in San Marcos to look at couches and rugs. No luck at PB, but we did get some good stuff for Mr. C at the J Crew Outlet across the parking lot! :)
Our next vacation sans kids will probably be in the the year 2011, if we are lucky, so with that in mind Mr. C and I just tried to enjoy each moment to the best of our ability, not inhale our food (though that's almost become second nature), and do little stuff we don't normally get to. I took time to fix my hair and make-up every single morning, and I took a bath every night. Naps and sleeping-in were a must, and we even took as few highways as possible opting for Farm-to-markets and Ranch Roads to enjoy the scenery and 'just because we could'. All-in-all, a great babymoon! :)
Peach Tree Tea Room
Rather Sweet and the wonderful chocolate thing that defeated us
Pioneer Park
Cabernet Grill
Enchanted Rock
Next morning we got up not-so-bright-and-early for the late service at Bethany Lutheran church (totally thought of you Bethany! :). Then we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Peach Tree Tea Room, and then...lots of shopping of course! We shopped til we dropped with a brief break at the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe for this decadent mexican chocolate cake thing that was so rich Mr. C and I couldn't finish it, though we tried. Our shopping excursion ended a little early when a big rain store blew through. I normally would have been put out, but they needed rain so badly, I figured the storm was a blessing for the the area as well as our checking account, so we headed back to the B&B for a nap (yes a NAP!) and then to clean up for our second delicious dinner at the Cabernet Grill (formerly the Cotton Gin Restaurant).
Today we got up (again, not-so-bright-and-early :) and hiked Enchanted Rock. Then it was time to go home, but first we made a quick stop at the Pottery Barn outlet store in San Marcos to look at couches and rugs. No luck at PB, but we did get some good stuff for Mr. C at the J Crew Outlet across the parking lot! :)
Our next vacation sans kids will probably be in the the year 2011, if we are lucky, so with that in mind Mr. C and I just tried to enjoy each moment to the best of our ability, not inhale our food (though that's almost become second nature), and do little stuff we don't normally get to. I took time to fix my hair and make-up every single morning, and I took a bath every night. Naps and sleeping-in were a must, and we even took as few highways as possible opting for Farm-to-markets and Ranch Roads to enjoy the scenery and 'just because we could'. All-in-all, a great babymoon! :)
Peach Tree Tea Room
Rather Sweet and the wonderful chocolate thing that defeated us
Pioneer Park
Cabernet Grill
Enchanted Rock
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Ok, I have to brag just a little bit :)
This morning we made it in and out of Ikea in less than an hour and found/saw everything we needed to.
This afternoon we bought our first original painting from an actual art gallery - I feel so grown up! It's not a big painting, and it wasn't expensive at all, but it's an original one-of-a-kind and I love it. I feel like I found a little treasure and I can't wait to find the perfect place to hang it in our home.
Then, this evening we enjoyed a delicious and expensive meal completely free of charge. Granted we had to put up with some pretty terrible service, but when we asked to speak with the manager, we were expecting our dessert and/or drinks to be gratis, not the whole meal!! I started to argue and you should have seen the look I got from Mr. C (the most frugal person on the planet). Needless to say, we ultimately took the offer and high tailed it out before they could change their mind!
All in all, the first day of our babymoon/belated anniversary/birthday trip to Fredricksburg has been wonderful! Only hiccup is that Little C has a bit of a tummy bug. He's in the wonderful and capable hands of my mother, though, and she's been sending me hourly updates via text on his food intake and bowel movements. I can't even begin to tell you how much more I love my mom for being 'that grandma' this weekend.
This afternoon we bought our first original painting from an actual art gallery - I feel so grown up! It's not a big painting, and it wasn't expensive at all, but it's an original one-of-a-kind and I love it. I feel like I found a little treasure and I can't wait to find the perfect place to hang it in our home.
Then, this evening we enjoyed a delicious and expensive meal completely free of charge. Granted we had to put up with some pretty terrible service, but when we asked to speak with the manager, we were expecting our dessert and/or drinks to be gratis, not the whole meal!! I started to argue and you should have seen the look I got from Mr. C (the most frugal person on the planet). Needless to say, we ultimately took the offer and high tailed it out before they could change their mind!
All in all, the first day of our babymoon/belated anniversary/birthday trip to Fredricksburg has been wonderful! Only hiccup is that Little C has a bit of a tummy bug. He's in the wonderful and capable hands of my mother, though, and she's been sending me hourly updates via text on his food intake and bowel movements. I can't even begin to tell you how much more I love my mom for being 'that grandma' this weekend.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Sick day
Earlier this month Little C went through a rough spell - he was dealing with allergies and cutting some teeth. I always had heard some kids had a hard time with their molars, but I was not expecting it to be this rough. He was up screaming from 10pm til 4am the night before this picture. It was so scary, we didn't know what was going on! Luckily a trip to the doctor and dentist confirmed it was just teething, but he looked so pitiful. Poor little guy :(
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Mr. Self-sufficient
I know it's a source of great pride for a toddler to feed themselves, but it can be SO messy! I'm having to take baby steps, but I'm getting there :)
Little boxes of raisins are a big hit. He loves digging them out one at a time with his two little pincher fingers plus they kind of stick together in the box and aren't quite as bad about dumping out everywhere as crackers or cookies.
Also, we learned a GENIUS trick with the baby yogurt while visiting the adorable Reese and her mommy and daddy in Dallas. Shake up the yogurt, pop a hole in the top, add a straw and viola! Instant solution to an otherwise messy food!! It was so cute to watch Little C and his friend Reese sitting side by side in their high chairs sucking down their yo baby yogurt.
Here's to hoping simple things like getting his own yogurt or box of raisins will always make him this happy!
Little boxes of raisins are a big hit. He loves digging them out one at a time with his two little pincher fingers plus they kind of stick together in the box and aren't quite as bad about dumping out everywhere as crackers or cookies.
Also, we learned a GENIUS trick with the baby yogurt while visiting the adorable Reese and her mommy and daddy in Dallas. Shake up the yogurt, pop a hole in the top, add a straw and viola! Instant solution to an otherwise messy food!! It was so cute to watch Little C and his friend Reese sitting side by side in their high chairs sucking down their yo baby yogurt.
Here's to hoping simple things like getting his own yogurt or box of raisins will always make him this happy!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
These boots are made for walking
Little C finally fits in his first pair of cowboy boots :) They are a little big, and very stiff...not sure how a toddler is supposed to break in new boots, but they definitely need some wearing before they will be easy for him to walk in. And I promise he doesn't hate them as much as it seems...he just really wanted to hold the camera and we were having to restrain him to get a picture.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tour de Family and Friends
While our hardwood was being installed, Little C and I took the opportunity to visit some friends and family we hadn't seem in a while. We drove up to Little Rock, AR with a stop in Dallas on the way there and back to break up the trip.
We first stopped to visit Little C's friend Reese. Reese's mommy and Daddy just moved (back) to Dallas and into the cutest house you've ever seen. They are expecting their second and both sets of our kids will be 20 months apart! (both of their two will be three months older). We had so much fun visiting with them, and these two kiddos were crazy playing with each other. We had to cut them off at night because they'd get each other so worked up before bed. It was so fun/funny to watch them interact!
Then it was off to Little Rock to visit my aunt and uncle. We also got to catch up with my cousin, her husband and their two adorable dogs (well, one of the puppies actually belongs to my aunt, but there is definitely some shared custody going on :) Little C had so much fun with the puppies, but the littlest of the two wasn't feeling very good while we were there. We hope Gretta feels better!!
Back in Dallas, we got in a quick visit with my other aunt and uncle and her two sons. We also got a chance to visit my Grandparents on our last afternoon in Dallas. Little C was pretty fed up with travelling at that point, so the visit was brief, but it was so good to see everyone!
I took pitifully few pictures, but here are some highlights.
Playing on the keyboard with Reese in Dallas
The prettiest sunset I've ever seen just outside of Dallas
Are we there yet?? :(
Playing peekaboo with a blanket Grammy had for him
Playing with Grandad's scooter
Trying (unsuccessfully) to get a picture with Grammy and Grandad
So I don't have a single picture from our time in Arkansas...Aunt P if you are reading this, you'll have to send me a copy of the ones you took!!
Thanks to all the people that put us up. We left a trail of crumbs and dirty diapers in our wake, but it was so wonderful to see you all! Thank you for a wonderful trip!!
We first stopped to visit Little C's friend Reese. Reese's mommy and Daddy just moved (back) to Dallas and into the cutest house you've ever seen. They are expecting their second and both sets of our kids will be 20 months apart! (both of their two will be three months older). We had so much fun visiting with them, and these two kiddos were crazy playing with each other. We had to cut them off at night because they'd get each other so worked up before bed. It was so fun/funny to watch them interact!
Then it was off to Little Rock to visit my aunt and uncle. We also got to catch up with my cousin, her husband and their two adorable dogs (well, one of the puppies actually belongs to my aunt, but there is definitely some shared custody going on :) Little C had so much fun with the puppies, but the littlest of the two wasn't feeling very good while we were there. We hope Gretta feels better!!
Back in Dallas, we got in a quick visit with my other aunt and uncle and her two sons. We also got a chance to visit my Grandparents on our last afternoon in Dallas. Little C was pretty fed up with travelling at that point, so the visit was brief, but it was so good to see everyone!
I took pitifully few pictures, but here are some highlights.
Playing on the keyboard with Reese in Dallas
The prettiest sunset I've ever seen just outside of Dallas
Are we there yet?? :(
Playing peekaboo with a blanket Grammy had for him
Playing with Grandad's scooter
Trying (unsuccessfully) to get a picture with Grammy and Grandad
So I don't have a single picture from our time in Arkansas...Aunt P if you are reading this, you'll have to send me a copy of the ones you took!!
Thanks to all the people that put us up. We left a trail of crumbs and dirty diapers in our wake, but it was so wonderful to see you all! Thank you for a wonderful trip!!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Pics of our Portland/Seattle trip
Also know as the trip we canceled to afford our new hardwood floors before the baby's arrival!
We put them in the dining room
Living Room
Hallway and Playroom
Excuse the mess, still in the process of getting all the furniture moved back, cleaning and getting unpacked from our trip (Little C and I left town for the week while the work was being done).
Of course the money we saved for our Seattle/Portland trip didn't exactly cover the entire cost of the new floors. I wrote the check for the second half of the total on my birthday, and I would say it was the single best birthday present I could have gotten - thank you Mr. C!
With all this hard surface being installed, I've been on a mad rug hunt for the last month.
The faux bois rug pictured here was initially purchased for the dining room....
I hated it in the dining room. I felt like I it didn't fit the dining room decor at all and I am leaning towards this rug instead.
Since I don't hate the rug, I am debating putting it in the living room (keep in mind the rug is just rolled out here, and not in the right spot, plus the couch is only temporary...it will be replaced with something less red in the near future).
My goal would be to downplay the zebra-like patter of the faux bois with a lot of neutrals, some gray blue and green accents and some ornate/French-inspired accessories for something that ultimately looks/feels a little like this when I'm all done.
What are your thoughts??? You can vote anonymously up in the top right corner or if you're brave just leave a comment and let me know what you think! :)
We put them in the dining room
Living Room
Hallway and Playroom
Excuse the mess, still in the process of getting all the furniture moved back, cleaning and getting unpacked from our trip (Little C and I left town for the week while the work was being done).
Of course the money we saved for our Seattle/Portland trip didn't exactly cover the entire cost of the new floors. I wrote the check for the second half of the total on my birthday, and I would say it was the single best birthday present I could have gotten - thank you Mr. C!
With all this hard surface being installed, I've been on a mad rug hunt for the last month.
The faux bois rug pictured here was initially purchased for the dining room....
I hated it in the dining room. I felt like I it didn't fit the dining room decor at all and I am leaning towards this rug instead.
Since I don't hate the rug, I am debating putting it in the living room (keep in mind the rug is just rolled out here, and not in the right spot, plus the couch is only temporary...it will be replaced with something less red in the near future).
My goal would be to downplay the zebra-like patter of the faux bois with a lot of neutrals, some gray blue and green accents and some ornate/French-inspired accessories for something that ultimately looks/feels a little like this when I'm all done.
What are your thoughts??? You can vote anonymously up in the top right corner or if you're brave just leave a comment and let me know what you think! :)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
This week's menu
So no menu posted last week, I know, but we had a lot of left overs from the weekend prior that held us over for the first part of the week and the latter part of the week...well...no one starved and some weeks that's all that counts, right?
Ok, this week's menu....
Baked Chicken Nuggets and 1 Pot Mac n Cheese
Baked Chicken Nuggets
Five starts - delicious and nutritious and SUPER kid friendly!!! Definitely will make again and again and again. If you don't have wheat germ, you can use all bread crumbs, but wheat germ is a staple at our house. It's great in smoothies and you can add it to pancake mix for a tasteless nutritional boost!
1 Pot Mac n Cheese
Time consuming and comes out kind of mushy, but was a HUGE hit with the munchkin. Plus I love the freedom of being able to use his organic milk w/ DHA and whole grain pasta.
Eggplant Parmesan
Maybe not the healthiest dish ever, but very tasty, and so quick and easy...I love dishes where all the ingredients live in our pantry and/or freezer!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta according to pkg directions. While pasta is cooking, put the frozen eggplant into a baking dish. Cover with spaghetti sauce and bake for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake for another 10-15 minutes until eggplant is cooked and cheese is completely melted. Serve over pasta. We ate this with a salad.
Mustard Crusted Salmon
This recipe was alright. Nothing special. I doubt I'll do it again, I much prefer this salmon recipe or for broiling fish, this tilapia recipe. Little C wanted nothing to do with this entree and since I've learned from experience not to push him when he's throwing $8/lb meat on the floor, we just gave him some left over 1 pot mac n cheese mixed with tuna and peas. He loved it.
C.Y.O. Stir Fry
C.Y.O. stands for 'create your own'. LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe because it is super versatile (perfect for picky eaters and/or cleaning out the produce drawer in your frige!), but requires some serious prep work. You have to pretty much have everything ready to go because once you start, it all goes really fast. Also, and I can not stress this enough, use a REALLY big pan or you'll run out of room by the end.
In large skillet or wok, heat 1 tbs of the vegetable oil over high heat. Add your protein choice and stir-fry for 3 or 4 minutes until just cooked through. The amount of time will depend a little on what you're cooking. Remove to a clean bowl.
Add remaining 1 tbs oil to the pan. Throw in onion, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for about 1 min. Add the vegetable possibilities to the pan, beginning with the ones that take the longest to cook (carrots, broccoli stems, etc.) and ending with the ones that cook most quickly (bean sprouts, snow peas). Cook, stirring and tossing for about 2 minutes, then pour in the broth, cover the pan with a lid and let everything steam for 1 or 2 minutes. CAUTION: do not over cook veggies, skip the steaming step if you are using tender veggies such as zuccini, sprouts, etc or your'll end up with a soggy mess by the end!!
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce and cornstarch.
When the vegetables are crisp tender, return the meat (or whatever) to the pan, along with the soy sauce mixture and your bonus ingredients (if using) and continue to stir-fry for 1 or 2 minutes or until the sauce is glossy. Serve with rice or noodles.
Note: if you are not dealing with kiddos and want to give this recipe a nice kick of flavor, use 4 tbs of a spicy bottled stirfry sauce instead of the soy sauce/corn starch mixture.
Ok, this week's menu....
Baked Chicken Nuggets and 1 Pot Mac n Cheese
Baked Chicken Nuggets
Five starts - delicious and nutritious and SUPER kid friendly!!! Definitely will make again and again and again. If you don't have wheat germ, you can use all bread crumbs, but wheat germ is a staple at our house. It's great in smoothies and you can add it to pancake mix for a tasteless nutritional boost!
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tbs water
- 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 pinch ground red pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbs vegetable or canola oil
1 Pot Mac n Cheese
Time consuming and comes out kind of mushy, but was a HUGE hit with the munchkin. Plus I love the freedom of being able to use his organic milk w/ DHA and whole grain pasta.
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 tbs all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cup elbow macaroni
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- additional salt and pepper to taste
Eggplant Parmesan
Maybe not the healthiest dish ever, but very tasty, and so quick and easy...I love dishes where all the ingredients live in our pantry and/or freezer!
- Pkg whole wheat pasta
- 1 lb box of frozen eggplant slices (breaded Italian style)
- 1 Jar of Spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese, shredded mozzarella or 4 slices of provolone cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta according to pkg directions. While pasta is cooking, put the frozen eggplant into a baking dish. Cover with spaghetti sauce and bake for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake for another 10-15 minutes until eggplant is cooked and cheese is completely melted. Serve over pasta. We ate this with a salad.
Mustard Crusted Salmon
This recipe was alright. Nothing special. I doubt I'll do it again, I much prefer this salmon recipe or for broiling fish, this tilapia recipe. Little C wanted nothing to do with this entree and since I've learned from experience not to push him when he's throwing $8/lb meat on the floor, we just gave him some left over 1 pot mac n cheese mixed with tuna and peas. He loved it.
- 4 4-6oz salmon fillets
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbs Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
C.Y.O. Stir Fry
C.Y.O. stands for 'create your own'. LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe because it is super versatile (perfect for picky eaters and/or cleaning out the produce drawer in your frige!), but requires some serious prep work. You have to pretty much have everything ready to go because once you start, it all goes really fast. Also, and I can not stress this enough, use a REALLY big pan or you'll run out of room by the end.
- 2 tbs vegetable oil, divided
- 3/4 - 1 lb protein possibilities (choose one or more)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
- 4 cups vegetable possibilities (choose at least three)
- 1/4 cup chicken, beef or vegetable broth
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup extra bonus ingredient (choose one), optional
- Boneless, skinless chicken, cut into strips
- Boneless beef stir-fry strips (flank steak, sirloin, top round)
- Boneless pork, cut into strips
- Raw peeled shrimp
- Firm tofu, cut into cubes
- Green or red peppers, cut into strips
- Carrots, thinly sliced
- Broccoli, broken into florets (stems sliced)
- Zucchini, sliced
- Mushrooms, sliced
- Cabbage (regular or Chinese), sliced
- Bean sprouts, rinsed
- Celery, sliced
- Snow peas, cut in half
- Peanuts, coarsely chopped
- Cashews, whole
- Sesame seeds, toasted (don't use more than 1 tbsp.)
- Crispy Chinese noodles
Add remaining 1 tbs oil to the pan. Throw in onion, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for about 1 min. Add the vegetable possibilities to the pan, beginning with the ones that take the longest to cook (carrots, broccoli stems, etc.) and ending with the ones that cook most quickly (bean sprouts, snow peas). Cook, stirring and tossing for about 2 minutes, then pour in the broth, cover the pan with a lid and let everything steam for 1 or 2 minutes. CAUTION: do not over cook veggies, skip the steaming step if you are using tender veggies such as zuccini, sprouts, etc or your'll end up with a soggy mess by the end!!
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce and cornstarch.
When the vegetables are crisp tender, return the meat (or whatever) to the pan, along with the soy sauce mixture and your bonus ingredients (if using) and continue to stir-fry for 1 or 2 minutes or until the sauce is glossy. Serve with rice or noodles.
Note: if you are not dealing with kiddos and want to give this recipe a nice kick of flavor, use 4 tbs of a spicy bottled stirfry sauce instead of the soy sauce/corn starch mixture.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Vision
Like my new blog background?? I just had to change it because this one goes so well with the new nursery decor! :) Which means I did it! I finally ordered baby bedding for the nursery. I'll be honest, this decorating process has made me want to know the gender so badly! In fact, part of the reason I finally pulled the trigger was to avoid temptation at our anatomy ultrasound on Sept 9th. I just knew if the decor was still in limbo, I'd break down and get the tech to tell me.I'm determined to let the gender of this baby be a surprise, but I'm not one of these laid back moms that can just put off decorating until after the birth and the 'gender neutral' decorating concept drives me crazy...I just am not a fan of any of the gender neutral bedding options/color schemes out there, especially for a boy. Yes, there are plenty of bedding sets that will work just fine, but only for the first year or two (tops) of the boy's life. After that, I find all the pastel greens and yellows start to look really feminine.
So what to do about the baby's room?? Well, after a lot of though, I finally decided to just say 'screw it'. If it's a boy, we'll just be faced with overhauling his room in a year or two when he transitions out of the crib and into a big boy bed/room. Plus, I REALLY think it's a girl!!
Ok, so the vision! Here's the bedding (from landofnod.com):
Depending on your computer screen, the picture can be a tad deceiving...the fabric is actually more or a teal green than a blue. If it's a girl I'm going to reverse the ties on the bumper so the circles show on the outside and the plaid is on the inside.For paint, I LOVE the bold teal paint color of the room shown above, but I'm too chicken to go that bright...I'm thinking a more muted gray-blue/green. I'm currently digging Sherwin Williams' Silvermist (SW7621). I couldn't snag the swatch from the website (damn adobe) but here are a few pics people shared of their silvermist rooms on ths.gardenweb.com
Don't know if you can tell from these pics, but depending on the light it really shifts from looking gray-blue to gray-green. I love it! I'd also like to add some white crown molding. (bet that's news to Mr. C! :)
As for the crib, we SCORED thanks to my wonderful sister and brother-in-law that loaned us their white crib! (For those of you that are following along that's TWO free cribs we've managed to snag...yay for wonderful relatives!!). It's not as straight forward as the crib in the room pic up top, it's more of a sleigh style, so it will definitely add a feminine touch to the bedding. This is not actually it, like I said it's white, but just to give a visual aid :)
We will not be doing a dresser because we need to put a twin bed in the room for visiting Grammies to have a place to sleep when they (hopefully!) come to periodically rescue me during the first few transitional months with a newborn. And, until we can afford our new seabury sleeper sofa from Pottery Barn, or guest bedding options have been overtaken by this new arrival.Not too worried about the co-habitating of Grammies and baby since #1. the kid will be sleeping in a bassinet in our room until they are 3 or 4 months old so Grammy will have the room all to herself, and #2. it's only temporary until the bed moves to Little C when he outgrows his crib (at which point we will invest in a dresser for this kiddo) (and then hopefully have our sleeper sofa for any out of town guest.
So, until then the new baby will just have to do without a proper dresser and their onesies will have to live in these canvas hanging closet drawers from PBK
Since PBK has discontinued this product, we are lucky to already have a set that we received for Little C, and he has graciously agreed to loan his baby brother/sister the hanging shelves until he/she can get a dresser of their very own. Anything that doesn't go in these can go in the baskets we keep in the changing table (that we chose to keep in the playroom for easy access).
As strange as not having a dresser sounds, I'm not worried about it at all. The whole closet/changing table basket storage system worked quite well for Little C's clothes. We have a dresser for Little C, but we haven't used it much because I like to keep his clothes where we dress him (the changing table) and as a result his dresser currently only contains bedding. That will soon change as we will now need to put it to use in order to clear out space for the new kid.
Because the twin bed means we won't have room to put a rocker in the nursery (our fancy glider/rocker lives in the living room which works better for us than keeping it in a bedroom or nursery anyway), I'm going to invest in this Ikea storage ottoman that will also act as place to sit in the room .
The ottoman comes with the white cover, but if it's a boy, I might spring for this gray cover:
And for even MORE storage (because you can never have too much, right??), we'll be using two of these under-bed storage units to tuck under the crib and twin bed (both hidden by bed skirts of course).
As for the twin bedding, I'm going with a white cotton duvet and all white linens. I'll be using the accent pillow and baby quilt from the crib bedding set to give it some color and tie it all together.
If it's a girl, I'd love to get one of these shabby-chic ruffled shams, but I'm channeling every ounce of self control in my body to hold off ordering them until we actually know 100% for-sure it's a girl.
If it's a boy, I doubt I'll even do a sham...just two white pillows.We have no headboard or fancy bed frame, just the metal frame we got from the mattress store. I don't want to purchase anything else until the bed moves to Little C's room so I can get something that goes with his room decor. In the mean time, I found 6 square mirrors on sale at Marshal's. They are currently black, but a can of white spray paint will fix that. When I'm done they will look very similar to this:
I'll group them above the bed to create a focal point/faux headboard. It won't be nearly this dramatic because I've only got 6 mirrors, but this is my inspiration:
If the baby turns out to be a boy, I'll probably punch out the mirrors and just use the frames for a less ornate look that resembles something like this (only with 6 instead of 10 and without the pics or mats).
Curtains are plain white version of these ivory cotton drapes and will hang with a pewter rod and rings (target).
Nightstand purchase will wait until after the baby is born. For a girl, I'm leaning towards something with soft lines to accentuate the curved lines of the crib like one of these two Ikea tables.
And if it's a boy, probably something a little more mod/plain like this to off-set the feminine curved lines of the crib.
For a table lamp, I am absolutely in love with these ceramic lamps f/ pottery barn, and I am especially in love with the yellow one...I think it would add a nice touch of color to all the white accessories, but I can't really afford this particular lamp, and I'm reluctant to put anything super breakable in a baby's room, so, I'm currently on the hunt for a wood version. If you see one let me know!!
If it's a boy, I'll do something a bit more masculine like this. (I like the nickle base but with the gray shade)
Like the nightstand and the lamp, the over-the-crib wall decor will have to wait until after the baby is born, but if it's a girl, I'm going to do her initials with three of these awesome PBK scroll iron letters that can later be little photo/postcard holders in her big-girl room.
And if it's a boy, I have no idea....maybe spell his name out in white wood letters
or maybe some framed vintage-inspired pics like these...
I don't know. Can you tell I'm not nearly as inspired by the boy decor?? I'm telling you, it's a girl!!! :)So that's it. The vision! Hope you like it, don't tell me if you don't. Seriously don't, because it's taken me forever to come up with this. Will post pics of the reality as it comes together!!
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