Our Weekend

Our weekends have been pretty dull lately.  We've been trying to stay close to home, so there really is nothing fun to report.  This last weekend, however, we had all sorts of fun.

The weather was nice on Friday and lots of neighbors were out.  Michael took Olivia out to play after dinner and she had a blast.  It took some convincing to get her to come home for bed.

On Saturday we headed to Dayton.  My best friend from high school (in Wisconsin!) now lives there. Her husband just graduated with his masters in aeronautical engineering with the Air Force and they were having a graduation party for him.  Aside from Laurie and Olivia, Allyssa and her little baby girl were the only ones who ventured out during a level 2 snow emergency to see Logan and I the day he was born.  I figured we could return the favor.  We were there most of the day.  I had a great time catching up.

I meant to take more pictures, but this is the only one I got.  She fell asleep on the way there.   Can you tell it's snowing outside the window?  Yes.  We had snow at the end of March. I'm over it.

Sunday night I got to have dinner with this handsome guy. Alone.

Laurie offered to babysit and we took her up on it!  We have only been on a handful of dates since Olivia's arrival, so it was nice to just get out.  She asked jokingly if I would trust her.  I assume she meant because Logan is still so young.  There is probably no one in this world I would trust more with my children! I didn't worry one bit.  I'm pretty sure Olivia was as excited about our date as we were.  She found out recently that Laurie hadn't seen Tangled (Rapunzel).  She was shocked by this and made plans for Laurie to see it. :)

We tried to think of something out of the box to do, but our choices were limited for a Sunday night so we ended up seeing a movie.  It was nice to just be out and kid free.

Unfortunately, our fun stopped there.  We were woken up at 3 AM on Monday morning by a crying little girl who was covered in puke.  It appears that we brought home a little present from Dayton.  By the time I woke up on Monday morning, I wasn't feeling the best either.  Olivia and I have been quarantined to the master bedroom while Michael brings us supplies and takes care of Logan.   So far they are both doing alright.  Olivia seems to be almost back to normal too.  I'm hoping I will be good by tomorrow.  We spend 7 weeks inside and that one outing is what did it... Ugh.  Oh well.  As long as Logan doesn't get it.  This is Olivia's first time with a stomach bug, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Thankfully it was just a 24 hour bug.

Stitch Fix

Have you heard of it?  I first heard of it a few months ago from a girl that I use to go to MOPS with.  Basically what it is, is a long distance stylist. You fill out a survey about your size, your style, and your price point.  Then a stylist puts something together for you and sends you 5 different pieces. 

You pay $20.  If you choose to keep any of the 5 pieces, your $20 is applied to what you keep.  You are not obligated to keep anything.  You can send it all back. It even comes with a prepaid bag.  You just have to get it back in the mail within 3 days.  If you choose to keep all 5 items then you get 25% off the entire purchase. You can also cancel whenever you want.  You aren't locked in to getting a new fix every month.

I have been wearing maternity clothes for 9 months.  Honestly, I have bought very little for myself since Olivia's arrival 3 years ago.  But I don't seem to be getting out to the stores to shop.  I figured I'd give this a try.  I need a few updated pieces.  If I only keep my $20 worth, then it will be worth it to me.

Since the first MOPS friend shared, I think practically my whole previous MOPS group has signed up.  Ok, maybe not all of them, but I have seen many posts on Facebook about it. They all love it.  Most of them have gotten multiple fixes so far and they just keep going back for more.  I'm really excited to see what I get. I'll let you know how I like it.  

If you choose to sign up, you can use this referral code and I will get some shopping credit. :)
http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3634896  

Teaching the Tot--Pattern Blocks

We have had these Melissa and Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks for quite a while now.

 

Olivia mastered them a while ago, but she still likes to play with them.

 The triangles use to give her a little trouble, but she can see which way they need to be turned with ease now.

We do each board over and over, so I thought it was time to extend this activity.  I decided we'd give patterns a try.

We had tried a few months ago and she didn't get it at all.  This time I showed her how to do it one time and spoke the patterns out loud each time. She got it right away.

She was pleased with herself.

and yes, we are still sitting in a "W". :/

We only did AB patterns.

I have some more difficult pattern block cards in my teaching stuff that I am going to have to dig out.  We will keep practicing patterns too, but this was a good start.

Bumpie Shared Recipes

We were blessed with many meals from friends after Logan's birth. I also had a freezer full of meals--some made by me and some from those same great friends.  But the time came last week for me to resume my meal planning/grocery shopping/meal cooking ways.

The June moms do a weekly "what's for dinner" check in.  I rarely participate. I'm not on top of things enough to always know what I am making when the post comes on Monday morning.  But I do sometimes pay attention.  There were all sorts of recipes that had been tried and enjoyed by these ladies.  I made note of them and they became my meal plan for this past week.  We really liked them all.

(source)

First up was Parmesan Crusted Chicken from Hellmann's.  It was simple, but was really tasty.

(source)

Next up was this One Pan Wonder.  I've seen multiple people post this on Facebook this week. Again, it was pretty easy to prepare.  I loved that it was all in one pan because I tend to use way too many dishes during my meal prep/cooking.  I didn't think Michael liked it too much.  He doesn't really like red potatoes. Green beans aren't his favorite either. But when I asked him about it he said it was good. I was pretty buttery. I'm not sure an entire stick was necessary.

(source)

 

 

I'm not really a huge fan of Mexican, but these Mexican pulled pork tacos just looked good.  They are made in the slow cooker.  I'll be honest.  When I was smelling all the chili powder and cumin while it cooked, I was getting a little nervous.  These were really good though.  Michael and I both really liked them.  I used salsa instead of tomato sauce and skipped the cilantro.  It made enough for us to have leftovers and freeze some.

(source)

 Again, this soy-ginger pot roast is not necessarily my style. I'm not a huge ginger and soy sauce fan, but the person who posted it said it was really good.  I thought I'd give it a try. Once again, we really liked it.  It was a bit salty for me, BUT I grew up eating pretty bland food so I tend to be more salt sensitive.  I asked Michael and he said he didn't think it was overly salty.  I bought egg noodles to make with it, but I ended up making mashed potatoes instead.  Roast just means mashed potatoes to me.

I would make them all again, and that is saying something.  I never have that great of results when it comes to Pinterest recipes.  I hope these ladies keep sharing the good ones!

Wordless Wednesday--Smiles

Tummy Time

I'm a little behind, so Logan's first tummy time actually happened a few weeks ago.  I got the pictures, but I am just now having a chance to get them up.

He started out just hanging out on his belly.  He was perfectly content just to lay there.

He had some fun sucking on his fingers.

I didn't get any great pictures of him lifting his head, but he finally did it for a few minutes.

But I got a few good ones last week.

His neck is pretty strong. Both of my children came out with strong necks!

We aren't in a routine of doing tummy time ever day yet.  Although he gets plenty of time practicing holding up his head and strengthening his neck.

Laurie was over the other day and Logan was showing off his mad skills.

That's a lot of head to hold up! He's such a stud. :)

I was trying to capture a smile but got a tongue instead.

Five for Friday

ONE

Mommy took one for the team today. ;) The shirt was actually a hand-me-down.  I'm all for buying Superman, but I'm not about to willingly buy "Star" anything. Bleh.  But I did pair it nicely with some Gap jeans (also hand-me-downs). :)  And I chose this picture because you can kind of see his dimple.

TWO

In my very limited free time I have been working on this.  I've already got the frame. Now I just need to get it printed.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

THREE

Has anyone else's house been taken over by Frozen?  We watched it months ago and Olivia didn't seem the least bit interested.  Then out of no where she started singing "Do you want to build a snowman?" about two weeks ago.  We watched the Jimmy Fallon version of "Let it Go" and she was begging for Frozen from then on.  Michael got a digital copy and she has watched it almost every day since.  She sings it all day long and quotes it.  I'm pretty sick of hearing, "Mommy, please don't shut me out again.  Please don't slam the door".  She has turned everything into Frozen.  She has two Barbie type dolls.  One came as gift from her first birthday.  She is now Elsa.  She is pictured taking a nap on a pillow, tucked in by the napkin from Olivia's picnic basket.  She has an Ariel doll that was given to her by the hospital from her stay.  She has never seen The Little Mermaid. Ariel has now become Anna.  She has also picked out her birthday gifts, which also are from Frozen.  Not only does she know most of the words to the songs, but she insists on acting them out. Therefore, I hear knocking on the door all day long.  I love the movie, but it might be time for us to thaw out a bit. :)

FOUR

We've had a break through!  Little buddy will actually tolerate his swing now.  He seems to enjoy watching the mobile go around.  Not only that, but he has actually napped in there for at least one nap every day over the course of the week.  This has been super helpful, because he wants to be held almost all the time.  When I put him in his crib for naps, he's started that 45 minute intruder thing where he wakes up (from the natural sleep cycle) and can't get himself back to sleep.   I am getting very little done these days.  I was hoping that when we hit that 6 week growth spurt that we were going to turn the corner on a few issues.  I'm still waiting....

He tolerated this bouncer for a bit too.  It was enough for me to get dinner ready, which was nice.  I had to give him the paci a few times in between, but I'll take it!

FIVE

A few weeks ago someone in my June mom's group asked if there was a 33 month growth spurt.  The consensus was yes. Olivia will be 33 months in two days.  We have seemed to have hit that growth spurt. At least the eating and sleeping part.  I'm glad I had the heads up!  She has never really been one to snack or ask for food.  She just eats at meal times and is content.  For the last week she has been asking for more food at every meal, saying "I'm hungry" and asking for snacks.  She has also actually napped twice in the last week during her rest time. She hasn't done that in months!  One nap was over 3 hours.  Last night she fell asleep before 8:30 and slept until 10 this morning. We'll see if her pants start "shrinking".

Friday Fun

I'm a little behind on blogging.  Mostly because there is a baby in my arms most of the day!

We had a pretty good day on Friday though, so I thought I would share some of the images.

Olivia really wanted me to play in her room after rest time.  So I threw one of her old blankets on the floor and laid Logan down.  She was trying to entertain him with some of her old baby toys. She kept running to his room to grab one after the other.

She just loves him!

It was 60 degrees out, which is like a heat wave around here lately.  Michael cut out of work early and we took a walk around the neighborhood.  He was going to push Olivia on the trike with the parent bar, but she wanted to walk.  She ended up in the wagon the second time we went around.

At the last minute we decided to keep the fun going and use a gift card we had for dinner out.  It was our first time in a sit down restaurant in what feels like forever!

This guy slept through his entire first experience. :)

The place we went has a 99 cent ice cream bar if you order a kids meal.  I don't think Olivia has ever had a dessert while out at a restaurant and I can count on one hand the number of times she's had ice cream.  We decided to let her get it as a special treat.   Michael took her to the bar to put the toppings on and she could hardly contain herself when she got back to the table.  She started shouting, "Mommy, I got sprinkles and m&m's and cookies!"  We told her it was for being a good big sister and being so patient lately.  She has been going on all weekend about it. "Remember when I got a special treat because I am a good big sister and for being patient?" :)

Since we were already out and about, we decided to extend the evening and stroll around Target.  That is when I stumbled upon this beauty...

 Let me explain... I had this rug on my registry.  But then it ended up not being available online.  It was only available at one store in our area, and not one that I frequent.  But I had planned to go and pick it up at some point.  Well, before I got there it was gone and their website said the nearest place to get it was Dayton (which is over an hour away for those of you who don't know).  I even started looking it up in places where relatives live thinking I may have them ship it to me.  The rug was priced for $35-$40.  I figured shipping it would make it too expensive, so I gave up on that idea.  Then the next time I checked it wasn't listed on their website at all.  The only place I could find it online was on Amazon for $80!!  Yeah.  That wasn't happening.  I was sad that my superhero rug dream had to die.  UNTIL I spotted it on our leisurely walk through Target. It was total fluke too.  It was all rolled up and in a bin with totally different rugs. I recognized the colors though.  I snatched it up and had Michael scan it for a price. $20!!!!  I'm guessing maybe someone returned it?  Or it was misplaced at one point.  Either way, I was/am ecstatic. It came home with us and is going to make a great addition to Logan's room.  I have just a few more little handmade details to tend to and then it will be all done.

It was a perfect Friday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm not Irish.  I didn't grow up eating corned beef and cabbage.  I've never had a beer in my life, so the green kind doesn't excite me.  The extent of my St. Patrick's Day fun is that I always wear green.  Oh, and I make sure to get at least one shamrock shake for the season. :)  Other than that, it's just another day around here.

I did decide that it would be a good opportunity to do a simple art project with Olivia, though.  I was looking for quick and simple, so I just went with a basic rainbow.  I gave her the choice of using paint or using glue (gluing construction paper squares on).  She chose paint.

I guided her finger at first in an attempt to show her what was to be done.  Then I let her go on her own.

She would sort of start out in the row and then end up doing random spots.  I'm still not sure if she just didn't understand/get what she was suppose to be doing, or if she was just choosing to do it her way.

So it ended up a mixture of me trying to get her in the right row and her doing spots all over, which is fine.

We set the rainbow aside for a bit, and while her fingers were still messy I gave her the plate with paint on it to play with. She was sort of mild and hesitant at first.  She didn't exactly know what she should be doing.

So I took her finger and swirled them around a bit and then she got into it more.

She actually spent just as much time, if not more, finger painting the plate as she did making the rainbow.

Then I let her (attempt to) glue the clouds...

The finished product

Little man and I did a few St. Patrick's day projects over the years.  Our first year we made a rainbow, and had a themed play date.  There is also a post with a leprechaun and a clover, a collection of art projects, and a leprechaun he made at preschool.

I attempted to get a picture of my littles in green. Logan wasn't too interested in sitting on his sister's lap.

We found his outfit and bib on super duper clearance at Kohls last June--long before we knew if we were having a boy or girl.  He doesn't really wear bibs yet, but I threw it on for the pictures.

Olivia decided she wanted to lay down, so I laid Logan next to her.  He just stared at her content as could be.

Then she decided to read to him her book about being a big sister.  She's recently become obsessed with it, and she has it memorized.

A little blurry, but she was showing him the pictures. She's a good big sister! :)