Random Bits of Everything

I'm in the throngs of toddler-hood this week. Fun? Not so much. To top it off, our internet is not working. Pinterest? Blogging? Not so much. Let me tell you though, our dishes are clean and our laundry is folded; all at alarming rates. I'm currently using W's computer for a quick second to post and crossing fingers that AT&T can fix whatever the problem is tomorrow. :/

The weekend was great. Full of lots of "re-charging" moments: solo trip to Target, movie night with some girlfriends, an afternoon nap, and a hot date with William to a new eatery {just the two of us!!!}. It was so good and so needed. 

We did a cute little hand print art yesterday.

The house is no longer red, but now green instead. Especially our mantle. We're ready for spring around here! Speaking of green...

This was the aftermath of our cute little project. How he got it perfectly applied across his lips, I'll never know. But I was smart this time and covered our table with newspaper so he was the only one covered in paint. :)

Today marks 50 days down, 50 more to go for tax season. Half way!! Just a happy reminder to get yours in soon. ;) Our Papa Chain is looking much better now that it's lost some weight.

Ezra's also been completely dry these days. He even told me today once that he had to go. Little successes.

So that's that. Time to sleep and re-charge. Need to be at the top of my game for whatever comes my way tomorrow! If not, there's always this AMAZING Trader Joe find I just discovered! 

Five seconds in the microwave and you've got yourself a camp favorite slice of heaven.

Potty Talk {Thoughts on Training}

We started officially "potty training" {guess you could call it that...we've done infant potty training known as EC since he was a baby so we really only have to make the final leap into undies} last week. E just started insisting on 'unders' {that's what he called them before he could say 'underwear' and it's kinda just stuck} and even though I was super hesitant, I just went with it.  Day One left us with only two successes with lots of wet pants and unders. The following two days I did more prompting, about every hour, and we only had one miss each. Day four had three. That was the day Papa was home and he's still learning our new rhythm.  It wasn't until mid-morning on Day Five when we got one success and then we were good for the day. Day Six and on made for zero misses including nap time!!! I'm SO proud of him!

 I have to prompt him every time, but it seems like he's holding it until he's sitting on the potty now. Yesterday was the first day I felt like I could relax and not stress about him peeing at any moment. We had re-gained the rhythm that we lost over the weekend. It just seemed more fluid {no pun intended, ha.} and that the trips to the bathroom were a normal part of our day now. He's doing so great. I don't buy the the whole "did-it-in-three-days-and-we're-completely-done" thing. Maybe unless your kid is like five?! Or maybe a girl?? We're definitely not finished with training. On Day Five I buckled and put him in a diaper when we did a sandwich lunch date with a friend. The whole time it felt so wrong. Like I was giving in to my frustration instead of staying committed, sticking it out, and not giving up on him. He stayed dry though and when we got home, I put him back in unders...after an encouraging conversation with my mom on the phone. Heh.

 I figure as he continues, he'll eventually prompt himself. We're still doing diapers at night, although Ezra's not too happy about that. I value my sleep too much than to change bedding at night. We told him that if he has a dry diaper in the morning then he can earn unders at night. I found him on his stool this morning, trying to zip down his pjs to go potty. It's so adorable-- he's even more of a little man now.

 And the unders have also encouraged putting on his own clothes, especially his unders and pants. He now pulls out all of his clean underwear and mulls over them a good five minutes before selecting which he'll sport that day... the Thomas trains? the Lightening McQueen cars?  the extra padded solids? I'm thankful for elastic bottoms. It helps him to be more independent-- when he can do it all himself. All I have to do is suggest potty time and he's off on his own in the bathroom. So so so so nice! :) It's like I'm catching small glimpses of what it's like to have a little one beyond the toddler years and into childhood.

So, you will probably be able to spot us now around town, carting his little potty with us. It's been real handy for keeping mobile as he trains. And it saves us trips to the public ones {eww! gross!} We even had a 'potty party' this week with Ezra's friend, Elle, who's three. We were at a park without bathrooms and well, when you got to go, you've gotta go. They were so cute-- cheering each other on and checking out their different undies.

Here's to yet another parenting milestone!

Indoor Family Day

The moment I stepped out of my pjs on Sunday happened around 7:45pm when W and I were headed to our community's hot tub for the evening. After such an up and down week, we were ready to rest and relax for a day. We did a whole bunch of nothing together. 

This included...

Bubbles, organizing our craft stash in a recently acquired bookshelf, pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches, reading, turning corks into little people, naps, and cleaning up lots of messes.

  Apparently, it was National Spill Day because we all had some major spill-age throughout the day...starting with me and my morning's cup full of hot coffee. Need sleep much? I think W and I could both sleep for a day and still not be completely caught up. 

Is it April yet?!

Only 56 more days...not like I'm counting...

6th Day Adventurers {3rd Edition}

Saturday rolled around and we actually had local plans for a sweet birthday party. But since I'm not totally 100%, I decided to hold off and not put all those adorable kids at risk. Instead, Kori braved the possibility and joined us for yet another adventure.

The day started with the most precious cuddles between the boys while I attempted to get ready...

{my most favorites of them to date. I think it may be time to print out my instagram pics}

When Kori got here, we decided on a whim to head into Berkeley since the bridge to the city was closed. First stop: Tildon Park Steam Trains! William went with us just last month and so it was fresh in the memory banks. This park reminds me of GG Park in the city: you can go back so many times without growing weary of it.

We got our seats, handed the conductor our tickets while Theo flashed a stink-eye. Perhaps he wanted his own seat?!

And off we went...

Ezra definitely would have kept riding, but we were getting hungry for lunch. College street was our next stop for a bite at Gordo's and some window shopping.

Ice cream is starting to become our adventure mascot. And really, who can blame us, when there are so many yummy homemade places with tongue-tingling flavors. The Earle Gray was subtle but amazing at Ici. Ezra noshed on some honey-candied cashew while doing his business before heading home. Multi-tasker extraordinaire!

And YAY! This was day three of undies...he did AMAZING considering we were out for much of the day. Only one miss for the entire day! So proud of my big little man!

Just This Week....

...he wakes from his nap and.... turns off his vaporizer, put his binkis away, makes his bed, and opens the door...

...he's insisted on wearing underwear...and putting them on all by himself...

...knows more of his favorite song lyrics {"Little Drummer Boy"..yeah, we are still listening to it and it's February}...

...is not longer taking a bottle of milk before naps and bedtime...

...started to show interest in letter recognition...we're focusing on 'A' and 'E'...

Gosh, is he's going to start kindergarten, what, like tomorrow?!?

Casseroles {Re-invented}

A few weeks ago {before the sickies hit}, I completely fell off the meal-making bandwagon. Then my Real Simple issue came and I had renewed hope. Well, just a little bit of hope because if I'm being completely honest, I still don't have much cooking motivation :)

Anyway, in its recent issue, they re-invented the casserole three times. And well, using the oven for dinner is right up there with the crock-pot for me. I tried two of the three recipes over the past two weeks {the third was eggplant and I'm not sure about that one. My family still remembers my mom's odd attempt at an eggplant lasagna yeeeeears ago}.

So, they were the Cottage Pie and the Chicken, Spinach, and Noodle Casserole.

 The second was definitely much more of a hit with all three of us!

What you need:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 cup sour cream
kosher salt and black pepper
12 ounces egg noodles {I subbed penne pasta instead}
4 slices sandwich bread
2 cups shredded cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken
5 ounces baby spinach, chopped {I just used frozen}
2 teaspoons dried thyme 

What you do:

Heat oven to 400° F. 

Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes (do not let the mixture darken). Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions; drain and return them to the pot. Pulse the bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl.

Add the milk mixture, chicken, spinach, and thyme to the noodles and toss to combine. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch or some other 3-quart baking dish, sprinkle with the bread crumbs, and drizzle with the melted butter.

Bake until the bread crumbs are golden and the filling is bubbling, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

 

Our Weekend {Sponsored By RSV}

So, we had quite a weekend thanks to a cold virus known as RSV. What seemed like a little runny nose turned much worse and I took the boys to the Dr.'s Friday morning. Both had great oxygen scores, but E's was definitely labored. And both were wheezy.Out of {what seemed like} left field, the dr. asked for x rays to check for pneumonia for E. There were trace amounts and we were set up for a return appt the next day.

{napping before x-rays, x-rays with apron to protect vital parts, breathing treatments in the hospital and at home}

Fast forward to 2:30am. I was doing a routine breathing check because I still become that paranoid mom when something happens/may happen/might happen/has been suggested to happen {you get the point}. When I checked in on E, he was awake, had a troubled demeanor, and his sweet little chest was moving so.fast. Long story short, we all ended up at the ER..with both boys admitted for troubles breathing. Their oxygen levels were still fine, and we probably could have waited until our morning appt. But I don't have an oxygen-checker machine thingy at home and they just sounded so awful.

We left around 11am with some meds and a nebulizer. Once home, it was a family shower to get rid of all the hospital nasties, pjs, and delivery pizza. W moved our TV up into our room so we could all fit in our bed to veg. I think just in those days alone, we watched enough movies to make up for the fact we don't have even basic TV. The next few nights were just as hard.

I feel like we're finally seeing the end of the tunnel just in the last day or so. E is no longer on breathing treatments and is almost done with his last med. He's back to sleeping through the night too. He just can't really do anything too active or a coughing fit with start. Which seems to confirm our suspicions of asthma. He's always seemed a bit wheezy after exercise. I'm still not completely confident that Theo is out of the woods just yet, but I'm being conservative with him because he's so small. His case has seemed less dramatic an he's already sounded much better. The wheezing is gone.

W's firm was so understanding and let him spend Saturday with us. Sounds like many of the staff have gone through the same when their kids were small. Even though it was definitely nerve-racking and a tiring few days, I loved having W for two weekend days. Forgot what that was like. ;) I'm still in awe of my grandparents generation who did this on a regular basis! It was also great to have family bonding time all snuggled in bed. And somehow Theo was all smiles, even in the ER. The ER Pedi said he was the happiest RSV baby she's ever seen. This past weekend was definitely one for the memory book.

Brown Paper Packages

...all tied up with string. These are a few of my favorite things!

Cooked up something fun for this Valentine's with the help of this. W gets to open a small treat every hour at 14 past the hour during his full day at work. And yes, his goodies are in way girly wrapping. One of them even has a polka-dot ribbon. ;) I put all his little gifts in a giant basket and even included a red felt puffy conversation heart that said "Love U". Total cheese!

We usually don't do anything too out of the ordinary for love day. Don't really exchange gifts. Last year, it was a delicious dinner made by W. This year, he's working a 10 hour day. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to do a little something extra for him. Just small gifts: candy, small random items that he'll like, a new shirt, a new toy for him and E to play with, and a few gift cards with small amounts to some of his favorite places.

Doing anything special with the one you love?

Valentine's Decor {What I've Got Thus Far}

I've still got some tweaking to do, but William pulled down my decorations from storage the other day which gave our house a more festive face. Nothing much, just little things here and there. Most of them were from my teaching days so it was fun pulling them out and remembering. I bought most of my decorations my second year...when I could finally breathe past curriculum and into the fluffy fun stuff. Annnnnnd then I was laid off. Heh. Still, our home has been a great new place for them.

Our mantle {still hasn't changed since its last picture}:

I have a slight obsession with my mom's cricut machine right now. I used it for this banner and another one for a baby shower recently and am in love! It's so easy and has endless possibilities for using it. I hung them on some jute string with some clothes pins.

 Then I pulled out this old Pespi tray that I found while antiquing {that's a verb now, right?!} almost a year ago. It was sitting in our garage. I still have other plans for it, but I brought it in a few days ago, determined to use it now.

Then I just started to fill it with random stuff we had around the house. Boxes from the packaging of earring I just bought, a ceramic bowl with twine, a bird house that was already on the mantle before, a bird, and a vase from my vday stash.

To the left...

I had some straws left over from E's party and put them in a mason style glass, wrapped a vase with some red rick-rack type ribbon, and put some red flowers in. I spray painted the two frames on the mantle and on this side, put this free print in it.

On the right...
An "S", empty jar awaiting to be filled with...? and

one of my favorite maternity pictures. Ezra's bright eyes match our headboard. And our shared pose that was completely unscripted just kills me!

Our chalkboard area got some red highlights.

I got these red Chinese lanterns in China town. Does that make them authentic? Either way, I love them. In fact, they may stay post-love month. My little nook with my heart bunting is still lacking. I ordered some prints in 5x7 {???} instead of my normal 8x10. Frame Fail. I just reorder them in the correct size. Sheesh.

And lastly, our little nook by the stairs.

Another lantern, paper hearts hung by floss, and a pitcher {Home Goods!} full of flowers.

{Hi!} So I basically just used what we already owned. I'm hoping to score some new items on clearance afterward or try to do another craft {maybe a wreath?}, but if not, no sweat. I still have a few more lanterns that I'd love to find homes for. Maybe somewhere upstairs?

Hope you are enjoying your LOVE month!

Kids' Book Exchange

A girlfriend of mine sent me a letter early December to participate in a book exchange. Normally, I avoid chain letters like the plague, but since it had to do with books, my interest was peaked. All I had to do was send a book, six letters and then wait for the mail. We have no shortage of books in the house between those we started with, the library, and gifts for E. But I'm of the mind that you can never have too many books! One day I hope we can have a whole wall dedicated to book shelves. Better yet, a library with one of the wheeling ladders. 

Anyway, I was a bit skeptical at first since it was around the holidays and I'm sure many people are in my "party-pooper" camp when it comes to chain letters. But so far, E has received six books, and I just sent out my last two a few weeks ago. It's a short chain with only two degrees of separation so we actually know some of the people we're getting books from.

For the cost of one book, you have the potential of getting 36 books back. I say that's a sweet deal. And even if not everyone plays along, it's still worth it. He truly loves getting mail.

The letter went something like this...

Dear __________,

Welcome to our book exchange! Send ONE new or gently used book to the child listed at #1 below. Then make 6 new copies of the blank letter I’ve included here and send to SIX friends. Use the blank letter I sent you and move MY child’s name, age and address to the #1 spot and put YOUR child’s name, age and address on the #2 spot and make SIX copies. Mail both a blank copy and a filled out copy to SIX friends and wait for your books to arrive. This is just for fun! Soon your child could receive 36 books in return! What a deal!


If you can’t do this within one week {give or take a few}, please let me know!  The children who have participated are looking forward to their books arriving. A manila envelope will mail a book nicely and you should receive 36 ‘new’ books if everyone participates. Seldom does anyone drop out, as you know kids love to read books and receive mail. You should receive your books in about 2 weeks if you get your letters out right away. 

It will be lots of fun but please let me know if you can’t participate ASAP. You can reach me at ____________ @____.com

Thanks and enjoy your books!

Child #1
Name
Address
Age

Child #2
Name
Address
Age

Make sure to include a blank copy of this letter for your friends so they don’t have to retype. 

Sincerely,
___________

Interested? Just copy and paste this letter into a document, get a friend for #2, and start a book exchange together.