"what to do" wednesdays

are you getting ready for the big turkey day tomorrow?

you will need expandable pants and plastic containers for

an easy escape with leftovers.

you. are. welcome.

last year i shared

a free thanksgiving printable

and what to do with thanksgiving leftovers.

the year before i was giving out

my appetizer ideas for all the holiday parties.

veggie squares

pizza dip

bacon-wrapped jalapenos

chicken spinach pizza bites

this year i thought i might try to

find some cool and easy wreaths to make.

maybe start wreath wednesdays.

get ready crafters,

it's bout to get all crazy up in here.

so for now,

on this very first wreath wednesday,

i'm going to share the three/four wreaths i've already made.

(or tried to make)

yarn wreath.

feather wreath.

acorn... pinecone wreath.

 

i'll have a new idea next week.
happy thanksgiving eve!

brette's christmas list

the biggest shopping day of the year is coming up
and i'm trying to get amped.

christmas for a 6 month old is stupid,

even though i'm super excited for it.

she is never going to remember the experience

or the presents,

so part of me (the cheap part) wants to skip

the presents portion of the program.

wah wah. just call me the grinch.

 

i just want to see her in her pretty christmas dress,

sing her all the christmas carols i know,

and watch her stare at all the lights on her first christmas tree.

 

but i know i won't - - i can't - - not get her anything.

as a way for me to reel it in,

i'm trying to go by the rule:

"something you want, something you need, something to wear & something to read"

 

here is what i'm thinking for her first christmas.

now i just have to pick my favorite four.

 

1. i want to get her a christmas ornament.

its a tradition in my family - - we always always always get a new ornament for our tree.

i think b should have a collection started too.

plus its nice to have family traditions.

this one has a pram - which i love.

(1-800-flowers - $24.99)

 

 

glitter booties

(pottery barn - $8.00)

 

a very good year - 2013
(the land of nod - $7.95)

of course i might just take her hand impression. who knows...

 

2. i think she needs new learning items.

i can't decide if that's going to be flashcards or new sensory toys.

i heard the best time to start flashcards is around 3 months.

whhaaaat?

i guess since this is because they can only sit around and watch you,

so you have a captive audience.

i feel stupid even bringing this up at 6 months, let alone 3,

but whatever, its not going to hurt her and

maybe it will help b become a super reader.

eric carle flash cards - set of 26

(land of nod - $14.95)

 

 

infantino big top discovery cube

(toys r us - $10.39) 

lamaze mirror crawl toy
(barnes & noble - $13.59)
 

3. something to wear? that's easy.  i want to get her some xmas jammies.

right now, these are my top picks.

(hanna anderson - $28.00)

(hatley's - $35.00)

 

(carter's - $11.00)

 

4. and finally, something to read.

a new christmas book.
i was a little unsure which book should be her first
christmas book and then i stumbled on this:
a whole list of wonderful ideas.

 so now i'm still unsure which one to get her,
but at least i have some amazing ideas to choose from.
 

 

 do you think its bad to add one more gift?  maybe something snuggly?

i can pass this off as a necessity because something is totally needed for her stocking, right?

right.

i knew you'd agree.

claire the cow
blabla - $44
 

 

 

patsy the duck

ragtales - $23

 

 

any family members reading this blog and thinking about picking up brette a little somethin' somethin' for the holidays? she is requesting books.  our at home library is lacking and mom is getting tired of the same 10 stories.  think classics. (corduroy, the hungry hungry caterpillar, goodnight moon, the giving tree)  we have none.

bumbo time

brette has tried some new

things over the last couple weeks.

water and a grape.

we started giving her water daily on her 5 month birthday.

its going okay.

not a lot is actually getting swallowed

because instead of using a bottle,

we're trying it out of a cup.

i thought we'd learn something new,

but its slow going.

i read to start with the cup first since

its the hardest.

i figure once she masters this

and is able to drink on her own,

i'll give her a sippy cup so she can do it herself

and i won't have to worry about spills.

 

***disclaimer***

the "cup" we use it actually a shot glass.

please don't call dfs.

i wanted something really shallow

so i wouldn't have to tip it back very far

and this is all i had.

 

any suggestions on baby's first cup,

because obviously,

this just looks bad.

 

 

 

 

and ronnie decided that he should

hold grapes to her mouth so she can

try to suck on them.

she loved it.

 

 

she's growing up right before our eyes.

 

 

 



holiday shopping

thanksgiving is this week

which means christmas

is just around the corner.

 

decorating.

lights.

trees.

cookies.

 

and

shopping.

blah.

 

i'm already dreading the shopping i have to do.

i've always hated it and

now i feel like i'm also working around naptimes and

our nursing schedule.

not to mention its only 20 degrees here.

not fun.

 

but i did impress myself and order

our christmas cards last week.

holy hell.

a new record.

 

some shopping questions...

 

does anyone have a good suggestion on where to get

amazing boyfriend jeans? 

 

a babies first christmas ornament?

 

great christmas book?

of course there are the well known ones
- the night before christmas or the polar express -

but is there something perfect for a little one?
maybe more age appropriate for brette?

 

suggestions welcome.

 

 

sorry for the early christmas worries. 

 



paw prints vs. fingerprints

i was really worried about how my

babies were going to react to our new baby.

let's be honest.

my dogs are spoiled and a little eccentric.

not to mention, that they hate when we have kids over to the house.

not so much leia, but definitely louie.

i always have to ask the kids to just leave him alone.

its better that way.

so you can imagine my concern when i was bringing

a new kid into the house full time...

oh, and forever.

 

good luck louie

 

we did the ol' bring home baby's clothing from the

hospital, let them smell it and

then give them a treat trick.

i also made ronnie sit in the car with brette

so i could have 5 minutes alone with them

before introducing b.

since i had been in the hospital i wanted

to give them some undivided attention first.

and then we brought in b.

 

and their lives changed forever.

 

 

but they really don't mind her.

they will lay in bed with her and

leia is especially interested in licking her.

we've even caught louie giving her some kisses.

thank god.

but for the most part they had been ignoring each other.

now that brette is more aware of her surroundings,

she loves watching them.

she completely stops and stares when they come in a room.

when they are near enough, she'll pet them. (or grab their hair)

one afternoon, brette even laid her head down on louie's back.

cutest. thing. ever.

so far, there has been no growling or snapping at her.

of course that might change once she's mobile

and running louie into a corner.

i hope not,

but i still make sure and supervise their interactions.

 

there have been two major changes since brette was born:

one

the biggest change has been in their behavior when i leave.

i think it's because someone is now constantly home with them

so they have major anxiety when they are left.

i could be gone on a quick 20-30 minute errand and they greet me

like i've been gone for 2 days.

and when i leave, they've also started peeing in the house.

oh hell no.

i would rather them poop everywhere then pee.

it stinks and its so much harder to clean up.

especially if you don't find it until much later.

so we've reverted back to locking them in the kitchen

when we go anywhere.

just like when they were puppies.

poor things, but i really can't handle peeing in my house.

 

two

i have no patience for barking dogs when brette naps

and my dogs are really barky.

do you see a squirrel outside or a man on a jog?

did the ice machine just make a sound?

they will lose their damn minds

and i want to kill them.

just this week i decided to rake the front yard

during brette's afternoon nap.

(ronnie can't say i never did anything nice for him.)

louie saw me outside and went crazy.

he woke brette up and she had only been asleep for 30 mins.

i gave him several dirty looks and a few choice words.

so i've tried to figure out a system.

i shut all the blinds and i move a big woven basket in front

of our front door window so they can't see outside.

then i take them everywhere with me.

am i in the basement on the treadmill?

so are they.

am i taking a shower?

they are in my room with the door shut.

i give them no opportunity to even want to bark.

 

 

so far our transition has been pretty smooth

and i'm happy to report, i'm still in love my with my puppies

and i think my puppies are in love with brette too.



 

 

 



happy birthday to you

 

my bff had her 30th birthday

and we all gathered to celebrate in the afternoon

at a kc beer festival.

some of us celebrated a little too hard.

and by us, i mean the boys.

especially since the beer fest was actually a

strong ale fest. 

and strong ale equals a lot of bitter beer faces.

 

i missed out on the last half of the par-tay

because i had to be home by 4:00.

i needed to feed brette and my mom had to make it to

another engagement she had that night.

since i was sober i offered to come pick up

the lee's summit group when they were done drinking.

apparently everyone hit a wall around 6:00

and chaos ensued.

c h a o s

i won't go into the details, but there was more than one

person puking at a time.
and my car needed a bath after.
holy hell.

but - finally - i got everyone home and asleep by 8:30.

and then i relaxed and watched tv.

is this the life of a mother?
well shit.

 

happy birthday, kass!
love you long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wrapped up

a little update...

 

we stopped swaddling brette

on her 5 month birthday.

it was very anticlimactic.

i still put her in a sleep-sack,

but didn't wrap her arms.

i laid her down and her arms didn't move.

they just stayed at the side of her body

like they would if they were wrapped.

 

the second night, she chose a more,

"halleluiah, come to jesus" pose.

you know, where her arms are spread as wide as they can.

but still, she fell right to sleep. 

i thought - well, this is going to be easy.

 

but, of course, you should never count your chickens before they hatch.

 

have you heard of the "why are you hitting yourself" game?

well, that's what brette was playing on night three.

she'd hit herself in the face or

she would pull out her pacifier.

over and over and over.

i kept going in there to shush her and give her back her pacifier,

but after an hour of this,

i caved and swaddled her arms.

she was asleep within two minutes.

 

the fourth night she fell right to sleep,

but woke up an hour later and once again,

couldn't keep her hands off her face and couldn't get settled.

so again, i swaddled her.

 

then i realized the first couple nights

she wore pj's that covered her hands.

so i've been making sure to do that the last two nights

so her fingers can't get to her pacifier.

it seems to be working.

 

right now, she is sleeping peacefully unswaddled.

my fingers are crossed we have this thing licked.

but i just don't know about my chicken.

 

 

it's not delivery

homemade pizza is one of those things

my parents made and i've always loved.

 

its one of my go-to meals i request when i'm at their house.

 

when my bridesmaids spent the night

before my wedding?

yep, that was the pre-nuptials dinner i asked for.

on my 30th birthday?

yep, that too.

 

so why don't i make it for myself?

i did try it y e a r s ago

for valentine's day and it was a big success.

 

and then i never made it again.

so weird.

and its really not that hard.

 

last friday we had a date night planned with the turnbow's.

since they just bought a house

and we have a five month old,

we decided that staying at home for dinner might be cheaper

and easier on our bedtime routine.

 

so finally, i busted out my pizza making skills after almost four years.

and i must say.

it tasted just like my parent's.

yee haw!

 

wanna make your own pizza?

instead of making margherita pizza like i did years ago,

i made supreme.

it was easiest for me to do things ahead of time,

so during morning nap i cut up all my veggies and cooked my hamburger.

i used a 1/2 lb hamburger (seasoned with oregano, basil and garlic),

 peperoni, onions, bell pepper and mushrooms.

i just left them all in the fridge so i was ready to go that night.

i bought canned pizza sauce (which is different than what you would use for spaghetti)

and made my crust about an hour before the turnbow's were scheduled to arrive.

the crust is what really makes a pizza

so here's what you'll need.

 

1 1/4 C flour

1/2 pkg dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup lukewarm to warm water

(if your water is too hot it will kill the yeast)

 

mix water and yeast together and let stand 5 minutes.

add flour and salt together and stir into yeast.

mix until blended.

roll into a ball.

let it set in a bowl, covered with moist towel for 45 minutes.

preheat oven to 500.

spread dough with buttered hands on pizza pan.

add sauce and toppings.

bake for 10 minutes.

remove and add mozzarella.

bake until melted. (around 2 minutes)

 

 

so good.

i ended up doubling everything and making two

since we had four adults eating.

 

now i kind of want to make one every week.

 

 

 

(this crust recipe makes a thin, crunchy crust.

if you're more into deep dish, you might want to double the recipe

for just one pizza.)

brette: 5 months

growth:

we don't have a doctor's visit

until the middle of december,

so i'm not sure what her height and weight are.

she's been averaging an inch of growth per month

and a little over a pound,

so if i had to guess,

i'd say she's about 25 inches

and 14 lbs.

 

she's still wearing size one diapers,
but only during the day when i change her every 2-3 hours.
at night we make sure and put two's on her
for the extra coverage.
she fits in both fine,
we're just trying to finish up our bag of one's.
basically, its just ronnie and i being cheap.
 

a good way to describe brette right now
is "in between." 
she fits in 0-3 month leggings and coats the best.
all her jammies have to be 3-6 for the length
and the majority of her shirts are 3-6 months too.
none of our 6 months jeans fits yet,
so she's just in this weird in between sizes stage
where i have to juggle what fits.
oh, and then there is her head.
her freaking big ol' head.
you know that panda hat that is supposed to fit a 6 month old?
well, she's pretty much grown out of it.
i'm going to have to go buy some new winter hats in the next size up.
we loving refer to her as our big headed baby.

up top her big dome is still some hair.
she's still losing some of it, but it's started to grow in too.
it has also lightened up a ton.
she no longer has that real dark hair
she had when she was born.
i wonder if we'll end up with a blonde?
her eyes are gorge.
such a pretty blue.
i think they'll stay that way.

she's sitting up with support
all the time now,
so the bumbo is our best friend,
but she hates tummy time.
i still try and make her do it,
but she's definitely not getting in the 90 minutes a day
that's recommended.
in fact, she hates it so much she either
just lays her head down and cries
or
(insert trumpet playing)
rolls over!
yay!
she rolled over for the first time on november 5th.
i've seen her do it 4 times total,
but i have yet to catch it on camera.
i'll keep trying.
 

 

sleeps:

once again,
i would explain brette as in a "in between" transition phase.
she's sleeping through the night like always
but instead of putting her down around 9:00pm
and sleeping until 6:00 - 7:00am,
she goes down around 7:30 - 8:00pm
and sleeps until about 6:30 every morning.
 since she's sleeping that much longer,
she doesn't want to go right back down after nursing
and sleep until nine like she used to.
so we've been trying this new thing,
(i'm only 5 days into it)
where she gets up at 6:30am,
i nurse her and we play until about 8:30
and then i put her down for a morning nap.
she has been sleeping 2 to 3 hours!
then i nurse her again, we play, run errands, blah blah blah
and i put her back down around 1:00.
so basically she's transitioning into a more "normal"
sleep schedule.
a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
i never thought i'd see the day.

i also kind of made myself a prisoner to her.
(something i said i'd never do)
but she's a light sleeper and she naps in her swing.
her swing is our living room,
which is in the middle of our house.
so i secluded myself to our bedroom.
it didn't used to be a big deal because
she was only napping for like an hour, tops.
but now that she can snooze for 2-3 hours
i was trapped in my room.
let's just say i missed a couple of lunches
and decided it was time for a change.
i made ronnie move her swing.
it now resides in her bedroom,
where i can turn on her sound machine,
close the door and still live in the house.
it's been working great.

 

eats:

we've lengthened out our eating times again
and we're on a strict nursing schedule.
6:30
10:30
2:30
5:00
7:30
i think she could probably go longer
but i like how this fits in with our naps.
i'm also going to start her on some water.
my pediatrician suggested it
and i figured giving her a couple onces twice a day would be a good change.
i've decided to hold off on food though.
my ped said i could start is around five months,
but she said that most people do it because their kiddos don't sleep through
the night and they use it to help fill them up for bedtime.
since we're not having that problem,
i'm going to wait.
my plan is:
water at 5 months.
cereal & peanut butter at 6 months.
veggies at 7 months.
fruits at 8 months.
people food at 9 months.
of course, this might change,
depending on when she gets teeth,
but this is just my original thoughts on it.
 

 

plays:

"playing" has gotten more fun.
since she can sit up we use her bumbo
all the time and put toys out on the tray.
she can sit and occupy herself for quite sometime.
of course, the aim is to still put everything in her mouth,
but i like that she can sit and play for awhile.
i also try to keep her upright for the majority of her awake periods.
since she's logging so many nap hours now,
i want to keep her off the back of her head as much as
possible while she's awake.
lots of time in the bjorn, bumbo, mommy's arms and
our newest thing: the exersaucer!
my friend let me borrow her daughter's and
i love that it's something she can stand up in.
she's still a little short for it,
but i put a pillow under her to give her some extra support.
i also read it's not good to leave them in it for long periods of time
so i've limited myself to two 15 minute play times.
it sits in our kitchen so i normally use it while i eat or make dinner.
my s-i-l also gave us a bouncer,
but brette is still a little too tiny for it,
but i suspect that won't be the case for too long.
favorite new toy: the ring ball

 

firsts:

she rolled over!
she says some consonants now: mostly g's and r's.
she had her first halloween.
she tasted her first food.
(dad and grammy have started squeezing grapes into her mouth.
she loves the juice.)


i feel like my little baby is such a little lady now.
the next few months we should see some big changes.
stay tuned.