Friday, October 30, 2015

halloween week

Monday:
my parents came up to spend the day
with the girls while we all worked.
my two year old didn't nap and my
three month old goes to bed at 7:30.
we ate a quick family dinner and made
a fast exit to get both girls to bed before
the real shit show began.



Tuesday:
it was rainy and gross.
i planned to go grocery shopping but
i refuse to try to unload and load the girls.
then load and unload all the food.
instead we went to hobby lobby and
spend the rest of the day at home doing laundry and crafting.
(making reid's costume)
 
 
Wednesday:
i spent the morning cleaning house.
i spent the afternoon searching for overalls for B and
making witch finger cookies.
i also found time to take a comparison shot of B and R.
brette was four months old and reid is only three,
but still.  they're looking cute in their pumpkin pj's.
ronnie also got reid to (what we are calling) laugh.
so adorable.
 


 
Thursday:
every thursday morning we head to the
library for storytime.
brette really looks forward to it and it
gives us an actual structured activity to our week.
after, i finally went grocery shopping.
i really hate grocery shopping.
actually, i just really hate walmart.
but i did manage to find some cute sweatpants
(is that even possible?!) for only $10.
 
 

 
then that evening we had our monthly pizza party
(halloween addition) at shannon's.
the kiddos wore costumes and ate candy while the adults
enjoyed apple sangria, pizza, beer and sugar cookies.
i seriously love my friends.
 
 
(my kids missed the group shot because reid was asleep and
brette had just crapped herself.  sweet. "i pooped in my mouse.")
 
 do you get brette and reid's costume?
you have to be familiar with this book...
 
 

 
 
Friday:
and finally the end of the week.
i had to dress up for work and brette had a little halloween party.
my mom came up and watched reid.
now i'm just laying here watching the royals and my boyfriend, hosmer.
#foreverroyal #takethecrown #boysinblue
 
 
tomorrow is obviously halloween.
there is a parade in the morning and then
we're heading over to brian's for trick-or-treating that evening.
i'm sure i'll have a ton of cute pictures to share soon.
 
hope you had a good week!
 
 
 
 

Sunday, October 25, 2015

witch's fingers

it's halloween week and
we have a little party on thursday.
i saw these cookies on food network this morning
and i'm going to whip up a batch.
they're fun, festive, a bit scary and EASY!
i'm in.

 
you basically make a sugar cookie,
roll them into "fingers,"
cut knuckle wrinkles,
add a slivered almond for a nail,
bake and then
dip them in jam.
 
aren't they creepy?
i can't wait to see if they're actually good too.
 
whisk together 2C flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.
set aside.
beat 1 stick of butter and 1C sugar together.
add in 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla until smooth.
then gradually add in the flour mixture.
done!
roll the dough between your palms into 5 inch fingers.
press a sliced almond into the end of each finger to make fingernails.
make several horizontal cuts in
the center of each finger to make knuckles.
press the dough on either side of the cuts to shape the knuckles.
bake for 16 to 18 minutes at 325 on a greased cookie sheet.
let them cool completely.
heat the jam over low heat until warm and
dip the ends of the fingers.
now you're ready to serve them up.
 
mwah ha ha ha!
 
 
ps- just a little thought,
but i bet you could totally add green food coloring
to your cookie dough and make green fingers.
 

 

Thursday, October 22, 2015

reid: three months



can you believe it?!
we're already a quarter done with her first year.
s l o w  d o w n.  please.

growth:
i'm not sure how much she weighs
or how tall she's gotten.
we don't have another check-up with the
pediatrician until november.
but i do know that she is getting bigger!
she's still in size one diapers,
but i've started putting her in a couple 3-6 month
clothing because of the weather.
all of brette's clothes for fall/winter are that size
and since we've had a few chilly days,
i needed to bust them out.
and honestly, they fit pretty well.
a little roomy, but it looks comfy.
her eyes are blue and so pretty.
her hair is definitely still red and pretty long on top.
there's no mullet like with brette
and i think i'm going to be able to start bows a little sooner.
 
 
sleeps:
our sleep schedule has been working really well.
we start our bedtime routine at 7:00 and i have
her in bed by 7:30-7:45.
i make it out in time to have 10ish minutes with brette
before she goes to bed, so it works out well.
last week reid was sleeping until 6 in the morning,
this week, she's been getting up at 5:00 and then going back down
until about 7:30.
i actually prefer this schedule because i get to sleep a little later.
she's up for a couple hours and then she's ready to go right
back down for her first nap - - which lasts anywhere from
45 minutes to 2 hours.
after that she has more of an awake period and
stays up a bit longer.
i always have her ready for another nap around 1:00
so she can go down at the same time as brette.
(its nice to get a little break)
she also takes another nap in the evening around 4:00 or 5:00,
which is helpful for me to get dinner on the table.
this is not a concrete schedule and she dozes off
in between, but i at least have in her crib three times a day.
 
 
eats:
our "food" situation has not changed at all.
she eat basically every two hours.
i nurse her the days i'm here and
on mondays and fridays, she takes a bottle.
i've been trying to schedule my lunch so i can
come home and feed her on my working days,
so that's a nice break from my pump.
we still have plenty frozen milk,
so she's not getting formula.
i'm going to try my best to keep it up,
just to save us from having to buy anything extra.
 
 
plays:
i introduced some toys!
actually no, brette introduced reid to toys.
we have a basket in her room of "baby" toys
that brette's outgrown.
brette kept getting them out for her
and finally she held on and started paying attention.
she can follow an item with her eyes and reach for it.
she really likes the ring ball and
it's especially helpful in honing those skills.
(i think its a favorite first toy of all babies.)
she has great neck strength.
she holds her head up all the time and no
longer likes to be carried around like a baby.
in fact, i tried putting her in her lounger the other day
and she was doing a sit up trying to not lay down.
we may be coming to the final days of getting to use her lounger.
but no worries, because we busted out the bumbo
and reid sits like a champ!
we play some peek-a-boo, read books and sing to her,
but mostly we just sit around and talk.
she is so good at responding to us.
she's definitely another talker.
lots and lots squeals, coos and gurgles going on over here.
 
 
firsts:
first hayride.
first day injury. (brette accidently kicked her in the head)
first time to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard.
first roadtrip. (marceline and back)
first time sitting up in a bumbo.
 
 
i wouldn't say she is as chill as she used to be.
there are definitely days she makes me work for it,
but over all she seems like such a happy baby
and we love to watch her grow.


as for the monthly pictures:
its definitely harder this time.
brette keeps messing with her or throwing
toys on the chair (hello, little owl)
but i'm trying.
i definitely don't have the half an hour to mess around
 to get the perfect shot when she's smiling,
so these always feel rushed.
but anyway... at least they're getting done.




 

Monday, October 19, 2015

we're not done yet

we had our annual family fall day
and since everyone still had plenty of applebutter
this year was just for fun.
we got to see my cousin
play football, so that was neat.
the time got away from us though and
we missed out on our apple eating contest
and carving pumpkins,
but there was lots of running around outside
and eating food,
so i'm all good.
maybe we need another day?!
 
 
 
football!  they got killed but it was good to see aden play.
what a pretty day! 
 
 
 
 
 
we should have carved pumpkins either before or
after the game but we were too focused on food.
soup, soup, scouse and chili.
plus homemade bread and donuts
and a ton of dessert.
yes, i'll have seconds.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and after it got dark,
we loaded on our hayride and drove
around the country roads.
the girls laughed and played
while mickie sang them songs i remember
from my childhood.
i punked out half way through and
rode in the truck.
in my defense, i held reid the whole time
and i needed some back support
and a little less yelling.
 
 

 
also while we there my aunt carol
gave out free haircuts...
so i chopped mine off.
it doesn't look like it,
but it seriously feels short.
ronnie approves.


 

 happy fall, ya'll!
 want to see past family fall days?
its always a good time.
 2013 
 
we've been doing this since i was a kid
and obviously its one of my favorite days of the year.
i'm so happy brette and reid get to grow up with it too.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

a little baby we never met

 
 
today is pregnancy and infant loss awareness day.
i'm sure you saw it all over facebook.
can you believe that one in four mommies and daddies will go through this?
well, i do because of ALL the people that reached out
to ronnie and i last fall when we lost our little one.
people i never even knew went through this.
family and friends.
its like a secret little club that no one wants to be a part of.
but i know there are so many people out there
thinking about their own little coulda shoulda woulda baby today.
mine would have been 7 months old.
bless our babies,
the ones we hold and the ones we can't.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

toddler food tips


i am by no means an expert on toddlers.
brette is my first and she's just in the beginning stages.
maybe, i should call this... what works right for me right now.
that's a little better.
 
i have found that it's best if brette has gone potty,
been fed or has a snack
and something to drink before i try to
get anything done.
 
and sometimes it's way easier
to grab something out of the pantry
rather than find something healthy.
so with that in mind,
here are a few things i like to keep on hand
that might work for you too.
(and brette actually loves.)
 
1. frozen peas and blueberries.
i never thought this sounded good,
but she loves them.
i literally dump them in a bowl and she goes at it.

2. little snack ems' dill pickles.
i just hand her a couple and she walks around eating them.
easy and really not that messy.
 

3. cut red peppers into strips.
the first time i saw brette eat a
red pepper it freaked me out.
it was like it was the best thing ever made.
and you know what,
both her cousins destroyed theirs too.
so weird, but kids seem to love them.
 

4. hummus or southwest dip
on crackers or carrots.
and found in most of my wraps.
a healthy dip.

5. peanut butter and celery.
i thought this might be hard for her to chew,
but she actually loves it.
sometimes she gets the "strings" caught in her teeth,
but whatever.
 i'll take that over eating a
bowl of marshmallows with a side of chips.
(and ps - she actually prefers if i just give her a big
stalk of celery and let her dip it in the peanut butter herself.
so yeah, maybe no one should eat out of my peanut butter jar.)
 
and then there is the power of
6. a tortilla.
we always have tortillas.
for quesadillas.
for little pizzas.
for cheese crisps
for turkey wraps.
for pinwheels.
for breakfast burritos.
and i've started making what i call
banana bites.
it's a fun way to serve up breakfast.
so easy...
spread peanut butter on a tortilla, then
wrap a banana up in it and slice
into rounds.
i make it look like a flower on her plate,
but that's just me.

i recently read another mom that took
cookie cutters and cut shapes out of lunch meat and cheese for her kid.
i think brette would really like that,
so that's next on my list to try.

any other suggestions?
what foods do you feel good about giving your kid
that they'll actually eat?

 


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

so little time

we had another full weekend.
saturday we had a friend's wedding.
i have a bias toward fall weddings,
they're my fave. obviously.
this one involved cowboy boots,
a whole table of desserts and 
literally a boatload of beer,
so ronnie and i were in heaven.
luckily it was in warrensburg, so
my parents watched both girls for me
and i was able to run home in between the
wedding and the reception to nurse reid.







ronnie and i had a fun night.
i think we both feel the need to make the
most of the time we get out of the house.
just imagine us running toward the light,
yelling  F R E E D O M  like braveheart.
yeah, its a lot like that.
that being said, i'm good staying home until,
lets say, new year's.
it's hard to stay out late and then get up at
5:30am to take care of little ones.
not to mention, pack, load up the car
and fly down the highway back home
so i could spend my sunday with
my college roommates, margie and shannon.
and our 7 kids
(with another one on the way...
marge is due with her third nugget this january.)
let me give a small piece of advice:
if you are overrun with kids and you don't
feel like entertaining just make
your husband bust out some sort of heavy
equipment and let the kids watch.
it gave us some actual alone time on the deck while
the crazy kids watched ronnie on the excavator,
took turns riding with him,
and helped him pick up sticks.
free labor.
i'll take it.
they even found a huge black snake,
which none of them were afraid of,
so they eagerly watched ronnie chopped it up
while i silently freaked out from 50 yards away.
seriously, brette. back the hell up.



and all too soon, it was monday,
but luckily it was columbus day
so the bank was closed.
unfortunately, it's a "working" holiday
so i spend my morning painting an
old lady's house.
no worries though.
i was home in time to put both girls
down for a nap and watch the most amazing
comeback by the royals.
which ps- i'm crossing my fingers for tomorrow.
and now i'm just trying to recuperate and
catch up around the house.
hope you had a great weekend too!