happy heart day

(my valentine)

 

 

when ronnie and i got married someone gave me

the book, The Five Love Languages.

have you read it?

i did... like 8 years ago, but it still resonates with me.

my love language?

quality time.

ronnie's love language?

words of affirmation. 

basically, i have to tell him nice things about himself and

he has to hang out with me.

then we're both happy.

so on days like today,

neither one of us are looking for a gift.

thank god, because i did not get him one...

he didn't get me one,

and we couldn't care less.

(ps- "gifts" is one of  the love languages so

this would be a big deal to some.)

instead, we spent the day together.

first, a breakfast date.

it was just the two of us because

my parent's had the girls.

reid had her first sleepover without me so we could go

out for ronnie's sister's 40th birthday.

then, to make things really romantic we came home,

laid in bed and watched the movie,

straight outta compton.

because there's nothing that ronnie likes more

than early 90's ganster rap.

then we met up to get our kiddos back and

spent the rest of the day with them,

cleaning up the house and doing laundry.

happy valentine's day to us.

i know.

we rock.

but you know what?

i got my quality time, so

i'm completely happy.

now i just have to go give ronnie some compliments

and we should be all good.

 

happy valentine's day to you,

however you want to celebrate it.

snapday

i said the other day that there is not much to share these days.

so i decided to do 10 second "snaps" of my life.

(a la snap chat)

here was our day.

 

 

miss reid slept all night and didn't get up

until almost 7am.

now if only brette would have slept that late.

 

 

it was cold and i was super sick yesterday

so i still not feeling up to fighting the grocery store.

instead, i used this awesome feature ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING.

it's a life saver and totally worth the extra fee. (only $2)

 

 

getting ready to run errands and the girls were

playing so adorably together.

 

 

sorry this is sideways. i can't figure out how to turn it.

but once again, brette and reid are playing together.

i can't get enough of this.

 

 

nap was kind of a battle today.

this was 3 in the afternoon and brette just FINALLY

gave in and fell asleep and this was the 3rd time

i put reid down. whew.

 

 

reid after nap.

how cute is she?

not a video but still...

 

 

 and i had them take an early bath

before dinner since ronnie was home to help.

 

 

girls are in bed and ronnie went to the basement

to put together our treadmill.

time for me to start working out again.

and then we got to talking about what we want to throw away.

we're ready to clean this junk out!

 

 

there's my wednesday in videos.

 

 

 

 

super snack

i saw one of those tasty videos on facebook and

i actually tried out the recipe.

i meant to share this over the weekend so

you guys could use it for the super bowl,

buuuut i totally dropped the ball.

instead, just file this away for your next party.

i didn't make it for the super bowl either.

instead, my work had a food day on friday and

it seemed like the perfect recipe to try.

i ended up forgetting to make it so i rushed to the store and

put it together in the kitchen at the bank.

it literally took me 5 minutes.

so easy.

do you like chili cheese dogs?

i don't.

meat topped with meat just isn't my thing

so this wasn't for me,

but ronald loves them.

he's the guy that orders a footlong coney dog at sonic. (gross)

so i wanted to try it out because i thought this would

be something he'd really like.

 

you'll need:

a package of lil' smokies

a package of cream cheese

1 can of hormel chili

1 can of crescent rolls

topped with shredded cheese

 

pop the cream cheese in the microwave to soften.

then mix it up with the hormel chili.

set aside.

take the crescent rolls and wrap your smokies.

place them on a baking sheet in a circle.

pour your chili mix in the middle.

sprinkle with shredded cheese.

bake with crescent rolls instructions.

(375 for 15 mins)

 

wah la - chili cheese dog dip.

 

 

** wanna extra tip?**

my aunt shared this over the holidays.

if you're making pigs in the blanket with hot dogs,

then you can use the regular crescent rolls.

BUT

if you're using little smokies, then you

should buy the crescent ROUNDS.

they are already cut into strips and fit

the smokies better.

all you have to do it cut them and

half and they're perfect!

 

ho hum

i feel bad for not blogging as much as i used to,

and its not that i'm running around with two girls

and have no free time.

(although, that does count for something.)

but no,

i still get a few free moments in the afternoon and

each night after they go to bed.

but really, i feel like i don't have much to share.

it's winter and we're cooped up a lot.

this week our highlight out of the house was storytime.

besides that, we cleaned, did some laundry, yada yada yada.

not a whole lot.

but here we go, my uninteresting week.

 

1 - we moved the daybed out of the playroom.

we were running out of space and my brother needed it,

so it was a win - win.

now we're in the market for a pull-out couch.

we need something for a guest to sleep on.

we also need another shelving unit to set up brette's "kitchen" properly.

 

2 -  reid is sleeping through the night.

i hesitate to write this because i might jinx myself,

but the day after i complained about her still getting up,

she stopped doing it.

she is now sleeping 7:30 to 6:00, give or take 30 mins.

and then she goes back down until about 7:45.

i'm loving it.

 

3 - ronnie came home wednesday night sick.

he swore he had what i had, only worse.

then he went to the doctor and they told him he didn't have

strep throat or an ear infection or a sinus infection... just a fever.

just goes to show that ronaldo is actually a big pansy.

(or another P word that i will let you fill in)

 

4 - i am obsessed with scandal right now.

does anyone watch it?

a girl at work let me borrow the first couple seasons.

i just finished season 3 and now i'm trying to track down season 4.

(so maybe THIS is why i'm not blogging as much...?)

 

5 - we had a small fire lit under our

ass to start working on the house again.

don't get excited, just a few small projects,

but progress is always a good thing.

i plan on having a complete house update next week.

 

so that's it.

like i said,

not a whole lot.

 

hopefully your lives are much more interesting.

 

 

 

what's next

oh my gosh.

this last week has been crazy.

i've been crazy sick

and crazy busy.

not the best combo.

last weekend i had a baby shower

for my dear friend lindsay.

so fun. and i got to hang out with

all my pregnant friends.

literally, everyone is with child.

 

 

 

but that night i was up almost all night

long with a killer sore throat and congestion.

i made ronald take me to urgent care the next morning since it was a sunday.

i had a double ear infection and strep throat.

sa-weet.

that was followed up with headaches from hell.

it was definitely a loooong couple days.

my mom and dad came up to help me,

because for real, i'm not sure i could have "parented"

for a whole day straight.

even now, 8 days later, and i'm still

not back to 100%.

lets just say we spent the majority of last week in our jammies.

 

 

and even though i wasn't on the top of my game,

i felt much better by the week's end, so

we headed over to dana's on thursday for our monthly pizza night.

the kids get to run around and eat cookies and

i get to hang out with my friends.

its a win-win.

 

i worked all day friday.

then i had my second baby shower on saturday morning, this time for jana.

it's such a nice treat to meet all my besties for breakfast on the plaza.

for real, i need more of that in my life.

 

 

 

saturday night we had my work holiday party.

the food was delicious.

seriously, i dominated dinner.

and sunday i got up and headed to st. louis to

visit margie and her brand new baby GIRL, clara sue!

(marge is a mother of two boys so this little girl was a complete surprise and

i'm not kidding when i say everyone is completely dying over her.)

 

 

now here i am,

another monday night.

we just got done with family dinner and

i am worn out.

this week should go at a much slower pace.

i need it.

 

 

now excuse me,

i'm going to go lay in bed and watch scandal.

 

 

 

the big enchilada

i just finished the last of the leftovers for lunch today

and reminded me to share my newest recipe.

 

i always need something easy for dinner.

nothing that takes all day.

heck, nothing that even takes an hour.

it's got to be fast, easy and good.

i read a recipe the other day on pinterest

and i thought it met all my requirements.

i changed a few things because i

a) didn't have it

or

b) didn't want it

 

the original recipe called for a pound of hamburger

but we had just had chili the day before,

so i went with chicken.

i didn't even cook the chicken.

i took out my trusty bag of tyson grilled chicken strips

and cut them into pieces.

i measured out a cup of frozen stir fry veggies (onions, green & red peppers) 

diced them up and put them in with the chicken.

once it was hot, i added a packet of enchilada seasoning and

one can of rotel - - stir.

i decided that corn sounded good with this,

so i added a pile of frozen corn to the mix.

(probably like 3/4 cup)

i was also going to add a 1/2 can of black beans,

but we were out. wah wah.

meanwhile in another pot, i cooked 8 oz of pasta.

you can use whatever you have in your pantry.

i had thick, flat noodles.

they weren't egg noodles, but they were shorter than fettuccine.

i don't know exactly what they were,

but i liked it and i already had it.

once the noodles were done, i added it to my chicken

and mixed it all together.

then i poured it in a casserole dish,

topped with lots of shredded cheese and

backed it at 350 until hot. (20-30 mins)

serve with sour cream.

 

brette is a huge fan of mexican food.

she eats it better than anything,

hence her 2nd birthday party.

so i'm always looking for easy mexican

and i thought the noodles were a surprising change from rice,

which B doesn't eat very well.

overall, it was a hit and i'm adding it to the "keeper" pile.

 

 

here it is, right out of the oven...

 

reid: six months

 

 

it's here.

the half way point.

she's rounding the corning and heading into

the second term of her first year.

just. like. that.

 

 

growth:

i am currently sick.

i am sporting a double ear infection AND strep throat.

not to mention, my cough and stuffy nose.

so when reid didn't sleep through the night like normal

and was congested as well, i decided to take her into our pediatrician.

she is not sick (yaaas!) and weighed in at 17 lbs.

her 6 month appointment is tomorrow so i will have better stats,

but i know she's growing and that's good enough for me.

she's still in size two diapers and 6 month clothing.

she's grown out of the 3 months stuff and i've started

putting her in 6-9 months stuff even though its a little big.

if its warm, she wears it. 

i've stopped giving her reflux medicine because

she seems to have outgrown the puking thing.

in fact, i don't even burp her anymore.

just another sign that she's getting older.

still no teeth, but i swear they're on their way.

 

 

sleeps:

i don't want to complain because

i know there are people out there that have it

W A Y  worse than me, but i'm a

little frustrated by her lack of consistency at night.

we always have her down by 7:30.

some nights she's back up by 11:00,

but then she'll sleep until 5 or 6.

other nights she's up at 3 and then back down until 7.

but no matter what,

(except for like 4 nights)

she is always up once a night.

not a the same time,

or even for very long,

but definitely up.

and i always nurse her because

she IS sleeping long stints and i feel like

she is ONLY 6 months old.

but i'm ready.

i'm ready to put her down at 7:30 and

not see her pretty little eyes until 7:00 the next morning.

fingers crossed its coming soon.

and yes, still sleeping for the most part on her tummy.

i try to flip her over but she always goes right back to her stomach.

i'm going to ask the doctor about it tomorrow.

i don't know what else to do.

my next problem is the dreaded nap.

so important.

so needed (for baby and mom).

and reid is not having it.

she still takes FOUR naps a day.

FOUR.

do you know how hard that is to do with a two year old

that needs s o m e t h i n g  constantly?

its hard.

but reid will only sleep for 30-45 mins.

obviously that's not enough, so she gets tired every few hours,

i put her back down and pray for a long nap,

but it never happens.

i just want her to sleep from 9-11 and then from 2-4.

now if someone will just tell her...

 

 

 eats:

she is still nursing every few hours.

but she's also drinking water out of a straw or

a sippy cup. (mostly because that's what we have out for brette)

and you know we started food.

she normally is fed twice a day.

this week she's trying out apples and peas.

she's not loving the peas, but i poke them in there.

next week will be sweet potatoes and pears.

ronnie forgets that she eats now and he pretty much took

over the kids this weekend since i've been sick.

reid only ate once.

whoops.

i guess i need to remind dear ol' daddy that he has

two girls that need to eat now.

 

 

plays:

she's a people watcher.

she loves to watch brette run around and dance.

she loves anything that allows her to sit up.

i can get her to sit on her own for a while,

but i only do it on my bed so it doesn't hurt when she falls or

when i'm super close by and can catch her.

she getting closer.

she also loves activity mats.

we don't have one, go figure.

but shan does and every time i'm over there,

reid will just lay on paige's activity mat perfectly content.

 

 

firsts:

she made her way into her first new year.

she had her first solid food.

and she can semi-sit up under supervision.

 

 

i think these next 3 months will bring big changes for reid.

i know a certain little girl down the hall that cannot wait

for her little sister to sit up a start playing with her.

i'm excited to see it myself.

 happy 1/2 birthday, chicken little!