Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

It's snowing again so I've been busy in the kitchen while the "kids" are out playing in the snow.

I made peanut butter balls this morning, which is a family favorite, and had some left over chocolate. So I dipped some orange slices and sprinkled with a little sea salt. So good and highly recommended!!

I'm ready for Christmas, just spending these days making memories with the family. 

Our almost 3 month old is so strong he stands for 10 minutes holding our fingers and can pull himself up to a sitting position. Should I be nervous? 

Snow Day!

When the weather outside is frightful, the house smells delightful. There's simply no place to be, let it snow, let it snow!

Well with the weather snowy and icy, I decided to cook up some holiday snacks! Both of these are extremely easy and quick to make.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn:
10 cups of popped corn
14 oz bag of white chocolate chips
5 finally crushed candy canes
1 cup of milk chocolate chips

Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave and stir into popcorn. Sprinkle with 3/4 of the crushed candy canes. Spread out on wax paper. Melt the milk chocolate chips and put in a pastry bag to drizzle on the popcorn and sprinkle with remaining candy cane. This literally took 10 minutes! If you like peppermint flair stir in 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract into the milk chocolate! So good.

Of course what holiday is complete without good old chex mix. I just use the recipe on the box and use all cashews. I also cook it in the oven not the microwave like suggested. The crunch is so much better. 250 degrees for an hour stirring every 15 minutes. Wondering if these will last till football on Sunday....

Spreading Holiday Cheer

We've had an exciting December so far. We had our first snow storm in which we got Jessy out of bed and into snow clothes to play. There wasn't much snow last year so this was her first time really playing, hopefully we get more!

Of course afterward we had to have hot cocoa with whip cream and "prinkles", which is also called Jessy's coffee. I love her names for things!

And then she had a cuddle session with her baby brother. Oh the way she loves him melts my heart.

On an entertaining note... remember that reading tree that I blogged about last time?  Well it was going so great, every night we would open a book and read it.  Well yesterday I was nursing the little guy and I could hear paper tearing in the other room.  Of course I can't yell because he is JUST about to finally fall asleep.... by the time I get out there, Jessy had unwrapped all of the books under the tree and was sitting in a pile of paper. Sigh... 

'Tis the season!

25 Days of Christmas

Well I tried potty training a 2 year old while holding an 8 week old AND we're all sick.... after I had a good laugh (possibly a few tears and a glass of wine) I decided to put up our Reading Tree instead.

I wrapped 24 books to place under a new tree I purchased specifically for this project. Each night the kids open one book to read for family time. Of course the last book is The Night Before Christmas that is read by grandpa on Christmas Eve.

I wanted a woodland theme tree and I happened to have the ornaments on hand from last year. I love how it turned out.  

Some of our favorite books
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas 
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman 
The Littlest Elf 
Little Blue Truck's Christmas 

Christmas in a Manger

Source: 

Tree - Ballard

Pine Cones - Michael's

Introducing the Newest Family Member

Well I know its been awhile... a long while.  But I'm back now with lots of fun things to share.  But first an update.

My pregnancy was rough.  We ended up in the hospital with preterm labor and both of our hearts were in distress. Recovered from that to experience our actual labor 5 days early.  I was in labor for over a WEEK!!  I had never heard of this before but it actually has a name.  Prodromal labor.  You go into labor for hours (8-12 for me) with serious contractions that come every 6 minutes or so.  The kind of contractions you are on your knees for and singing through.  BUT, they never progress.  It's like groundhogs day for pregnant mothers... just in case the last 9 months wasn't uncomfortable enough!  I have to admit, by the 4th night I was crying to my very supportive husband to knock me out.

But alas, all things come to an end... and our healthy baby boy was born.

I have had a rough postpartum as well so its taken some time to get back into the swing of things, forgive me if I'm a little inconsistent for awhile, until things are fully under control.

Jessy is both loving and jealous of her little brother which is to be expected.  We lost our naps the last few weeks as I can't leave the baby to put Jessy down for her nap if he isn't sleeping, which he hasn't been.  He takes a 2 hour nap at a different time!  But he sleeps through the night, which is a huge blessing.  I told my husband, "These are the babies that people have to make them want to have more kids!!"  I'm not gonna lie... I DESERVE this baby.  My daughter was up every 1-2 hours for her first YEAR and I got up to work at 5am every morning.  It was hard.

I'm adjusting to being a stay at home mom, trying to juggle a baby and a VERY active toddler and I feel like a failure 3 out of 5 days.  I just pick myself up, apologize and try harder... with lots and lots of prayer.  There are so many things that I want to do around the house and I can't wait till the day I can get them all done!  At least with the winter, I just might get that chance!

Nesting and Cooking

It's been hectic over here still, building furniture for both kids, ordering furniture for the house, hanging drapes, getting different light fixtures and installing all new fire alarms.  Would love to show you pics of the progress but you know how you get a dresser all built only to find out its missing a part.  It's been sitting in our living room for a week now waiting... and waiting.

I'm finally going to test out some Annie Sloan paint soon (I'm writing this so I'll have to buckle down and get the project done!).  I decided to see if I could update our master bedroom dresser and night stands instead of buying new ones right now.  Fingers crossed it goes okay!

Trying to get the baby's room all ready to go.  Got the crib put together today with the help of Jessy.

Weekends are spent out in the yard and of course, at the waterpark.  We've been trying out some yummy desserts and recipes lately too!

If you haven't checked out Kinetic Sand, you NEED to buy some of this stuff.  Jessy absolutely LOVES it.  It's sold at Amazon and Walmart.  Its pretty much the consistency of brown sugar but never dries out.  We play with it almost every day.

Hopefully our landscaping will start here soon and I'll have pictures to show you some progress.

I need a nap....

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my best friend, the best father for our kids and the life and laughter of our family.

I couldn't do it without you.

Weekend Shananigans

We had a busy weekend. Friday evening we watched the kiddie parade (of course we started plotting our entry for next year!) Then Saturday we packed up a picnic and went to the local waterpark for some fun in the sun.  After 4 hours we dragged Jessy away (kicking and screaming).  Needless to say, she loved it.

That girl is a little fish and happiest in the water.  One of her first words was BATH because she asks for one. All. The. Time.

Our house is coming along, I finally got some pictures hung on the wall. And of course I got my flag pole mounted so I could put out the American Flag this weekend.

Hopefully we'll start some landscaping soon!

Have a great week!

Surviving

We are slowly getting settled into our new house.  Weekends are spent at the parks and playgrounds and spending as much family time together as possible.  Everything seems hectic and crazy with staying home with a Toddler who is VERY energetic.  I find it difficult to do anything especially while she was getting used to the idea of being in a new home and that her parents or her daddy wasn't going to leave for a week at a time.

We have hit up every park in town so far.

She has no fear of any slide we go on....

This slide I can easily stand under and not reach the top even in the middle.  It was so tall that I couldn't get any pictures of her going down because I had to catch her before she flew off!

Living together with my husband full time after 8 months takes some adjusting too.  Not in our relationship but definitely in parenting. After all, I've been the sole parent for that time. He's been learning alot! ;-)  For instance... the dog ran away and we were calling her back with a box of nilla wafers.  I went out back to water some pots and I heard our daughter throwing a tantrum.  A little later my husband came out and I asked him what that was all about.  "Oh she wanted the cookies so I told her to get them off the shelf in the pantry herself."  Without blinking I ran in the house and down the hall.  The pantry door was closed and I could hear a little girl giggling as I opened the door to see her sitting in the middle of the floor with the box of cookies in her lap.  Let's just say... that won't be happening again :-)

Jessy's vocabulary has exploded since we moved and her favorite word is "bath" because she wants one every second of the day. I have yet to enjoy that tub all to myself... I'm a little jealous.

I'm going on 20 weeks pregnant and can't wait for this little man to get here.  I really HATE being pregnant.  It's just 9 months of pure torture for me and I now live in a city that has NO maternity clothes.  Walmart doesn't even carry them.  So me and my 4 shirts need to do some shopping soon!

A Little Announcement

Well I said there were several reasons that I had been MIA.  Here is the other one.  Baby Boy due early fall.  I've had a very difficult pregnancy so far and I'm looking forward to feeling better soon!

My husband and I never do things easy... Living apart for 8 months, moving to another city and being very sick with a pregnancy all at the same time.  Now you understand why I've missed him so much.

So we are completing our family with a baby boy... I'm gonna need advice!  All I can think is "well I guess I get to buy a pee pee tee pee".  And I hope he is ready... his big sister is gonna give him a run for his money.  Poor kid is going to be exhausted keeping up with her!

Hope you had a blessed Easter weekend.

I'm BACK!

Did you miss me?

I know that I've been MIA lately but I have some really good reasons.  The first of which is, my husband bought a house.... in another city.  So for the first time in my LIFE, I will be living somewhere other than my hometown.  I'm nervous for sure but I'm looking at it as a whole new adventure. A whole new life really.  Leaving the corporate world of 19 years and becoming a homemaker is so foreign to me!

My coworker Stephanie sent me this message and it really hit home. "Don't be sad, be happy that God is opening a new charter in your life something bigger then you yourself could dream up. Your life is what I hope to achieve in my life so be proud and hold your head high."

I'm ready to take on the job of making this house our home. And I hope you follow along through all the ups and downs and miscolored walls (I'm sure they'll be a few). I have my Pinterest boards filled with ideas and I'm ready to work!

I'm very excited to finally be a family again with my husband who has been living in this city for 8 months while we see him on the weekends.  Let me just tell you how amazing he is.  If you noticed above I said my husband bought a house.  I haven't seen it in person.  Yes, I trust this man with everything in my life.  He knows me very well and I have no fear in what I'm going to find.  He's literally done ALL the work.  While I've been at home packing up our current house.... wait... maybe this wasn't such a fair deal?!

Last weekend we took Jessy to see the ducks... I know she'll miss them but we'll bring her back to visit along with our stale bread.

Here's to new adventures and many more blog posts!

Weekend Recap

Things have been a little chaotic around our place lately. I'll tell you more about that later this week.

Saturday we took Jessy to play at the playground... can I just say I have the biggest daredevil child of all time?  Nothing scares her.

Yes I sacrificed her to get this shot.  I knew I wasn't going to catch her but it would be worth it! She's fine... really.

Sunday morning we did our pancakes... Jessy LOVES mixing the batter, scrambling eggs, whatever you can do with that little whisk!

Last night she was fine and then all of a sudden she started running a fever that went up a degree every 20 minutes.  Yes I was scared. Haven't really slept yet and got up at 5am for work.  Life of a mom.

Happy Valentines Weekend!

My little lover...

This girl has been giving me a run for my money lately!  She is talking up a storm, some of it understandable but every day she is getting new words and copying us (this could be a problem...  :-)

She is such a lover.  She hugs everyone and everything.  We're so proud of her.

Have a great weekend.

Weekend Recap and Valentines Day Ideas

This weekend I started questioning if I'm doing something wrong as a parent.  I'm blessed in that I have a group of women that I can ask questions to and find out that things are completely normal. Jessy refused to nap and we STRUGGLED with bedtimes this weekend.  To the point where I felt like throwing in the towel.  She could literally stay awake for 24 hours... she fights sleep and has a way of going and going like the energizer bunny.

We had more meetings with the builders this weekend... just praying that things work out to our favor.  And daddy and daughter had a dance off yesterday morning right out of bed!!

I took this picture this weekend and Jessy looks so grown up.  I think it was a trick of the camera. That's what I keep telling myself anyway...

With Valentines Day coming up I found some quick and easy ideas to share with you.

FREE Printable Love Banner from Tatertots and Jello

A unique dessert idea, Strawberry Pizza from Sugarbetty

And an EASY way of doing those heart pancakes from One Creative Mommy

Since Valentines day is on the weekend this year, have some fun with it!  

18 Month Sleep Regression

We haven't seen the sun here for weeks... kinda drags you down a bit.  The groundhog certainly didn't see his shadow around us!  And what about this 18 month sleep regression?  How long does it last?  I've heard everything from 2 weeks to 2 months. I need some encouragement! Some days she hardly eats a thing and most nights she is up either fussing or screaming like a nightmare.  I've tried putting her in bed with me but that doesn't work AT ALL. She just wants to play with the dog instead.

This weekend we did a little shopping and stopped to get some Pho.... which baby J LOVED.

And the rest of the weekend was spent cuddling and snuggling which I LOVED!

Hopefully we'll get a couple of nights this week of full sleep. Have a good week!

I'm Still Here!

Congratulations to Shayna B. who won the Hello Moccs!

It's been a CRAZY few weeks.  We booked a trip to the Super Bowl (I'll share that story later).... and then canceled it (you have no idea how stressful that is)... we are also house hunting but heavily leaning toward building at this point (again... stress much)?  I've packed all of 1 box so far... And baby J has had a cold for two weeks AND going through the 18 month sleep regression... which means about 4 hours sleep some nights.  Other nights she sleeps 11 hours straight.  Can't wait for this to be over.

Apparently I need help organizing the cupboards...

She threw a blanket (saddle) over the horse... 

Hopefully things will start to slow down this week.  HA HA, who am I kidding?