You may have noticed there is no meal plan this week. No? I'm the only one who pays attention? Oh. Right then. Anyway. There is no meal plan this week because we are having quite the abnormal week. Brian's off at a class for the week in Minnesota and aunties are visiting from Topeka and La Crosse before heading off to Barbados and...La Crosse.... :) We heart you, Jell!
As a result of this, I have no desire to cook and the boys and I have been nomming at Grrrma and Gunka's house or out to eat. It has been fun hanging out with the girls, but still absolutely no fun having daddy away. Strangely, I've had to do a lot more chores and the house is a lot more cluttered. And we won't even go into the great fish feeding fiasco of Monday morning....
Oh yes, and top that all off with Callum being in a three month growth spurt. The kid's only 11 weeks old, but he's decided that it's growing time so he was up every three hours last night and is generally quite cantankerous when awake.
Sooo....tomorrow after playgroup, we are going to go join daddy in Minnesota. He's got a king suite all to himself with some rumored dual-head shower. And a kiddy pool with slide. So we're going to make stop in Duluth mid-day to go to....TARGET!!!....and then continue on the rest of the way to have fun at the hotel. I'm not entirely convinced that I want to drive three hours one way with two little boys in the car, but I'm hoping that the way I'm planning to break it up will mean a couple nice little naps for them and quiet time for me.
This logically means that I should have all our bags packed and ready to go tonight. Ha! Oh, sorry. I really should make sure we have swimsuits, diapers, clothes, all possible skin creams and first aid materials, a pack n play, required blankies and stuffed animals, books, laptop, etc....and what am I doing? Sitting in the living room with a cup of tea and not a single thing packed. Yeah. Maybe we won't make it to playgroup....
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Mother's Day and Meals
I had an excellent mother's day with all my boys yesterday. Even though Everett "ruined" the surprises, it was still the nicest mother's day I've had. On Friday morning, as soon as he woke up, Everett ran to me and said, "mama! make card you!" Surprise #1 blown. :) But it was a much cooler card than I expected. I'll take a picture later. Sunday morning, as soon as I came downstairs (I slept in with Cal), Everett told me, "mama! got flowers you. County Market!" Surprise #2 blown. Oops. They were still beautiful. We went to the black cat for breakfast and worked on our new fence for the rest of the day. We stopped and dropped off cards for grandmas and then had dinner of pizza from The Alley and fresh pineapple with Brian's parents and grandma.
I loved spending the day with my two little boys (even though I do that everyday) and my one big guy too.
Meals for the week:
I loved spending the day with my two little boys (even though I do that everyday) and my one big guy too.
Meals for the week:
Dinners for May 9-15
Monday, May 9 – green chicken nuggets, rice
Tuesday, May 10 – meatloaf and red potatoes
Wednesday, May 11 – black bean burritos
Thursday, May 12 – leftovers (Garage sale set-up tonight)
Friday, May 13 – pizza and pineapple (Garage sale tonight 3-7) - get rump roast out for tomorrow
Saturday, May 14 – French dip sandwiches
Sunday, May 15 – chicken pot pie
Friday, May 6, 2011
Ev's new girl
I got my new mother's day present this week and I'm already glad I have it! I adore my Canon Rebel xsi, but it's so big and expensive, I don't always carry it around. So in comes my new Panasonic Lumix
They had it on woot.com on easter for an awesome price, so I nabbed one for myself...errr....the boys carefully considered and picked it out for me as a mother's day gift.... :)
Already, because I have this awesome little thing, I've managed to nab these pictures:
And yes, I do see that his eyes are getting lighter. Three blue-eyed boys for me, I guess!
Oh yeah, and the very rare "picture of mama with boy":
They had it on woot.com on easter for an awesome price, so I nabbed one for myself...errr....the boys carefully considered and picked it out for me as a mother's day gift.... :)
Already, because I have this awesome little thing, I've managed to nab these pictures:
 |
| This would be my lovely two year old son. Holding hands. With a girl. A younger girl (she's not quite 2 yet). They kind of love each other. |
 |
| And this would be my lovely two year old son, contemplating life. |
Then there's baby boy. He is not very good at working out his neck muscles and despises tummy time. Instead of working out, he'll either lie his head down and rest or lie his head down and scream. Sooo, out comes the bumbo. Take that, baby brother! I don't nearly trust him to sit there and hold his head up alone, but in between instances of me helping him hold up his head, he was doing a good job of holding it up and trying to look around. Go Cally!
And yes, I do see that his eyes are getting lighter. Three blue-eyed boys for me, I guess!
Oh yeah, and the very rare "picture of mama with boy":
Monday, May 2, 2011
A few of my favorite (baby) things
I've seen this on several other blogs and I thought it would be fun to do my own. Since I am an old pro now that I have two babies, you know. Here are some products that I love.
General
My newest find - the Woombie. This is the best swaddler I've discovered. We tried the SwaddleMe and that worked okay, but Everett (and now Callum) could always get his arms out. Kind of the point of a swaddle, no? We also tried the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle. That one is nice. It's more of a wearable blanket with a swaddle wrap that is attached on some velcro loops. My favorite so far though, has been the woombie. It has an awesome double zipper (so diaper changes are easy peasy), holds baby nice and snug, and there is no way a kid is sneaking an arm out and waking himself up. If they would bring the price down a little, I'd give them an A+.
Aden + Anais swaddle blankets. I know, another swaddle thing. These blankets are good for swaddling, but they are also very awesome for other uses. They are super lightweight so they are great for covering baby when nursing in public, shading baby outside without overheating (if it would ever get warm here), and snuggling with indoors. They get softer after each wash and come in some very cute patterns. Again, the price issue...., so B+.
Playtex Drop-Ins. I've tried several types of bottles in the past two years or so. It might have something to do with picky boys, but the drop-ins have been the winner with both. (The Ventaire is also just fine, it just has more pieces and we only have one.) The nipple on these bottles is the best I've found and simulates breastfeeding much better than the stupid First Years Breastflow bottle. That thing always managed to collect milk between the two nipple pieces and drive me up the wall. Once C can manage a faster flow, I'm excited to use our new stainless steel bottles!
Mam pacifiers. This is really all baby's preference, but my boys loved Mam pacis and no others. Tried soothies - No go from Everett. Nuks got the same reaction from Callum. Neither cared for an orthodontic playtex one either. You really just have to try a few types to see what baby will like (if any).
Fisher Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse. Callum's not really that into his yet, but Everett still sleeps with his. It plays nice songs, lowers the volume as it goes and plays for the perfect length of time. Also, portable. So you can have your bedtime music and light wherever you need to go at bedtime.
Gilligan and O'Malley Nursing Tanks. I LIVE in nursing tanks. Only one of these has had a clasp break on me and it was my oldest one. And I just kind of forced it back together and still use it on a daily basis. For this price, I can buy several and not look like I'm wearing the exact same thing EVERY day. They are a bit baggy in the torso area, especially the long style. So for that, they get an A-.
Sony Baby Call Monitor. A great sound-only monitor. I kind of would like a video monitor, but this thing is pretty great. It has both a setting for on always and a voice activated setting so you don't hear anything until baby starts squirming. The volume control does seem a little touchy, so I generally keep it turned up pretty high.
Baby-wearing
Ergo. The best baby carrier for those past the newborn stage. Hands down. Lower the price and get some cuter patterns, please!
Moby wrap. Awesome for the newborn stage. A little cumbersome to get on, especially while out and about, but so comfy for mom (or dad!) and baby! Not a sized carrier so mom and dad can both use it even if mom is 5'3" and dad is 6'4".
Baby K'tan. My first nice baby carrier! I got this as a gift before Everett was born and he kind of lived in it. It's a lot like the Moby and really only good until they're about 20 pounds (even though they say 30 I think). It is much easier to put on than the Moby and does pretty much the same holds. You don't have to worry about it dragging on the ground while putting it on. Downside? It's sized. So only I can use it. For that, A-.
Diapering
I'm a major cheapskate when it comes to diapers, so I don't have the latest and greatest and I buy most things used. My absolute LOVES are these:
Thirsties Duo Wraps. These are polyurethane laminate (PUL) covers that you put on over an absorbent cotton diaper (prefolds, fitteds, etc.) These came out after Everett was born, so we started out with regular sized covers for him. The duo wraps make it so you only need to buy two sizes of covers, newborn to potty training. Yes, they did work on my newborn on the smallest setting, but he was over 8lbs at birth.
Thirsties Duo Diapers. These came out once Everett was bigger but I have two for Callum. I adore them. They are just like the thirsties covers, but they also have a fleece stay-dry liner sewn in and come with an awesome insert. It is seven layers of microfiber terry and hemp in two pieces that snap together. Super absorbent, stay-dry, pretty much leak-proof.
Green Mountain Diaper prefolds. These are slightly different dimensions than regular prefolds and they are excellent because of it. Using natural cotton diapers means they are much easier to wash, much more difficult to wreck, and easier to avoid stink, staining, and the like. http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/diapers.htm
General
My newest find - the Woombie. This is the best swaddler I've discovered. We tried the SwaddleMe and that worked okay, but Everett (and now Callum) could always get his arms out. Kind of the point of a swaddle, no? We also tried the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle. That one is nice. It's more of a wearable blanket with a swaddle wrap that is attached on some velcro loops. My favorite so far though, has been the woombie. It has an awesome double zipper (so diaper changes are easy peasy), holds baby nice and snug, and there is no way a kid is sneaking an arm out and waking himself up. If they would bring the price down a little, I'd give them an A+.
Aden + Anais swaddle blankets. I know, another swaddle thing. These blankets are good for swaddling, but they are also very awesome for other uses. They are super lightweight so they are great for covering baby when nursing in public, shading baby outside without overheating (if it would ever get warm here), and snuggling with indoors. They get softer after each wash and come in some very cute patterns. Again, the price issue...., so B+.
Playtex Drop-Ins. I've tried several types of bottles in the past two years or so. It might have something to do with picky boys, but the drop-ins have been the winner with both. (The Ventaire is also just fine, it just has more pieces and we only have one.) The nipple on these bottles is the best I've found and simulates breastfeeding much better than the stupid First Years Breastflow bottle. That thing always managed to collect milk between the two nipple pieces and drive me up the wall. Once C can manage a faster flow, I'm excited to use our new stainless steel bottles!
Mam pacifiers. This is really all baby's preference, but my boys loved Mam pacis and no others. Tried soothies - No go from Everett. Nuks got the same reaction from Callum. Neither cared for an orthodontic playtex one either. You really just have to try a few types to see what baby will like (if any).
Fisher Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse. Callum's not really that into his yet, but Everett still sleeps with his. It plays nice songs, lowers the volume as it goes and plays for the perfect length of time. Also, portable. So you can have your bedtime music and light wherever you need to go at bedtime.
Gilligan and O'Malley Nursing Tanks. I LIVE in nursing tanks. Only one of these has had a clasp break on me and it was my oldest one. And I just kind of forced it back together and still use it on a daily basis. For this price, I can buy several and not look like I'm wearing the exact same thing EVERY day. They are a bit baggy in the torso area, especially the long style. So for that, they get an A-.
Sony Baby Call Monitor. A great sound-only monitor. I kind of would like a video monitor, but this thing is pretty great. It has both a setting for on always and a voice activated setting so you don't hear anything until baby starts squirming. The volume control does seem a little touchy, so I generally keep it turned up pretty high.
Baby-wearing
Ergo. The best baby carrier for those past the newborn stage. Hands down. Lower the price and get some cuter patterns, please!
Moby wrap. Awesome for the newborn stage. A little cumbersome to get on, especially while out and about, but so comfy for mom (or dad!) and baby! Not a sized carrier so mom and dad can both use it even if mom is 5'3" and dad is 6'4".
Baby K'tan. My first nice baby carrier! I got this as a gift before Everett was born and he kind of lived in it. It's a lot like the Moby and really only good until they're about 20 pounds (even though they say 30 I think). It is much easier to put on than the Moby and does pretty much the same holds. You don't have to worry about it dragging on the ground while putting it on. Downside? It's sized. So only I can use it. For that, A-.
Diapering
I'm a major cheapskate when it comes to diapers, so I don't have the latest and greatest and I buy most things used. My absolute LOVES are these:
Thirsties Duo Wraps. These are polyurethane laminate (PUL) covers that you put on over an absorbent cotton diaper (prefolds, fitteds, etc.) These came out after Everett was born, so we started out with regular sized covers for him. The duo wraps make it so you only need to buy two sizes of covers, newborn to potty training. Yes, they did work on my newborn on the smallest setting, but he was over 8lbs at birth.
Thirsties Duo Diapers. These came out once Everett was bigger but I have two for Callum. I adore them. They are just like the thirsties covers, but they also have a fleece stay-dry liner sewn in and come with an awesome insert. It is seven layers of microfiber terry and hemp in two pieces that snap together. Super absorbent, stay-dry, pretty much leak-proof.
Green Mountain Diaper prefolds. These are slightly different dimensions than regular prefolds and they are excellent because of it. Using natural cotton diapers means they are much easier to wash, much more difficult to wreck, and easier to avoid stink, staining, and the like. http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/diapers.htm
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Meals for May, well, the first week at least
All's going well. Brian's working on building me a fence, Everett's totally potty-trained and being very polite (and a handful, but you know...), Callum's sleeping well and is over the horror of getting shots. I really need to get back into running (I've been too sleep deprived to drag myself out of bed at 6 am) and sign up for a membership at the gym (we figured out if we pay for a full year, it's only $15 more/month than Brian currently pays and both of us will be able to go). We also finally got our tomatoes and peppers started (a bit late....oops!).
I officially have my daycare certificate now and just need to get signed up for county subsidies and food reimbursement and then I'm good to go. I've come up with weekly themes and now I need daily routines and activities.
Here are the meals for the week!
Dinners for May 2-8
Monday, May 2 – Shepherd’s pie with leftover roast and frozen veggies
Tuesday, May 3 – Tofu and veggies in jalfrezi sauce with naan
Wednesday, May 4 – roast chicken, smashed potatoes, veggies
Thursday, May 5 – green chicken nuggets, rice
Friday, May 6 – local fish and fries
Saturday, May 7 – leftovers, eat out, pizza, etc.
Sunday, May 8 – veggie pasta bake
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