SWW

Another Wednesday means another link up with Shannon for So What Wednesday!

This week I'm saying So What if:

-I'm so excited we have a snow day today! We haven't had a decent amount of snow in two years and I love getting to stay home with my little man. Once he wakes up from his nap I want to take him out to play in it. 

-I'm annoyed that Kristian went into work for a few hours this morning. I'm sure he'll be fine but I always get nervous when he's out in bad weather.

-I was thrilled to get a surprise bonus check from work on Monday. It was thanks for having to work a lot of overtime from home in the evenings and weekends the past two weeks to get a big project done. I guess all the bitching I did made them feel bad. Squeaky wheel gets the oil right? 

-Kristian and I bickered over what to do with our tax refund money. He always wants to spend spend spend and I want to save save save. I think we are going to do a little of both. 

-The fact that my older brother turned 40 on Monday made ME feel old. How is it possible that my brother is FORTY!! 

-I'm obsessed with my crockpot and making soups in it. I'm planning to make another soup today

-I got a little sad watching the last episode of Dallas which was JR Ewings final episode. I grew up watching that show and it really is the end of an era.

-I'm so excited that I'm ALMOST done with Hunters first year photo book. I only have like 4 more pages to do. Oh and it's going to be 95 pages long. 

Playdates and Wagon Rides

We had a very full and fun filled weekend.

 

On Friday night, we found the snuggie that my inlaws had bought for Moxie and decided to see if it would fit Halpert. It did. He was less than pleased. But he does look damn cute.

Friday afternoon Kristian took Hunter to the doctor to get a note saying that the diarrhea poops he keeps having are teething related and unless he has other symptoms he does not need to be sent home from daycare. This is now in his file and will hopefully cut down on the number of times he's being sent home early. When I got home I saw my child dressed like this. Kristian has a bad habit of forgetting to button the onesie before putting the pants back on after diaper changes. Whatever works right? 

 

On Saturday I got to visit one of my oldest friends Kelli who has a 2 1/2 year old little boy. Ryan and Hunter did very well playing together and only had a few instances of not wanting to share toys. Oh and Kelli's basement is huge and basically looks like daycare so Hunter had a blast.

For some reason of all the toys in the basement Hunter was obsessed with a toy broom. He also loves our broom at home. He's weird.

When Kelli and I met at the age of 12 I never envisioned seeing our little boys playing together in the future. Love it.

 

On Sunday, we had a nice family day of running errands in the morning and then in the afternoon, despite the chilly weather, took Hunter and Moxie on a long walk in the wagon. We put two pillows in the wagon for Hunter to sit on and put a warm blanket over both he and Moxie. They loved it. I foresee many wagon rides as the weather warms up.

At one point, Hunter pulled the blanket down and started petting/patting Moxie. And my heart basically exploded.

When Kristian started to quickly pull the wagon down a hill, Moxie got scared and jumped out but Hunter loved it.

 

We then dropped the wagon off at home and went for a little walk in the woods behind our house. Hunter loves the woods as much as his daddy does. They will be having lots of adventures together in the future.

 

We are supposed to get anywhere from 3-8 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow and for our area that's a LOT. I'm so excited about a possible snow day at home with my little family tomorrow. Expect lots of snow pictures later this week.

It's a small blog world after all

One of the things I love most about blogging are the people I've connected with and the friends I've made over the past few years. One of the things I hate most about blogging is the fact that 99% of my blog friends live far away and I will probably never get to meet them in person. Which is why I get super excited when I connect with someone who actually lives within driving distance.

Whenever someone new comments on my blog I always try to take a peek at their profile and/or blog if they have one. If it turns out that they live in the DC metro area I get especially excited and will typically start following them or even reach out with an email or comment. A few weeks back I got a comment from someone new (Hi Sara!) and after looking at her profile and seeing she also lives in Northern VA I emailed her.

We emailed back and forth and with each correspondence we discovered we had more and more in common. As it turns out she ALSO went to ECU like I did. Then I found out that not only did she attend ECU but was ALSO in the same sorority as me at the same time! Now, you're probably wondering how I didn't recognize one of my sorority sisters right away right? Well she is two years younger than me and pledge during spring semester of my senior year. By that point I was really only attending the meetings and functions that I was required to attend. I was more focused on my impending graduation and spending time with my boyfriend at the time and the friends I had already made through the sorority. I never really got to know those new girls. Now once I found out what her maiden name was and looked her up on Facebook I did remember her. We also discovered that we both went to St. Lucia on our honeymoons and had the same wedding song! Oh and she's due with a baby girl this May and could quite possibly have her on my birthday. Talk about coincidences!

Since she lives close to where I work we decided to meet up last week for lunch at a restaurant that we both loved while at ECU. Since I had already technically met her 11 years ago in college and she's a sorority sister I wasn't nearly as nervous as I would have been had she been a complete stranger. We had a very nice time catching up and talking about pregnancy and babies. Though I may have scared her with my birth story (sorry about that!) We also discussed getting together again in the future for lunch and hopefully for playdates once her little one arrives.

One of my complaints lately has been that I don't have a lot of local mommy friends so I'm very excited to not only have a new mommy friend in the area but one that is a sorority sister as well. If it weren't for this little 'ol blog who knows if we would have ever reconnected. Isn't the Internet a great place?

14 Months

Since February only has 28 days I never know when to post his updates since he's a 30th baby.

 

Weight/Length- I don't know for sure but I suspect you are 27ish pounds and 31-32 inches. Your 18 month size pants are finally not too long on you.

 

Eating- You are no longer taking bottles during the day. I still give you a bottle before bed and first thing in the morning. The doctor wants you to be off the bottle by 15 months so that's our project this next month. During the day you drink your water and milk out of sippy cups with no problem. Still eating 3 meals a day with multiple snacks. You've showed signs of becoming a bit pickier with your food and we finally found something you actually do not like- tomato soup. But overall you're still a champion eater as you've been since day 1. 

Sleep- With the exception of a couple nights when you were teething/sick you've been sleeping great. We've been putting you to bed a little earlier, closer to 7:30pm and you are actually sleeping later most days, closer to 7am. This past weekend after a brief wakeup at 6am  when you couldn't find your pacifier you slept til 8:30am! Amazing! Most days you only take one nap around lunchtime for 1-2 hours. Sometimes on the weekend we can still get a second nap out of you but you fight it.

Clothes- 18 months and even a few 18-24 month outfits. I just bought a bunch of spring clothes in 18-24 months sizes for you.

 

Diapers- Size 4

Appearance- You got another haircut this month and your hair is SHORT, too short, it's makes you look so old. You are looking more like a little boy and not so much like a baby anymore. You also now have 11 teeth, 4 on top, 4 on bottom and 3 molars!!

Personality- You are really turning into a fun little kid. You love to play and are constantly getting into things and wanting to explore. You are all boy and very much like your father. I suspect you are going to give me a few mini heart attacks with your dare devil, mischievous ways. You are really getting into not only mimicking us but trying to make us laugh with your faces and sounds. You are also becoming very affectionate and constantly giving hugs and wanting to snuggle. The tantrums have increased as well, you continue to get very frustrated if we take something away from you or you aren't able to have something you want. You will lay on the floor and just cry. It's actually kind of cute (unless we're in public).  You are finally starting to enjoy watching cartoons (especially Sesame Street and Bubble Guppies) and you are finally sitting still and letting me read to you every night and actually seem to enjoy it. When you were younger you refused to sit still for story time.

Likes-
-Getting into the kitchen cabinets

-Getting into the bathroom cabinets and playing with my (unplugged) curling irons

-Pressing the buttons on the clock radios

-Cartoons (finally! Though only for 10 minutes at a time)

-Your Brown Bear and Goodnight Moon books, we read them every night.

-Riding in your wagon
-Bubbles in the bathtub
-Looking out the window

Dislikes- same as last month

Milestones-
-You cut two more molars. You now have one on top and two on the bottom.

-You got your second haircut.

-If we tell you to take something to someone else you will do it.

-If we ask you to bring us something you will often follow directions.

-You can point to your nose when asked and our nose when asked. Sometimes your lips as well.

-You know to put a cell phone (or anything resembling a cell phone) up to your ear.

-You will give hugs when asked.
-You FINALLY started waving goodbye.

-You had your first bubble bath and loved it.  

-First wagon ride.

 

Photos for the month.

 

You do NOT sit still for pictures anymore, the only way I could get this was to put you in your wagon.

Loving your first bubble bath.

First trip to IHOP and first chocolate pancake. It was a hit.

You love to walk around outside now, despite the cold weather.

I love this little face.

You love to look out the window by the front door. Our little neighborhood watchman.

Again peeking out the window.

You are way more fashionable than mommy and daddy.

Seriously who is this teenager walking around my house?

 

SWW

Happy Wednesday!

 

Here's another round of So What Wednesday with Shannon.

 

This week I'm saying So What if:

 

-I don't take Hunter to the doctors EVERY time he's sent home early from daycare (which is what they would prefer), I would rather just wait the 24 hours until he's allowed back. I know he's just teething and we're more likely to actually catch something in that germ infested office.

 

-As inconvenient as it is workwise to stay home with him, I do love our extra time together.

 

-I told Kristian that I didn't like kissing him now that he has a beard because I feel like I'm kissing a hairy va.gina (not that I would know what that's actually like).

 

-I didnt stay awake to watch all of the Oscars, I'm not trying to stay up til midnight on a Sunday night. Why can't they start it earlier like they do the Super Bowl? Plus I thought it was boring anyways.

 

-Monday night I was doing some work from home while watching The Bachelor. I can only half pay attention to that show anyways because it annoys me so much (yet I still watch).  Turned out my (female) client was doing the same and we started emailing back and forth about the show.

 

-If everytime my kid does something new I call both of our mothers to tell them about it as if my child is the first child ever to do such a thing. Fortunately both grandmas get just as excited.

 

-I've spent more time and effort on Hunters first year photobook (which is almost done) than I did my wedding photobook. And I know he won't even care about looking at it when he's older but I will.

Daycare Frustrations

I've posted many times about how much I like Hunters daycare. While I wish I didn't have to send him to daycare for so many hours each day I really do like the teachers and can see how much Hunter enjoys going. With that said I have been extremely frustrated the past few days. Hunters daycare, as with many daycares I'm sure, have very specific rules when it comes to sending home sick children. If they have a fever over 100, are vomiting or have had 2+ diarrhea poops they have to go home. If they are sent home they can't return until they are symptom free for 24 hours unless you have a doctors note.

There have been several times I've had to pick him up early due to a fever (always attributed to teething). In most of those cases he's been sent home early in the day so I was able to take him back early the next day. Well last Wednesday I was called around 3:30 and told he had had two diarrhea poops and had to go home. Kristian was already on his way to pick him up so it wasn't a big deal in that respect but it also meant that he wouldn't be able to return the next day and therefore I was going to have to work from home. To top it off Kristian woke up Thursday morning with what I'm pretty sure was the flu and could barely get out of bed so I not only had to take care of Hunter (who by the way was totally fine and not sick at all) but also take care of Kristian, oh and try to get work done.

Well today I once again received a call around 1:30 that Hunter had two diarrhea poops and had to go home. Kristian was able to pick him up but once again he now can't return tomorrow unless I take him to the doctor and get a note signed saying he can return sooner. Well I'm not going to take a seemingly healthy child to a germ infested doctor's office just to get a note signed saying he's not sick. The fact is, Hunter is teething, he's cutting his one year molars and even his teacher said that was probably the cause for all the stomach issues but she has to follow their policy.

I understand that they don't want sick kids there passing along germs and infecting other kids. I can even understand sending the child home early but their policy of not allowing them back for 24 hours I think is pretty dumb especially when the child is obviously not sick and shows no other signs of being ill or contagious. Oh and to top it off we still have to pay for the days he's not allowed to attend. So basically we're paying approximately $50 to the daycare for the day even though he's home with me.

Obviously if Hunter were truly sick or contagious I wouldn't want him to go to daycare and I've kept him home by my own choice when he's actually been sick but the fact is I do have a job and even though I can technically work from home, it's very difficult to do with a very active toddler who does not like when mommy is on the computer. I am very fortunate to have a very understanding boss who lets me work from home when Hunter can't go to daycare (Kristian works in sales and can't really work from home which is why I do it). But I know there are many other parents that don't have that luxury and I feel for them.

For other parents that have kids in daycare what are their sick child policies?

What's Cookin Good Lookin?

I'm sure I've mentioned a time or ten that I don't do a whole lot of cooking in our house. Kristian is the cook and he does a damn good job at it. However, there are times when I take over the kitchen to make something for my little family. I don't say that I cook, I say that I follow directions because, well, that's what I'm doing.

Most of the recipes I use I've found on Pinterest (of course). It's funny, we have a ton of cookbooks, but for some reason I only want to cook recipes I find online. Fortunately, I've had pretty good luck with my Pinterest finds. The recipes are all easy (or I wouldn't use them) and the food always turns out well. Kristian thinks Pinterest is pretty silly EXCEPT in regards to the recipes inspiring his wife to actually cook a meal every now and again.

I've been a bit obsessed with our crockpot recently. It's just so damn easy to throw a bunch of stuff in it and 6 hours later dinner is served. Whenever I work from home I try to make something in the crockpot.

I thought it would be nice to go ahead and post some of the recipes I've made lately. These are all super easy and have turned out well. Both Kristian and Hunter have loved all of them and I've made most of them more than once. So because sharing is caring below are my favorites.
 
A couple of notes:
-The tortellini soup I just made this last night and posted it on IG and had several people want the recipe. It was quite tasty and I'm eating the leftovers for lunch today.

-I think I've made this taco soup once a week for the past month. It's easily because one of our favorite meals and I think the leftovers actually taste better once they are warmed up again. Add a little avocado, sour cream and use some Tostitos scoops and you're all set!

-The chicken and dumplings isn't my favorite of the soups but Kristian loves it and it's SUPER easy to make.

 

 

 

Source: littlefellows.blogspot.com via Shannon on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: blog.landofnod.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: polishthestars.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: kalynskitchen.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: dawnsquiltcorner.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: clairebidwellsmith.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: allrecipes.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: backtoherroots.com via Shannon on Pinterest