Dinner Delight

Phew...another day over folks. One of those days! Bypassed the nap to clean around the house in anticipation of the party this weekend. Gianna woke from her nap and we had mom/daughter bonding in the shower. I said it...Many have different opinions on the subject, but this little girls undoubtedly wakes every single time I get in the shower and is not content with ANYthing while I am taking one. Solution, I use the extended shower-head, pointing it as far away from her as possible. I pour some of her bubbles in the water, and she plays with her duckies happy as a clam! Why I didn't think of it sooner, I have no idea! but it works.

Kids up from school, and we started towards the mall to pick up the kids' pictures. They have been cropped wrong, in goes another order...alas. They were pacified with Orange Julius'. We all remember the Orange Julius...delicious! Then we went on a mad search for decent priced school pants...Chase has already managed a hole in his knee! He walked away with a battle-wound as well. Guess he beat the pavement ;) but his pants definately lost. Picked up baby Gianna's birthday gift from Babies-R-Us and finally on the way home! when Jes calls...Chase has practice in thirty minutes...still not used to the practice schedule.

Make a quick run to Dillon's during his practice, and remembered a delicious EASY inexpensive meal that I always seem to forget. I think I figured the kids wouldn't like it one way or another; boy was I wrong! French Dip Sandwiches. If anyone has not tried them, wow...

4 Hoagies (whole wheat works wonders!)
1 lb Sliced Roast Beef
Cheese of your choice
Au Jus (easy to make with a packet from the seasonings aisle)

Slice up some fruit and veggies, cottage cheese. Takes all of about ten minutes to put together including cooking the Au Jus. Wow, I definately didn't get enough Roast Beef. They were scarfed! and definately a hit.

 

Natalie's Sentiments Birthday Giveaways

Check out Natalie's page this week for some exciting giveaways! She is being very generous with giveaways this week for HER birthday! So head on over and check it out!

Cloth Diaper Whisperer

Thought I would give this a try to start out my cloth diapering...Take a look!

Baby naps

So I must say, there is absolutely nothing better than a baby waking up, crawling all-smiles to the side of the crib (no doubt blankie in hand), with an open mouth to give mom a kiss, followed by pats on the tummy (still all in smiles) saying "momma." Gets me every time. Still working on the candle...one more week. She said "teeth" while pointing to my mother's as well as her own with no aid or prompting! I haven't even been working on that! She also managed to point to her hair. She let out the word "pooey" for poopy too ;) Now Jes is ready to potty train...They grow too fast!

Jes is supposed to find out about the new job tomorrow! Prayers please!

Kids pictures

Make a Smilebox postcard

Thought I would share some "smilebox" with you all. Just some more of the pictures from Sears. Hopefully we'll have more of Chase and Maisy taken before long!

Notes from a tired momma

So it's midnight. The house is beginning to come together again. The attrocious kitchen has been put back together and is near immaculate. The children are in bed, homework is done. The baby is fed, bathed (dinner did NOT go so well), laundry has been started in preparation for the next day (uniforms still need done). Litterbox has been cleaned, trash is out, finally a moment to myself.

Don't get me wrong, I love my life, and know that God has given me what He knows that I can handle, but sometimes, I just don't think I'm strong enough. I have found myself in the same conversation several times, people being jealous that I am married with a child, a house of my own, and again, I am very grateful for what I have, but often feel the analogy of hair ringing in my ears. Those who have curly dream of straight, those who have straight dream of curly. The life of a single person is hard, yet rewarding. That is the road of a mother and wife as well...And how do you ever find the time?!

We went to have one year pictures taken of Gianna for birthday invitations, and I asked the wonderful Sears photographer if she could sneak in a couple of the kids ;) I was very glad she let me. Unfortunately, Gianna had been sick with a fever for nearly a week (darn teeth and allergies), so she was not quite full of the smiles we hoped for. Still cute. We spent a little more than planned, but now have the copyrights to the pictures and can go in for buy one get one pictures and a free 8X10 whenever we want. Worth it in the end. It's so hard to watch them grow so fast. Definately starts to give you baby fever again... I feel myself sad that I did not caption the moments more on film or paper. Alas...

Speaking of, I would LOVE ideas on cakes or decorating if anyone has any they would love to share!

Gianna now has four teeth...we are waiting for the next two to pop in any day now. She has reached the first temper tantrum stage, many more to come I am sure. I am trying to wean her from mommy milk, and she is not liking that. She has also gained a new-found adversion to textures in baby food: noodles, rice, etc. She does not have a problem with human food of this sort, but doesn't like it in the baby food. Help? Suggestions anyone? She scoots it all to the front of her mouth and gives the worst face while squealing...truly something. We will have to try some trickery.

She is getting better at standing on her own, though she still is not found of it. She would much rather crawl and hold on to anything she can. She loves listening to music still, and I recently found a series of CD's that is perfect for her! I found them at Family Christian Store if anyone is interested. Four CD's for 12.99...can't beat that! She also LOVEs playing in pillows. This evening I found her banging on brother's door wanting him to come out! How cute...

Our neighbors brought their new lab down to visit this evening. Gianna was a little unsure, but giggled like crazy as he licked her face. I told Jes this could satisfy his dog craving! Needless to say, he was not convinced.

She is full of words. She is now saying "bye bye", "hi", "po" for please (more please), "Aaaaye Duh" for all done (a personal favorite), "mama", "dadda", "bubba", "uh oh", and occasionally she will attempt "I don't know", although it comes out more like "Aye duh doda" (adorable ;) She signs most of those words as well as milk and food and "oh no". Amazing what they learn.

The older two begin week number two of school and soccer. Jury is still out on St. Francis beginning to switch for three classes starting in the third grade. Opinions? I can see the benefits, but still think it is way too early. Homeschooling is looking better and better for Gianna ;)

I am also still researching cloth diapers. I have SO many questions though...and I wonder if there really is savings with the first child. The idea of making my own sounds very appealing though, I despirately need something to do for myself, project-wise. And I wish I could sew better, but there is only one way to learn!

We should hear back on Jes's job on Friday, prayers would be greatly appreciated.

I have been missing Colorado a great deal lately. Especially with the cool weather, I just step outside and miss the sound of the river, the mountains, the smells. There is just a peace there that I don't seem to have here. Perhaps it is just association with vacation...maybe one day.

I should call it a night...I have the early shift in the morning (kids that is :) Sleep well all.

Third tooth!

Her first top tooth came in on her left side yesterday. There is another to its left that should be in today or tomorrow!

Rainy Day

I love rainy days. The babe is asleep and the kids are quiet, so I figured I'd update a bit.

The kids spent a couple of hours yesterday building a very large lego tower of all the legos we had in our upstairs bin. I can tell they are starting to get a little bored with summer, though not quite ready to go back to school yet. We spent Saturday outside teaching Maisy to ride her bike without training wheels! She has a terrible fear of getting hurt on everything, so it took getting a new one for her birthday that she HAD to learn to ride. Half an hour and she was off! Now she can ride around with Chase!

Gianna is still waiting on her top teeth, but they are so close! I'm pretty sure the top four are all going to come in at the same time. You can feel them right under the gums and see them as well! I think it's a gift to breastfeeding mothers when the teeth come in late. Wondering if there is a correlation?! I've almost reached my twelve month goal! Although bitter-sweet at the same time. I don't know that she could handle any more as distracted as she is these days. Keeping liquids in her is becoming increasingly difficult.

She is progressing with words, and slowing on others (she seems to learn some and forget them for awhile). She is much like a cat though, and does things only on HER terms. She can point out momma, dadda, and baby Gianna and says momma and dadda. She waves differently for hi (learning and open wave from one visit with Stephen Kerschen) and bye-bye (opening and closing her fist). She says "ba-ba" for goodbye and "ha" for hi. She even went chasing after Allison's car as it left the drive waving. She says "pa" while doing the action for "more please" while eating, and she has said "eye duh" while doing the action for all done. She's even repeated "baby," though rarely. She giggles constantly, and loves to be thrown all over the place (thank you daddy). She has recently become fond of riding in a wagon as well! She also took her first step at Michelle's wedding! She is getting much better with walking (help of course), but still thinks crawling is easier! She is smart as all get-out though...she can watch things once and can figure it out on her own. She has recently discovered she can take off her diaper as well! so we have to keep clothes on her ;) Can't believe my little baby is almost one! More later, she is such a light sleeper that the toilet wakes her...and now she is up ;)

See What I See Game

Just to let you all know, one of my favorite things from the amazing Give-Away in the previous post is a hand-made game. It is now available on line...you have to check it out! It is called the "See What I See Game." It is very reasonably priced. So many fun colors and patterns to choose from too! Enjoy!

Natalie's Sentiments

So, thanks to Sam ;) I have discovered a new blog "Natalie's Sentiments." There is currently a give-away going on for some AMAZING baby items. Just too many great things to talk about, you have to take a look for yourself! Grab the link on the upper right hand side and enjoy!