Friday, January 15, 2016

Five on Friday!

Three day weekend ahead! Daycare is closed for MLK day so that means we have an extra day to chase our minis around.

one. We did it! We did it! We finally moved Thomas to the nursery this week (at 6 months old - eeep!)! We kicked Caroline out of our room around 12 weeks old but things were different for Thomas. We have been super afraid of how this would go down and although it's only been 4 nights...so far, so good (I hope I'm not jinxing myself)! Caroline sleeps 7:30 pm - 7 am and Thomas sleeps 7:30 pm to somewhere between 6-7 am. So we were worried that Thomas babbling at 6 am would mean both kids would be up and ready to go. So far, that is definitely the case, but we're hoping the excitement of having brother next to Caroline will wear on her soon and she'll extend her snooze back to 7 am. Regardless, we let them both hang out until about 6:45 and for the most part Caroline will play with her stuffed animals and Thomas will eat his foot. So until one of them really starts to lose it, we hurriedly try to get ready for the day.
However, on a separate issue, our bedtime routine is getting out of control. It now takes a solid 55 minutes to get Caroline down for "nigh-nigh." We have to read like 20 books, then sing at least 6 songs, say her bedtime prayer and then attempt to put her down. Of course that doesn't work so we have to do the same drill over and over until she points to her crib and says "nigh nigh." Help! How do we fix this? I can only sing Jesus Loves Me so many times and I really hate letting her cry it out when she was so good about peacefully putting herself to sleep until recently!

two. Time to get serious about my meal planning. I picked up this adorable dry erase board from the Target dollar aisle after seeing Steph post her menu.
three. You must read Stephanie's life changing (no, seriously, life changing!!!) tutorial on how to fix an iPhone setting that is completely eating up your battery life. My iPhone goes from fully charged to completely dead in a matter of hours these days. This one simple left swipe has been huge in extending my snapchat addiction battery life. Go read her post now! Heck, read all her posts. She's one of my favorite bloggers.
four. So I've come a long way in my primer game (see picture below!). Back before kids I'd happily shell out $42 for one tiny piece of makeup. But as diapers and formula began to add up, I scaled back and went cheap and my face has paid for it over the years. It's taken a few baby steps to get there but last weekend I used some Christmas gift cards and splurged on Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Primer. If you don't have super dry skin like me, you could probably purchase the cheaper one but I have the worst skin ever so I need all of the hydration I can get. And if I'm being honest, this primer has completely changed the way my makeup stays on my face and I think one bottle will take me pretty far. So I'm going to have to agree with all the hype around this fabulous product. Would love to know if there are any other products worth splurging on. My Ulta gift cards are burning a hole through my pocket. I also need some type of deep cleansing mask to get rid of my daily shedding skin. Any fellow super dry ladies out there with an awesome product rec?
five. Several mama friends sent me this yesterday and I had to pass it on to the other mamas out there that watch wayyyyyy too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!
Wanna join Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...
1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).
2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 
3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!
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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Thomas Dean {six months}

Here we are, half way to one year! Despite the craziness of our life these days I honestly have never been happier. Our lives feel so full with our little man and we treasure every minute with him because we know how fast this year flies by. In all honesty, it took me a solid 4-6 months to adjust to being a mommy to Caroline but with Thomas it's been so different. I don't mind washing bottles, homemaking baby food or seeing our house wrecked with infant devices. I truly want time to slow down and have enjoyed every stage so much more this time around. We've also found ourselves babying Thomas a lot more than we did with Caroline. For example, this week Matt and I finally pulled the trigger and let Thomas sleep in his crib in the nursery instead of in the pack & play next to our bed. And we missed him. However, you cannot beat the sweetest little noises (even at 5:59 am) between these two. Caroline wakes up and is so excited to see her brother in the crib next to hers and they babble back and forth. We sure do love these babies.
Six Month Highlights:
  • 14 pounds
  • First Christmas and trip to Florida and met Grandpa! 
  • First trip to the emergency room for a super high fever. First ear infection, which turned into his first double ear infection. Poor little man battled his second nasty cold for over two weeks - terrible cough that would cause him to vomit up his bottles, too congested to sleep, etc.
  • Takes four 8 ounce bottles during the daytime and 4 ounces of purees twice a day. So far we've done sweet potatoes, butternut squash, blueberry + chickpea, carrots and mixed veggies. 
  • Size 2 diapers, 6-9 months clothes.
  • Transitioned to crib in nursery.
  • Holding his own bottle when he wants to.
  • Obsessed with tags, strings and cups.
  • Wakes up smiling and doesn't stop until he goes to sleep. Nothing makes him light up more though than when his sister is around. Those two have such a deep love for one another.
  • Pacifier is hit or miss. Finally putting it back in his own mouth when it falls out.  
  • Loves his feet and touching everyone's face.
  • Has reached for us to pick him up a few times.
  • Sitting up unassisted for short periods of time before falling over. 
  • Took a tumble out of his swing so now he's strapped in at all times. 
  • Introduced sippy cup just because he kept reaching for sissy's cup. He mostly just chews on it.
  • Lost 3 contacts this month.
Six month favorites: Ear thermometer / Exersaucer / Fisher-Price Lights Piano / Sippy Cup / Winkel Rattle / Links Toy / Baby Einstein Tag Along Tunes /  JJ Cole Agility Carrier & Baby BjournMustela PhysiObebe No Rinse Cleanser / Dohm Sound Machine / Nuk & MAM pacifiersNose Frida / Bumbo Seat / Boogie Mist Saline Spray

 Somehow we misplaced our alligator this month. Still on the hunt...
 And for fun...
Thomas & Caroline at six months

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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Sausage & Cheese Tortellini Soup

A few days ago my friend Natasha posted a recipe for her delicious Sausage & Cheese Tortellini Soup. I've taken her up on her recipe recommendations in the past and been soooo happy that I immediately scheduled this one into our meal plan. This one pot soup was so good I had to re-share it too! All credit goes to Natasha!
Wait! Natasha's dish is more yellow and mine is red..?
 
So, I did adapt the recipe a smidge by adding in some additional ingredients. I'm always trying to hide veggies in Caroline's meals so I dumped a whole bag of spinach into the pot and also added a ton of tomatoes. This meal also fed 3 of us twice, only dirtied one pot and was super quick and easy to throw together. And my recipe critics gave it two thumbs up. So add these ingredients to your next grocery list!

Sausage & Cheese Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked sausage
3 cups frozen tortellini
3 cups water
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can Italian diced tomatoes, semi drained
1 can evaporated milk
6 chicken bouillon cubes
1 10 oz bag fresh spinach
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. chives
salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

*for the locals, I highly recommend using Neese's sausage. SO GOOD!

Directions
In a large pot, add all ingredients except tortellini and spinach and bring to boil. Slightly reduce temperature and allow to simmer about 15 minutes.  Add tortellini and bring to boil for several minutes. Stir in spinach. Sprinkle with freshly grated cheese and serve.

And a little behind the scenes look with my trusty taste tester and second shooter, Caroline...
For her hard work she got the first bowl. It was still piping hot so I dumped it into her cool-it bowl and voila - dinner was served and we had one very happy, full toddler!
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