Five on Friday!

It's been a crazy week and I couldn't be more ready for a glass of wine in 9.5 hours.

On Tuesday we had a consultation for Thomas to see if he is a good candidate for tubes. Sure enough the doctor peeked into his ears and without hesitation said "yes, next week." So one week from today he'll have surgery and I absolutely cannot wait to see how much relief it provides him. He's pretty much had an ear infection since October and we've done everything to get rid of it including 3 types of antibiotics and several rounds of shots and nothing works.

one. Matt has been hard at work building a retaining wall in our backyard. It's taken him several weekends of labor, 25 Home Depot trips and the help of a friend but it's finally complete and it looks fabulous! And it's filled with some of my favorite flowers - hydrangeas and rhododendron! So proud of the hubby for tackling this project.

two. We've been eating SO well this week thanks to The Naked Pig Meat Co.!  Recently they offered to send us some products to try and Matt couldn't say YES fast enough. Not only do I love that the farm is local to North Carolina, all of their meat products are free of added antibiotics, hormones, and artificial enhancements and are harvested from healthy and happy animals raised outdoors. 

My favorite meat we received was the pork tenderloin! I threw it in my crockpot with a bottle of Sticky Fingers and let it slow cook all day long. It was so tender and juicy - perfect for pulled pork sandwiches.

Ohhhhh, the bacon! We LOVE bacon in our house. Matt says this was his favorite product review we've ever received. I fried up a pound of bacon over the weekend and have to admit that the quality and freshness was unlike any bacon I've ever purchased from the grocery store. For $7 plus free shipping, I will probably start purchasing all of our bacon from The Naked Pig.

We also enjoyed an awesome fresh pork roast this week too! Thomas was a huge fan!

three. Nothing makes me homesick more than missing a party at my parents house. Last weekend Lindsey threw Ryan an epic surprise 30th "Brews & BBQ" party. She knocked it out of the park and he was completely surprised, especially because she purposely threw the bash a month early so he would totally be caught off guard. 

Lindsey and mom set up an incredible hamburger bar for more than 40 guests.

 And there was a separate table dedicated just for FRENCH FRIES. Told you it was epic!

I WANT IN THIS PICTURE SO BAD....

And last but not least, THE beer cake!

four. Speaking of parties, now that we've celebrated Caroline's birthday (still need to write that post) I am already thinking about Thomas's birthday in July! Since it will be 15 degrees warmer outside I am thinking about having his our friends over for a popsicle party! I love this idea because everyone loves popsicles, not just kiddies...

five. I know I'm covering a LOT of food in this post but I can't help but share delicious things with y'all! Last weekend our friends John and Lisa invited us to a park date and then back to their house for the best grilled cheese I've ever had.

 

The Yummiest Grilled Cheese Ever: Butter the tops and bottoms of your bread (we used Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal bread - so good)! With the buttered side down, add a layer of provolone cheese, avocado slices, spinach and sprinkle with goat cheese. GRILL (yes, use your grill) until melted and delicious!

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Wanna join 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!

Thomas Dean {10 Months}

It's been one heck of a month with our Tom Tom and we have some exciting updates.

Thomas is officially walking assisted with anything he can find that isn't bolted to the ground. This includes pushing random furniture around the house, the high chair, boxes, walking toys and more. He hasn't taken any steps unassisted but I think it's only a matter of time!

We also received some news on the aphakia front. After spending 3 hours at the eye doctor last week we learned that Thomas needs a drastically different contact prescription. His current power (28) is insanely strong and although he needed that strength a few months ago to magnify objects, we are finding he can't see things more than a few feet away. I first noticed this several weeks ago at daycare pickup. Unless Thomas hears me voice he just stares at me blankly until I get within a few feet of him on the floor. We've been extremely sad and concerned that maybe his vision has stopped progressing but the doctor thinks the new reduced power prescription (21 power) will significantly help out.

We also have bumped his patching time for his left eye to 4 hours a day to prepare him for his strabismus surgery. Right now he is only using his left eye but with the help of patching we are forcing him to use his bad right eye in hopes that we can get both eyes working equally before the doctor goes in to surgically tweak his eye muscles.

In other surgery news, Thomas has officially maxed out on ear infections, amoxicillin, augmenten, cefdinir and rocephin shots and we have a consultation today for tubes to help him finally feel better!

Ten Month Highlights:

• 17.5 lbs
• Second trip to Florida!
• Loves clapping, wagon rides, climbing up the backdoor blinds, crawling into the dishwasher and unloading the bathroom drawers. 
• Refuses to sit still for diaper changes without a distraction.
• It's starting to get super hard removing/inserting his contacts. He wakes up now and freaks out so it takes us about an hour to change them each time. But worth it.  
• Front two top teeth have broken through and there are a handful of others close behind.
• Treating fifth ear infection until our tubes surgery.
• Size 3 diapers and 9 months clothing
• Cutting daytime bottles (hallelujah) and phasing out purees. He prefers regular food for every meal. 
• Obsessed with sippy cups and prefers to drink out of Caroline's spout-less cups. Oh, and also prefers to sneak swigs of her whole milk when we aren't paying attention. 
• Just got over his 234545345 cold and RSV.
  
• NEW CONTACTS on the way!

Ten month favorites: Wagon / Play Kitchen / Mickey Mouse Ride On Train / Bella Tunno Happy Knees / Wonder Bibs / Munchkin Miracle 360 Sippy Cups / Hide N Squeak Eggs / Sit-to-Stand Walker / Aquaphor (for dry cheeks) / Refresh Rewetting Drops / Ear thermometer / Sippy Cup /  Mustela PhysiObebe No Rinse Cleanser / Dohm Sound Machine / MAM pacifiers / Motrin / Bella Tunno Pacifier Clips / Hope Frog / Nose Frida / Boogie Mist Saline Spray

Thomas and Caroline at 10 months

Five on Friday!

It's been a super busy week so let's get right down to it!

- one - I am going to do a full post soon on Caroline's birthday but in the meantime I wanted to share one of my favorite pictures from the party last weekend. We were able to convince Caroline and Thomas to wear their ears for approximately 11 seconds for this picture...

- two - I also have to share one of the biggest hits from the party - the bouncey house! Mimi and Grandad surprised Caroline with this amazing gift for her birthday and all 18 kiddos had an absolute blast jumping around all morning. We thought about renting one for her party but now we have our very own to inflate whenever we want! We are going to get so much use out of this for years to come too.

- three - I've been using the mascara my sister got me for Mother's Day all week and really, really, really like it! If you're like me and are constantly trying out new mascaras I highly recommend adding Benefit Bad Gal Lash to your collection!

- four - Earlier this week I made a quick trip for work down to Atlanta. While I was there I grabbed dinner with two of my faves, Brynn and August, at St. Cecilia! We had an absolute blast. Maybe even a little too much fun for a school night.

- five - We are still loving our HelloFresh deliveries! I have LOVED hearing from so many of you that you've signed up and are enjoying HelloFresh too! Below are the links to our TOP 9 favorite dinners we've enjoyed recently in case you're looking to add some variety to your meal plan! Each recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make, uses lots of fresh ingredients and is super delicious. Many of these recipes are meals I would never think to cook (especially during a week night) but HelloFresh makes it SO easy!

My personal favorite is tied between the Juicy Lucy Burger and the Thai Beef Stir-Fry! Matt's ALL-TIME favorite has been the Thai Pork Laarb Burger!

Top 9 Recent Favorite Recipes:

Crispy Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries and Garden Salad 
Thai Pork Laarb Burger with Cucumber Mint Salad
Asian-Style Salmon with Broccolini, Quick-Pickled Cucumber & Rice
Thai Beef Stir-Fry with Basil, Coconut Rice and Crispy Green Beans
Paprika-Rubbed Chicken with Barley, Tomato and Avocado Salad 
Herby Pan-Seared Chicken with Farro Caprese Salad
Spanish Steak Salad
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Lemony Potato & Zucchini Hash
Juicy Lucy Burgers with Tomato-Onion Jam and Baby Gem Lettuce Salad

Want to try HelloFresh? Use promo code MG8GKD for $40 off your first box! That means you can try out HelloFresh for $29 and then cancel after your box arrives or keep on going.

Also, I received another promo code to give my friends a FREE box of HelloFresh meals! I'd be happy to send the first THREE people to leave their email address in the comments a free week of HelloFresh to try!

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Wanna join 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!