I'm not the best cook but I love food. LOVE FOOD! But I don't like cooking it! And I don't like my kitchen getting dirty. I have issues! I've struggled with dinner ideas since....marriage! And Kevin informed me the other day that I tend to make the same things over and over again (chicken, rice and vegetables) but I just change the spices from day to day. Very true. So I attempted something different tonight. I attempted Jamie Olivers roasted chicken breast with pancetta, leeks and thyme. It was super easy to make. I enjoyed it but Kev said it was too salty and wouldn't eat it again. He was however impressed that I was making something new tonight.
So later this evening I went to look for another recipe to try (my goal is to try a new recipe every day this week). I was looking at the recipe I just made and realized I bought prosciutto instead of pancetta. Oops! Well that explains the salty taste! Thank the good Lord Kev is at firefighting tomorrow night and I have an extra day to think of what to make for dinner Thursday night. I'm thinking slow cooker pulled pork. I found a super easy recipe and we'll see how it goes! I just need to make sure and double check I buy the correct ingredients!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Potty Training Regression?
I have a question mark after potty training regression because I'm assuming that's what it was...or at least I'm hoping that's what it was:-)
A week and a half ago Nate had an accident. No biggie. Accidents happen. And then for the next 3 days after that one accident led to the next. Non stop. I'd be in the middle of talking to him about peeing in his underwear and he'd start to pee again! I thought I was going to go crazy! I was about to declare that my little buddy was potty trained (except for nights) and dude suddenly starts wetting himself all the time. And I mean ALL the time! Every chance he got he'd pee himself! And he stop telling me when he had to pee. It was worse than the first few days when we started potty training! We'd never had that many accidents before.
We were doing so good. When he had to go the bathroom he just walked to the bathroom, asked me to turn on the light and went. No issues what so ever and then this happened. After 4 days of constant accidents I felt defeated. I didn't know what was up. And I was worried. Was there something physically wrong with him? Maybe emotionally wrong? What was I doing wrong? We had stopped with the whole treat thing only because he had been doing so well for weeks and my friend Kacey suggested I bring the treat thing back. So we did and thankfully we are now back on track. It was a rough 4 days. And I was running out of underwear for him and constantly washing laundry.
I have no idea what brought this on. And there hadn't been any changes in our lives that I could think of that would cause him to regress. I googled "potty training regression" and the one thing I kept reading was to remain patient (kinda hard to do when buddy is wetting himself 12 times a day) and to not overreact and don't punish. By day 5 I had to dig deep and bring out my inner Michelle Duggar (soft calm voice) while in my head I was freaking out and wanting to pull every strand of hair from my head! Seriously sometimes remaining calm and speaking softly solves alot of issues. Sometimes:-) It's been a good week! He's back to finally telling me when he has to pee and waking up dry from his naps and when we are out and about and he tells me he needs to pee he's been holding it until we get home (or find a bathroom).
I know he's young. And this is my second time potty training a little one and it's hard work. I almost feel like Lincoln was easier (sort of) because he was older (2.5 years) and understood better. It's just one of those areas where some kids get it and some kids don't and each child develops differently. I can't even compare Lincoln to Nathan because they are two separate individuals and I have to keep reminding myself that. Lincoln is not Nathan and Nathan is not Lincoln and they well learn at different rates. Ahhh motherhood. I'm constantly learning:-)
A week and a half ago Nate had an accident. No biggie. Accidents happen. And then for the next 3 days after that one accident led to the next. Non stop. I'd be in the middle of talking to him about peeing in his underwear and he'd start to pee again! I thought I was going to go crazy! I was about to declare that my little buddy was potty trained (except for nights) and dude suddenly starts wetting himself all the time. And I mean ALL the time! Every chance he got he'd pee himself! And he stop telling me when he had to pee. It was worse than the first few days when we started potty training! We'd never had that many accidents before.
We were doing so good. When he had to go the bathroom he just walked to the bathroom, asked me to turn on the light and went. No issues what so ever and then this happened. After 4 days of constant accidents I felt defeated. I didn't know what was up. And I was worried. Was there something physically wrong with him? Maybe emotionally wrong? What was I doing wrong? We had stopped with the whole treat thing only because he had been doing so well for weeks and my friend Kacey suggested I bring the treat thing back. So we did and thankfully we are now back on track. It was a rough 4 days. And I was running out of underwear for him and constantly washing laundry.
I have no idea what brought this on. And there hadn't been any changes in our lives that I could think of that would cause him to regress. I googled "potty training regression" and the one thing I kept reading was to remain patient (kinda hard to do when buddy is wetting himself 12 times a day) and to not overreact and don't punish. By day 5 I had to dig deep and bring out my inner Michelle Duggar (soft calm voice) while in my head I was freaking out and wanting to pull every strand of hair from my head! Seriously sometimes remaining calm and speaking softly solves alot of issues. Sometimes:-) It's been a good week! He's back to finally telling me when he has to pee and waking up dry from his naps and when we are out and about and he tells me he needs to pee he's been holding it until we get home (or find a bathroom).
I know he's young. And this is my second time potty training a little one and it's hard work. I almost feel like Lincoln was easier (sort of) because he was older (2.5 years) and understood better. It's just one of those areas where some kids get it and some kids don't and each child develops differently. I can't even compare Lincoln to Nathan because they are two separate individuals and I have to keep reminding myself that. Lincoln is not Nathan and Nathan is not Lincoln and they well learn at different rates. Ahhh motherhood. I'm constantly learning:-)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Dining Room Chairs
Thursday Kevin looked at me with desperation in his eyes and said "I need you to continue your search for dining room chairs." Like a good wife I obliged and headed straight to Hudson Madison to bring home the chair I had been admiring but wasn't willing to pay the price for.
When Kev came home, I showcased the chair. He took one look at the price and said, "if you can get them down 25% we'll take them."
Challenge accepted.
I worked my magic.
And I'm pleased to say: the chairs are officially mine! Well in 4-6 weeks they'll be mine!
Yes, friends and family! No longer will you dread coming over to our house for dinner!
I have been searching high and low for dining room chairs for over a year! Nothing appealed to me...well accept these ones but I wasn't willing to pay the price. I was really hoping to find chairs at Home Sense but after a year of countless trips there I ended up empty handed.
I debated back and forth between fabric and leather chairs. We have alot of brown in our kitchen and living room area (our cabinets are brown, are table is brown, our desk area is brown, are chairs are brown, our couch is brown). And I really wanted to break up the brown color. I thought about cream leather dining room chairs but then worried about them getting stained by jeans (you know when the dye from blue jeans gets transferred onto the material). I love the look of fabric chairs but thought leather ones would be more practical because we have kids. In the end the fabric ones won and I'm stoked! I've decided to keep two of the sweet pleather chairs for Lincoln and Nathan-I'm not ready for them to ruin the new ones. And as for London-I'm going to buy her a highchair. I've been anit-highchair for awhile now. They are big and bulky and not easy to clean (well at least I think so). With the boys I just used a little Fisher Price highchair that connects to a regular chair. It was practical and easy to clean.
I've now been told by Kevin to slow down on shopping! We'll see about that one Kev!
When Kev came home, I showcased the chair. He took one look at the price and said, "if you can get them down 25% we'll take them."
Challenge accepted.
I worked my magic.
And I'm pleased to say: the chairs are officially mine! Well in 4-6 weeks they'll be mine!
Yes, friends and family! No longer will you dread coming over to our house for dinner!
I have been searching high and low for dining room chairs for over a year! Nothing appealed to me...well accept these ones but I wasn't willing to pay the price. I was really hoping to find chairs at Home Sense but after a year of countless trips there I ended up empty handed.
I debated back and forth between fabric and leather chairs. We have alot of brown in our kitchen and living room area (our cabinets are brown, are table is brown, our desk area is brown, are chairs are brown, our couch is brown). And I really wanted to break up the brown color. I thought about cream leather dining room chairs but then worried about them getting stained by jeans (you know when the dye from blue jeans gets transferred onto the material). I love the look of fabric chairs but thought leather ones would be more practical because we have kids. In the end the fabric ones won and I'm stoked! I've decided to keep two of the sweet pleather chairs for Lincoln and Nathan-I'm not ready for them to ruin the new ones. And as for London-I'm going to buy her a highchair. I've been anit-highchair for awhile now. They are big and bulky and not easy to clean (well at least I think so). With the boys I just used a little Fisher Price highchair that connects to a regular chair. It was practical and easy to clean.
I've now been told by Kevin to slow down on shopping! We'll see about that one Kev!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
London's Photo Book
I normally print all my photo's and stick them in an album. My girlfriend Angela (of TypeA Photography) took my belly, birth and newborn photo's. I didn't want to just stick them in an album and store it away. This time I wanted to do something different. I wanted to show case my photo's. And I thought making a photo book would be the perfect way to do just that...and it was:-)
I've made a few photo books through MyPublisher and they've turned out really well and in my opinion I think they make great gifts for grandparents:-) I find My Publisher easy to use (and trust me I need easy) and they always have super good deals going on! I always wait till they have their free page offer-that way I'm able to get 70% off. I got my book, with 100 pages, for $35 (plus $15.99 for shipping).
London's book came in the mail today and I'm in love! It's perfect! Everything to do with my pregnancy, her birth and her first month with us! It's such a special keepsake.
I've now decided I'm going to do one for each of the boys!
I've made a few photo books through MyPublisher and they've turned out really well and in my opinion I think they make great gifts for grandparents:-) I find My Publisher easy to use (and trust me I need easy) and they always have super good deals going on! I always wait till they have their free page offer-that way I'm able to get 70% off. I got my book, with 100 pages, for $35 (plus $15.99 for shipping).
London's book came in the mail today and I'm in love! It's perfect! Everything to do with my pregnancy, her birth and her first month with us! It's such a special keepsake.
I've now decided I'm going to do one for each of the boys!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Life Lately
I was in the midst of washing the laundry room floor on my hands and knees (yes it's 11 pm on a Saturday night) when it dawned on me...you need to blog more. And I totally planned to but at the end of the day all I want to do is relax...or wash the laundry room floor.
It's moments like these (washing the laundry room floor at 11 pm on a Saturday night) that make me realize I miss my husband. Life is boring with out him. And unfortunately I've lost him to Vegas! I'd like to believe he's hauled up in some motel right now, cold, lonely and alone, missing us...but I'm thinking that's highly unlikely! He's probably at a club jersey turn piping it (I joke...well at least I hope so:-)! Every time he goes away a little piece of my heart hurts. I like having him home. And normally when he has to travel for work he's usually gone for a night-I can handle that. In fact I can handle 3 days but anything after that I start to miss him like crazy!
The kids.
I probably have to take a deep sigh on this topic. My kids behavior is well...kids behavior. Nate is 2. Lincoln is almost 4. Crazy times in this household I tell ya! A few weeks back Nate went through a whining/crying stage which started from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed. It was exhausting. Walking into his room in the mornings was hard. He was never in a good mood and it's just not the way I like to start my mornings. I don't know what was up with him. He's normally such a happy sweet kid! But literally...he became miserable. He'd sit at the kitchen table and cry and it would be over something silly like wanting milk. Nates a great talker...he's always been a good communicator and then he just started crying and I'd run around asking things like, "do you want the green spoon, do you want water, do you want a different bowl, do you want Cheerios, do you want milk, Oh you do want milk well then why didn't you say so." And then he'd wine about the cup it was in and then spill the milk all over the floor...and well you get the picture. He's finally back to himself and finding ways to be mischievous but he's got this smile and that look and it's kinda hard to get mad at him:-) Now when he wakes up I hear the same thing every morning, "Mom! Mom! Mommmmyyyyy! Mom! Mom! Mooommmmyyyy!" And he's happy therefore I'm happy:-)
And then there's Lincoln oh my sweet Lincoln. He's found a way to test his boundaries. I'm hoping this is "an almost 4" stage where he's talking back, not listening, smiling when I tell him not to do something and being completely resistant. I don't know what's gotten into him but he's not himself. Normally if he gets sent to his room for a time out he goes and then when he settles down he asks to come out-this has worked great for us!!!! Now it's a struggle to get him up there! I've also been dealing with the issue of sharing and taking turns. Strong Start is a great place and I've been loving it! I haven't been loving the crying scenes during gym time. Every time Lincoln cries over the plasma car. He thinks he should get it and once he gets it he doesn't think he should give it up. They have a 2 minute time limit rule (that isn't entirely enforced) but I'd like for him to learn about time limits and sharing. This has been a struggle. And normally I take him into the hallway and make threats like, "if you don't share we are going to have to go home, or if you don't share we can't come to strong start" so on Thursday I finally followed through with my threats. We walked out of the gym. He was resistant! And so was Nate. I packed up my 2 crying kids and we went home. I didn't want to leave but I knew I had to do something about it. I decided we'd go back the next day and Lincoln and I talked about how he was going to wait his turn and share and not cry during gym time (he'd also been saying that the whole week prior to this incident). It was redemption time and we were going back. I was bound and determined to teach my child patience and waiting his turn. And waiting his turn he did...with a bit of whiny-ness but there were no tears shed and no one was dragged out of the gym crying! And once he was on the plasma car he dominated that thing but we'll still continue to work on sharing! No one ever said parenting was easy:-)
crazy they are mostly good. But let's face it...it's more fun to write about the craziness! Well at least I think so! Crazy days make me thankful for the calmer days. Crazy days also usually give me time to reflect on life and what's important!
It's now 12:15 am and I can happily say I get to see my husband today:-) And I know 2 little boys and a sweet little girl who are missing their daddy like crazy. In fact a sweet little boy told me today Daddy was his bestfriend...this was after I told him he needed to spend some time in his room:-) Oh Lincoln, you know how to tug on my heart strings:-)
It's moments like these (washing the laundry room floor at 11 pm on a Saturday night) that make me realize I miss my husband. Life is boring with out him. And unfortunately I've lost him to Vegas! I'd like to believe he's hauled up in some motel right now, cold, lonely and alone, missing us...but I'm thinking that's highly unlikely! He's probably at a club jersey turn piping it (I joke...well at least I hope so:-)! Every time he goes away a little piece of my heart hurts. I like having him home. And normally when he has to travel for work he's usually gone for a night-I can handle that. In fact I can handle 3 days but anything after that I start to miss him like crazy!
The kids.
I probably have to take a deep sigh on this topic. My kids behavior is well...kids behavior. Nate is 2. Lincoln is almost 4. Crazy times in this household I tell ya! A few weeks back Nate went through a whining/crying stage which started from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed. It was exhausting. Walking into his room in the mornings was hard. He was never in a good mood and it's just not the way I like to start my mornings. I don't know what was up with him. He's normally such a happy sweet kid! But literally...he became miserable. He'd sit at the kitchen table and cry and it would be over something silly like wanting milk. Nates a great talker...he's always been a good communicator and then he just started crying and I'd run around asking things like, "do you want the green spoon, do you want water, do you want a different bowl, do you want Cheerios, do you want milk, Oh you do want milk well then why didn't you say so." And then he'd wine about the cup it was in and then spill the milk all over the floor...and well you get the picture. He's finally back to himself and finding ways to be mischievous but he's got this smile and that look and it's kinda hard to get mad at him:-) Now when he wakes up I hear the same thing every morning, "Mom! Mom! Mommmmyyyyy! Mom! Mom! Mooommmmyyyy!" And he's happy therefore I'm happy:-)
And then there's Lincoln oh my sweet Lincoln. He's found a way to test his boundaries. I'm hoping this is "an almost 4" stage where he's talking back, not listening, smiling when I tell him not to do something and being completely resistant. I don't know what's gotten into him but he's not himself. Normally if he gets sent to his room for a time out he goes and then when he settles down he asks to come out-this has worked great for us!!!! Now it's a struggle to get him up there! I've also been dealing with the issue of sharing and taking turns. Strong Start is a great place and I've been loving it! I haven't been loving the crying scenes during gym time. Every time Lincoln cries over the plasma car. He thinks he should get it and once he gets it he doesn't think he should give it up. They have a 2 minute time limit rule (that isn't entirely enforced) but I'd like for him to learn about time limits and sharing. This has been a struggle. And normally I take him into the hallway and make threats like, "if you don't share we are going to have to go home, or if you don't share we can't come to strong start" so on Thursday I finally followed through with my threats. We walked out of the gym. He was resistant! And so was Nate. I packed up my 2 crying kids and we went home. I didn't want to leave but I knew I had to do something about it. I decided we'd go back the next day and Lincoln and I talked about how he was going to wait his turn and share and not cry during gym time (he'd also been saying that the whole week prior to this incident). It was redemption time and we were going back. I was bound and determined to teach my child patience and waiting his turn. And waiting his turn he did...with a bit of whiny-ness but there were no tears shed and no one was dragged out of the gym crying! And once he was on the plasma car he dominated that thing but we'll still continue to work on sharing! No one ever said parenting was easy:-)
crazy they are mostly good. But let's face it...it's more fun to write about the craziness! Well at least I think so! Crazy days make me thankful for the calmer days. Crazy days also usually give me time to reflect on life and what's important!
It's now 12:15 am and I can happily say I get to see my husband today:-) And I know 2 little boys and a sweet little girl who are missing their daddy like crazy. In fact a sweet little boy told me today Daddy was his bestfriend...this was after I told him he needed to spend some time in his room:-) Oh Lincoln, you know how to tug on my heart strings:-)
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