Fluffernutter

We are busily getting ready to drive up to Pennsylvania tomorrow to visit Wil's extended family. We are picking his parents up at the airport in the morning and then driving to Pine Grove/Tremont. I'm excited to go. Grandma Scheib has a pool that I'm sure we will spend hours in and she always stocks up on the marshmallow fluff so we can have FLUFFERNUTTER sandwiches. I don't think there is anything healthy at all in this white bread, peanut butter and fluff concoction, but I love them! And I only eat them at Grandma's house, otherwise I would be in big trouble.

And you have to click on the Fluffernutter theme song - it's awesome!

Peanut

has a HEARTBEAT! We had our first sonogram today and things are looking good. We are right on schedule and you could see the tiny little heartbeat. I can't even tell you what a relief it was to see.

Sleeping Beauty

We are having serious sleeping problems at our house and I don't know what to do. Over the last couple weeks, Little Man has gone from being really good with naps and bedtime to a total nightmare. Last night we put him down for bed around 8 (his normal bedtime) and finally turned to the trusty Benedryl at 10 to get him calmed down enough to fall asleep. Naptime is getting to be just as bad, he will play in the crib or cry for up to an hour and a half before going to sleep. I've been careful with his routine...nothing has changed. We let him cry it out for up to 30 minutes, which used to work everytime. We tried laying down with him, which would calm him down for the short term, but he would cry even worse when we put him back down. I know he's absolutely exhausted from the temper tantrums and huge dark circles under his eyes, but I'm at a loss for how to fix this. Help!?!?!?!?

I did it!!!!

Yes, Heidi, I did it. I booked the flight! Susie, Little Man and I will be in Utah from November 6th to November 13th. I think we will be renting a car, so I'm gonna bring the car seat. We will be in need of a pack and play and someplace to crash.

Give me a call or send me an email if you are in Utah and want to see us while we are there.

I am so excited!

What I found...

when I came back in the family room this morning. I was doing laundry, Little Man was watching Sesame Street and...

Harry Potter 7

It was perfect in every way!

Going out for dinner

We are on our way to Grandma's house for dinner. Susie is making Grandmother's Meatballs. The one recipe of Gram's that I'm not allowed to learn, it belongs to Susie - her specialty, which of course means it's one I want all the time. Plus a couple of her friends are coming for dinner, so it feels like a little party. And you all know how I feel about dinner parties. I'm sure that I'll come home tonight feeling fat and sassy!

It died.

We got home tonight after Susie made us a fabulous dinner (it was REALLY nice to not have to cook!), turned on the dryer and NOTHING happened. I think I've mentioned that the dryer in our little ghetto apartment takes 3 hours to dry a normal load of laundry, so I usually turn it on for 105 minutes when I leave the apartment and set it again when I get home. This also means that with the heat it's really hard to squeeze in more than one load in a day. But it looks like today it gave up the ghost, it's not making a peep. Maybe I should be sad, but even the prospect of 2 weeks without a dryer isn't phasing me right now. That could be because I was on my last load of the week. It is however a bit upsetting to Wil. Mostly because if we have to make a trip the the laundromat, he'll be the one schlepping all of our clothes. I don't think this is going to happen. I think we can get a small drying rack, set it in front of our big glass doorway and the clothes will dry faster than they did in the old dryer... with the added plus that it won't heat up the apartment. The even bigger bonus? We should have a brand new dryer to use the last couple months that we're here!

Relief?

I keep looking at my blog and want to write something FUN, but this last week has been rough. Little man had a stomach virus that he passed on to Wil and I, but I can't seem to kick it. Every time I start to feel better, it comes back with a vengeance...with queasiness and lightheadedness along with it. All I want to do is lay on the couch and wait for it to go away. But with Little man and work, it's impossible. Right now, week 13 seems like a very long way away.

Low and Slow

My friend, Ames, was asking about slow cooker recipes. So I thought I would pass along one of my favorite finds. McCormick Slow Cooker Seasonings.

The beef ones are heavy for a summer meal, but the chicken and the pulled pork are both great! Just follow the instructions on the back of the packet and you're good to go.

I drank it...

ya know, the water that Heidi was talking about.

My personal shopper

I got an email from Amazon.com a few weeks ago about a new program they have started called, Subscribe and Save. At first look, it seemed too good to be true...diapers delivered to your door for LESS than what I pay per diaper at the store. I read through all of the "rules" and tried to find any loophole that would tie me into years of diapers I might not need. Not one that I could find, they say you can change or cancel at any time! So I decided to take the plunge and sign-up. I LOVE IT! Our first big box of diapers arrived yesterday, delivered to my door. I didn't have to worry about the lines at the new Stuff-Mart, or planning a trip to Target (40 minutes away) to get the cheaper box, or how I was going to fit it in our tiny car with the other groceries. Now I'll have diapers delivered to our door the first week of every month. If you are still buying diapers and your kids are as sensitive as mine (we HAVE to use pampers and pampers sensitive wipes), I highly suggest trying this.


***We are starting to add some other things to this list and most things come in bulk. I don't have to have them sent as often, but with a tight budget I do have to make sure that the money is there when they are shipped.

A do-nothing day

I came to the realization as I was cleaning the bathroom today that do-nothing days don't really exist anymore. Even on the days when I feel like I'm being incredibly lazy because I took a nap, watched a movie or read while Adam was sleeping... I still accomplish at least one of the following 3 chores (if not all of them); a load of laundry, sweeping the kitchen/dining room/family room area, and cooking at least one meal. That's not so lazy, is it? At least not when you're doing that with an 18 month old "helping".

In the doghouse

We have friends from church who have given us an open invitation to use their pool and we take advantage of it as much as possible. We also trade babysitting and meals too. I was over there with Little Man a week or so ago watching their kids and then enjoying the pool. Little Man was tired. I was trying hard to keep him off of the stairs and avoid the tantrums that they were causing, when we found this...





He had taken all of his toys, crawled in the dog crate and shut the door behind him. I don't think the dogs were very happy but little man was happy as a clam.

Where's my baby?

Little man got yet another haircut today. It makes him look way too old!

Can you tell we are sisters?

I was about to write all about the fabulous books Lindsey got me hooked on, when I read this. I'm trying to finish the Peter books before HP7 comes out in 10 DAYS(!!!!). And then I'll be moving on to the Sorcery and Cecilia books. By then I might be able to convince her to let me borrow Eclipse. Why is it that I don't realize how much I miss good books until I'm in the midst of one? Then I don't ever want it to end.

My go-to meal

I realized tonight as I was making dinner that spaghetti isn't just one of my easiest meals in a hurry, it's also one of the few ways I can guarantee that my men are eating their veggies. Little man is too young to notice that I sneak them in and Wil only picks out the mushrooms. I've also tried to find a balance between what he likes (homemade, simmer for hours) and what I have the time to do. This is our compromise:

1 lb. bulk italian sausage
1/2 large onion
1 green pepper
1 med size zucchini or yellow squash

Throw in a deep skillet and cook until sausage is brown. Drain any excess fat. Add:

1 small can low sodium tomato sauce
1 jar of your favorite sauce (we go for barilla mushroom & garlic or classico italian sausage)
italian seasoning and sweet basil to taste - about a tsp of each

Simmer while pasta cooks. We use whole wheat angel hair and the whole thing is a hit. By the end of the meal, little man is usually head straight for the tub and Wil has enough leftovers to take lunch all week. The best part for me though is knowing that we had something healthy, that fits comfortably in our budget.


...And I just realized that I wrote almost the exact same post in May. What is it about spaghetti? I promise that tomorrow I will come up with something more original!

Shea's the best

This was one heck of a weekend and I'm far too tired to be writing this. My best friend, Shea, was here to do the wedding photography for some family friends. It was MUCH better than our last visit, since there were no kids with the stomach flu. It was great to just be at home, hanging out, stopping at Bowen's for birch beer fountain drinks and just being. Some of it was oddly surreal... being very comfortable and very foreign all at the same time. Doing the same things in our 30's that we did in high school, except now we are the moms carting our kids all over the county. It also reminded me of how much of a rock she is to me and how having her around just makes things better. I miss her again already.

Next year's plans

Grandmother has FINALLY decided that she can't do the 4th of July family reunion. It's a change that needed to be made at least 3 years ago, since her health just isn't up to having such a big event at her house. This year was better than last, when she spent a few days in the hospital because it was too much. So next year it's at our house! In some ways I think it will be a good change. We can just have one meal (instead of two) and desserts. Plus by then we will have both living areas that we can open up for babies and the great grandmas, who need a break from the heat. AND Dad will have to have something done in the yard because it will drive him crazy to have the whole family coming and a messy yard. I just hope it doesn't mean that my mom will become as crazy as my grandmother is about the 4th.

DOWNSIDE: No escaping to Kohl's or Old Navy for last minute July 4th shopping.

We escaped!

I escaped the family party twice today. Both times it was to go SHOPPING. Kohl's always has great holiday sales and I had gotten gift cards for my b-day to get THIS. Wil and I went over to pick it up. While I was there I saw these for Boo. (Ames, They have hot pink ones online, but these were the only ones in the store...on sale for $12. Will they work for Boo?) When I got back to the house a bunch of the other ladies wanted to go too, so we all piled in my cousin's minivan and went for another trip so we could look at the SHOES. It was so cool when my mom, her sister and cousin all got the same shoes in different colors and they are super cute.

Ooops!

I will definitely be patriotic tomorrow... blue denim capris, a blue and white T shirt, and RED shoulders, arms and back. Who forgot the sunscreen today? Yeah, that was me.

Just keep swimming

This is our one activity that everyone in the family enjoys. Wil loves it and the little man does too. So when they started pool time for an Enrichment activity, I was excited. Today was the first one. We had a little tantrum with the swimsuit, but he's getting much better with his "Ear Band-It". He has to wear it to keep the water out of his ears. I'll have to post a picture of him is his full swim gear, the poor kid looks like a geek, but at least I feel like he's safe. His favorite things are sitting on the edge and throwing things into the pool and sitting on the edge or the ladder and "jumping" in. This usually means that he holds his arms out to Wil or I and waits for us to grab him and pull him into the water. Today though he spent about half an hour in the "baby section". One of the other ladies and I used two lounge chairs to section off part of the deck and gave the littlest ones a big bucket of water and a couple cups. Then I actually got to sit and visit! It was great.

It was a good day...

I'm so happy to have a fabulous husband, friends and sissie! They made today a great day, even with dr's appointments and errands. Wil even did the grocery shopping WITH our little man, so I didn't have to. The best part though was my super fabulous haircut! Lin and I went together and then went to dinner... it was perfect girl time. And the haircut made me feel like me again...not like the mommy who never looks nice. I'm sure that won't always be the case. I still have an 18 month old running wild, but at least I know that when I make the time it will look like me.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream - Part 2

If you remember this post, I have been having a hard time fighting the temptation of ICE CREAM. Today the ice cream declared victory!!! And it was oh, so good. Instead of birthday cake, Mom got the beloved Wattamelon Roll. Happy Birthday to me!