25% me, 75%...?

Change is good. I know that. In fact, I am quite certain that some smart and famous person probably once had a really eloquent quote about how growth is essential, but I obviously don't remember what it was. Lately I've been experiencing this same phenomenon over and over again. I'm in the middle of doing, or more often than not, not doing something and I stop and think; this is so not me.

For example, my house is a mess. I know I have said it before, but I mean, for real. IT IS A MESS. If you were the old me, you would walk into my house and have a panic attack. And what's more? I don't really care most of the time.

And then there is the fact that I haven't done anything resembling cuteness in a mighty long time. No projects, no baking, no crafting, nada. I broke the needle on my sewing machine, ummm, maybe 4 months ago now. It's still broken.

And I haven't thought about facebook after the initial withdrawal period. I have no clue what is going on in pretty much anyone else's life, and I'm okay with it. (I feel like I should add in that I do know what is going on in my friends and family's life, but let's just all go ahead and admit that isn't really who I probably kept tabs on on facebook, okay? :)

I used to be concerned daily about the way my clothes fit. I worked hard at hiding my problem areas well. (It took a great deal of time finding things that concealed properly, which probably is the reason for the eternal ponytail...) Lately though? I think I am starting to realize that my body change is inevitable. Having two babies, keeping up with said babies, and work, and enjoying life...It's just not left a lot of time for caring all that much about my weight, or appearance. I've struggled a lot with weight over the years and I think I just want to be happy with who I am.

At first when I started to think about how much I am changing I thought it was a bad thing. I chalked it up to being tired, or being lazy. How dare I let my house get this cluttered or not post a new project on any of the blogs? How could I not keep up appearances on facebook or know what is going on with so and so? Am I really going to give into being okay with with wearing this dress even though it showcases some undesirable pounds? But when I really start to think about it, I am happier. I am so much more fulfilled than I used to be. I am certainly a more positive person than I was a year ago. I think maybe all of this change has more to do with perspective than laziness?

 I think I have finally started to realize that a happy life is a whole lot more important that a whole lot of other things. Who knew?

6 whole months...

I CANNOT believe it. There is no way my sweet little baby can possibly be 6 months old. The calendar and doctors seem to agree, but I'm not sure I am buying it. :) Then again, I am fairly certain I have said that every month for the last 6 months, and am almost positive I'll be saying it again in just a few short weeks. Such is life.

Here are some sweet little things about our little 1/2 year old...

growing...I remember that I was convinced last month that Abbott was over 15lbs, but now I am thinking I was a little off. We went Thursday for his 6 month check up and he was weighing in at the 5th percentile, a whopping 15lbs 9oz. He seems so big to us, but I guess maybe we are very good judges of that! He is a bit short too as far as babies go, but I guess he gets that honest... 22.25 inches. Little Abby is growing like a weed. Matt keeps trying to convince me to put him in size 3 diapers, but I am not obliging just yet. That is just a bigger step than I am ready to take. I probably will have to agree to stop dressing him in nightgowns sometime soon, but some things I'm going to stick to my guns on, right?

eating/ sleeping...We are gulping up the solids now. He is loving all his veggies and it makes me so happy! I think his favorites are probably peas and sweet potatoes. I know he is going to like the bananas I'm thinking about trying too! He is now eating a small cereal lunch at school and a small veggie dinner here at home. We made the switch to double solids when Abbott stopped making any progress through sleeping through the night again. I knew he was growing and I just had to give in to satisfying his hunger. It is working well, and I am happy to say we've had a straight week of sleeping through the night again. Wahoo! We've also had a few Mum-Mums, or as mommy likes to call them, "car ride miracles." It's helping with our car riding anxiety and teething troubles too.

new things...This month has been full of playing, teething and moving! We grab and play with everything we can get our hands on these days. Nothing is off limits in Abbott's opinion. He will roll from one corner of the room to the other if it meas he can chew on that table leg he's been eying. Which brings me to the teething. Little Abby is drooling and chewing on everything. The doctor seems to think we'll have a couple of teeth in a few short weeks, and I can't believe it! Abbott is all over the place. I am fairly certain that he will be crawling in the next couple of months, if not by the end of this one. He knows how to pull himself forward and is starting to combine that with pushing off on his toes. I am so not ready for that! Two mobile children just sounds like trouble.

 

Sweet little Abby Rabbit could not possibly bring more joy into our lives. He is still so calm, even keel, happy go lucky. He smiles and talks and socializes with everyone. He puts up with Laurelei like a total champ, (I think it helps that she is pretty sweet most of the time :) I cannot wait to see how his personality continues to emerge over the next few weeks.  Happy 1/2 birthday little guy!

Fool Proof Baby Food Making

If someone had told me making my own baby food was this easy I soooo would have done it for L too. It's absolutely fool proof! We follow some pretty basic steps to get the job done, and Abbott just loves it. Here is what we've been doing to save a little money around here...

 First, we picked super yummy adult veggies and fruits. So far we've done squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas. I am hoping to to as much fresh as possible, but we did start with frozen peas and I was okay with that. It was just easier! We bought the other veggies fresh though, as they are easier to prepare.

Next, we bought these great Ziploc steam baggies from the store. You get maybe 10 for around $3.00, but it is so worth it! We simply peeled the fresh butternut squash, chopped it up, threw in a little water according to the directions on the bag and steamed in the microwave. I was a little leery about how soft the squash would get because they were so hard I could barely cut through them, but they were perfect for blending when they were done! I couldn't believe how well the bag steamed them.

Then, I just threw my steamed squash in the blender after they had cooled down a bit and blended with a small amount of water. The amount of water depends on the amount of veggies. I have typically started with around 1 oz of water in the bottom of the blender and worked my way up as needed. (A good tip I read for the first round of veggies is to mix them with formula or breast milk when blending, that way it is creamier and has a familiar taste to the baby. We did this with our first round of peas and Abbott loved it!)

When we had our veggies blended to the consistency we wanted we just loaded up an ice cube tray and let them freeze overnight. In the morning we popped them out and stored them in a labeled freezer bag. It was so super easy.

I spent about an hour maybe one night, start to clean up, making 4 different types of baby food. All together, steam baggies and freezer bags included, I spent about $12 and got about 60 servings worth of food for Abbott's age. It was unbelievable! Being acutely aware of how much we started spending weekly on L's baby food as she grew, I know this will be a big savings for us. And it feels good to be making something a little healthier for my baby too.

Dear Laurelei,

You are probably the sweetest little girl I've ever met. Your sweet smile lights up the room instantly.

You are a natural comforter and protector. You cannot stand to see people cry or look sad, in real life or on TV. It seems as though sometimes you take those things very personally. I think you would do anything to make another person happy. That is a great quality to have. You are very protective over your little brother too. Strangers beware, for if they happen to look at Abbott sideways you might just take them out. Certainly you'll put them right back in their place as you yell triumphantly, "Hey, that's my brother!"

That's not to say that sometimes you aren't a little ornery too. If we hear Abbott crying we will almost certainly also hear you yelling, "I didn't do nothin to him!" from somewhere in the house. We'll just say that sometimes you smother him with love and kisses.

It seems as though you've learned a lot from the little time you have spent in time out in your short life. You love to play with you babies and stuffed animals and you are very stern with them. You spend a great deal of your playtime teaching them life lesson's such as, "No hitting!" or, "We only say nice things!" or, my personal favorite, "Daddy says we not say no one's not our friend." There is definitely an atmosphere of respect and friendship among the playthings around here.

You are growing up so fast, and at times it is a little scary! Many things you say and do seem incredibly far beyond your years. Just today you asked me when you would be able to get another new pair of sandals. You were very concerned that your flip flops squished your toes but that it was getting warm outside also. You told me, "I know I just got new Dora shoes Mommy, but they not show my toes. And they're for school." I kind of thought we'd have 10 more years before all the bargaining started, but I guess you had other plans.

Luckily, you're still a 3 year old at heart. You love to sing and dance, and you don't care who sees you! It's not unusual for you to break out the moves in a public location that is playing some good tunes. I love your 'fractured nursery rhymes' too. Just yesterday we had quite a lengthy argument of the words to "Baa, baa black sheep." Apparently the correct words are, "Baa, baa black sheep have you anymore more? Yes sir, yes sir three bags full. One for the masker, for today..." Looks like we'll keep singing it your way for awhile, since you won. When I asked you, "Anymore what?" you replied, "Three bags silly!" When I asked who the third bag was for is only one was for the masker and one was for today, you told me it was for you. Makes sense I guess, since right now everything belongs to you...:)

You are so beautiful inside and out. You have such a happy spirit. We are so blessed to call you our daughter.

Love,
Mommy

Lately

Lately we've been busy. And not necessarily the good kind of busy. Though I am not quite sure that there is a good kind of busy sometimes. Our days and nights have been filled with work and rushing. So, we've tried our best to find little ways to slow down and enjoy one another.

Matt and I have discovered Downton Abbey and I am obsessed. I know, I am a little late on the scene, but I love it! We are only on Season 2 Episode 3, and I cannot wait to watch it. We can only watch the shows on the computer, which at first seemed like a nuisance, but is now quite wonderful. Matt and I get to snuggle up in our bed and open the laptop. It makes for a quiet and calm ending to an otherwise long and busy day. And it reminds us of Edniburgh, where we used to do the same thing all the time.

Luckily it's been in the 70's the past few days, so we've also been able to squeeze in some quality family time at the park. The kiddos love it. Abbott even got to swing in a big swing for the first time, and he loved it. He had the biggest smiles and was a little disappointed to get out. I desperately want to find some playmates for L and Abbott this summer. L really needs someone to run around at the park with. Hopefully Aunt Dana is up for some summertime play dates :).

 We even got out to Orange Leaf this week on a nice warm night. L was a little late getting to bed, but it was well worth it. The yogurt obviously did not disappoint and the conversation was even better. Spending time as a family is always so refreshing!

Have you noticed a plethora of Instagram photos on here lately? It might be because I broke my camera. It still works, but not quite to it's full potential. The flash is completely broken, and since I work during the day I haven't been able to take any pictures at night, since it's just too dark in our house. It's going to be $200+ to fix, which begs the question, is it worth it? I mean, it's totally worth it to get my camera fixed, but should we just wait a couple of months and get a new one instead? That is what we can't decide. Either way, we are going to have to save. And I'm left to wonder if I am going to miss out photographing many important moments for Abbott over the next few months. I am so overly disappointed about this! :(

 

On a positive note though, there is no school today! Meaning it is 9:45 and I have already fed the baby myself twice, played with L, made breakfast, and had a little computer time (first time I've been on the computer in a week!) We have big plans for fun today.  I was so ready for this three day weekend. Maybe it will give me sometime to catch up on some memory keeping! We shall see. 

Happy Friday!

Beautifully out of the loop...

I gave up facebook for Lent. I don't give up things for Lent every year, seeing as how it's not technically a part of my belief system or anything, but every couple of years I use this as a time to give up something I think I've put too much time into. It reminds me to focus on more important things.

I've spent a lot of time in my life playing the comparison game. Worrying about other people, wondering what they are doing and if I should be doing it too. I knew that being so over connected to people through facebook was not doing me any favors. I expected it to be hard to give up.

What I didn't expect was how good it would feel! The first couple of days were hard. It's hard to break the habit of knowing what's going on with people and wanting to check up on the world of facebook. Especially having that stupid app on my phone. (The first order of business was to delete that of course!) But, after I adjusted to 'not knowing' I LOVED 'not knowing.' I feel so content. I have no idea what is going on with people I barely know in real life and I am okay with that! I do miss keeping up with people who are far away more easily, but it's only encouraged me to make real contact more often. And that is a beautiful thing!

I feel so out of the loop, and I can honestly say it feels great!

Snow Day

I had completely given up all hope that we'd have a snow day. So much so that I haven't even checked the extended forecast in weeks. I had no clue it was even supposed to snow last night, so I was shocked when I woke up and saw like 4 inches of snow! What a wonderful surprise!

Matt and I had just been talking the other day about how we wish L had had a nice snowy winter this year to enjoy. We just knew she would love the snow, and she did!

She asked me to come out and play with her, so I did my best to run back and forth between her and Abbott, who wasn't be particularly agreeable with nap time, inside. She so badly wanted to make a snowman, so I tried my best to help her. Turns out mama can't build a very good snowman.

The worst was probably when Laurelei cried because she wanted a bigger, better snowman. She actually told me, "I didn't think that is what it would look like mama!" between sniffles. So sad. Luckily daddy was able to come home in the evening and build not one but TWO proper snowmen for her.

L was her typical self about playing in the snow. She loved it and then she hated it. She threw it, rolled in it, ate it, and then decided that she didn't want her boots dirty or her hands cold. She is too funny.

Love this kid.

Adventures in baby feeding...

The past couple of weeks have been exciting ones for Abbott's tummy. Over presidents day weekend we decided to take advantage of our extra day off. We cleaned, played, got lots of laundry done, and gave Abbott his first bites of rice cereal.

The doctor told us we could start whenever at our 4 month check up. I'll admit that Abbott was probably ready, seeing as how it would suit him just fine to have bottle in his mouth every 5 seconds. Mommy, however, was not. It's not surprise that I've been on that kick of not wanting little one to grow anymore than he already has. But, alas, we started the cereal anyway at right around 5 months. We only got a few bites in the first time, but more than once since then he's almost eaten through a whole serving!

And don't worry, despite his first impressions, he loves it now. Especially since we've switched over to oatmeal, which appears to be much more appetizing.

In other baby food news, I've decided to give making my own baby food a go. With Laurelei we just bought every flavor Gerber had to offer. First babies can be so overwhelming you sometimes feel like you couldn't possibly embark on any other new projects besides just the new baby! I feel a lot more up to multitasking this second time around. I mean I am currently blogging with a 3 year old on my lap while rocking a bouncy seat with one foot, so making my own baby food shouldn't be all that overwhelming, right?

We started with peas. For some reason they seemed not as daunting as some other food varieties. We didn't quite have the most successful first experience. Our equipment was less than adequate for the task. We are definitely going to be borrowing a food processor for the next attempt. After using three separate mixing/ blending devices we finally settled on the right texture. From one bag of frozen peas we were able to freeze about 20 individual pea servings.

 Abbott had a couple of spoonfuls of the left over veggie and they were a big hit. It made me feel very proud of my efforts! We are planning to keep him on mostly cereal with only a couple of spoonfuls of peas this week.  As we get closer to 6 months I think we will get a little more adventurous. I'm excited about the healthy options we can explore making our own food at home. And I'm not going to lie, I appreciate the price too! Next up is sweet potatoes I think. Wish us luck!

Instaupdates

As to be expected, life has still been moving at record pace around here. A combination of that plus almost exceeding my storage space on our old laptops has tremendously cut down on my photo taking, uploading and editing abilities. So today, on this BEAUTIFUL snow day, I am going to give my updates via my go-to memory keeper, instagram!

one...It's a snow day! I've been waiting all winter for a snow day, and what do you know? It came in March! I'll take it!

 

two...Previous to all this snow, we had record high temps for February. Last week we went on a walk almost every night after school. Abbott loved the fresh air I think.

 

three...It also allowed us to get out to the park a few days, and for me to snap my new all time favorite picture of L. This is called "It's not fair, I don't want to go yet!" :)

four... This weekend I gave up. I am all about style and aesthetics in our house, but finally functionality won out in our living room. With 4 whole people in this house now, we were simply out of space. So, our 8-square-foot coffee table had to go. It is now the newest resident in Laurelei's room. (I know, I know. We really were that desperate!)

Well hello floor space, nice to meet you!

five... We celebrated many firsts this weekend. Abbott got his Johnny Jump-Up and loved it! He is quite the social butterfly and loves the control over where he looks and goes! 

six..Abbott had his first vegetable, sweet peas too. I made a big batch this weekend to freeze. He got a little spoonful or two of them and loved it. He is closing in on 6 months, I cannot believe it!

I can't wait to use this long, beautiful snow day to build a snowman, catch up on some projects, and enjoy my little sweeties.

 Dreams do come true! Happy Monday!