The View From 3 Feet

This afternoon Michael got hold of my camera and I saw him pretending to take pictures. He seemed to understand the whole concept, so I showed him how to push the button. This kept him quiet for a whole hour! We left for grocery shopping and he insisted the camera come along. We left it in the car in case other shoppers didn't want their picture taken! As soon as we got home he was back at it. I mean, it IS an amazing invention, even to a 2 year old.

Here you will see what Michael loves and finds intriguing :)

His mama & sister of course!

His Dog Trux

Mom & {some of} Dad

Miss Dixie

Wheelie Frog

Teeeeeeeeeese Ma!

View from the front yard

Ma & sis again!

This is actually my favorite! How big things are at 2'11" !

The next 3 are pretty self explanatory.

I made it in 4 pictures. Guess I'm the coolest thing in his world. I'll take that :)

The Thoughts She Thinks

Why does he do this to me?! WHY?!?

I'm having shit luck with this.

What? Come on, tell me! What's so funny ma?

Why can't people just listen? GOD.

Do they not see this face? Do I need to scream or what?

Do you think she is really our mother?

Who farted?

Put down the camera or I WILL become physical.

Christina aint got nothin on me!

A Wise Man Once Said...

A compilation of words spoken by the little man.

Ba- Mom

Dada- Dad

Dis- Dix(ie)

Pees- Please

Oof- Woof

La Lu- Love you

Sees- Sister

Ba bye- Bye bye

Lo- Hello

NO NO NO- no no no (with finger pointed!)

Roooolll- Roll (he rolls on the ground)

Teese- Cheese

Duce- Juice

Buh- Bink

Nose

Eww

Shhh

Soos- shoes

La La (the song la,la,la,la elmo's world...)

Emo- Elmo

Moose

Downnnn

Yayyyy

Buhg (Booger the cat)

Spa Bob- SpongeBob

His words aren't too clear, but his mama gets it :)

My "Stay At Home Mom" Schedule

This is my favorite schedule yet! It's going to change slightly on Tuesdays &/or Thursdays when we start storytime.


7:30/8:00 am Everyone up. Change diapers. Tenley bottle, Michael milk. After bottle Tenley plays in jumper, Michael free play/tv time.

9:00 am Kids breakfast.

9:30 am Tenley nap. Breakfast for me. Dress Michael. I get dressed for gym. Michael free play (no tv on).

10:30 am Tenley up, dressed, given bottle.

10:45 am Leave for gym. (If no gym- CLEAN!!)

12:30 pm Home from gym. Michael lunch & free play. Vacuum house.

1:15 pm Tenley bottle.

1:30 Both kids nap. Sleep no later than 4 pm (haha I wish). Once up, Michael gets snack & juice followed by free play (tv can be on). Tenley gets floor play & can have puffs.

3:30 Dads home. I do one of my daily cleaning tasks (bathrooms, kids room, kitchen, etc.)

4:15 Tenley bottle.

5:00 Start dinner. Tenley quick nap for 30 mins if needed depending on how long she napped.

5:30 Dad gives Tenley dinner

6:00 Family dinner

6:30 Kid's baths.

7:00 Stories. Tenley bottle & Michael milk.

7:30 Kids to BED!! Mom and dad time :)

Free play doesn't necessarily mean "free". Crafts, reading, songs, & playtime with me is a great fill in!

Baby Friendly Foods

I've been on this kick of making some homemade food for the babies. Tenley has started solids so it's fun giving her new foods to try! She is on veggies and fruits for now. Mike surprised me with a food processor for Christmas and it's one of my most favorite things!! So far I have made a few batches of:

Bananas (no need to be cooked, just mashed with fork)
Peaches
Avocado
Apples
Sweet Potato
Green Beans
Butternut Squash
Carrots

I plan on adding plums, pears, and peas very soon.

I do not have ice cube trays (I've been meaning to pick them up!) so I used some tupperware. It doesn't leave them in perfect cubes, but I estimate the amounts she will eat in a serving. Here is how they come out, and hey, it does the job! I just freeze, then transfer to a feezer bag.

Bananas :) mmmm looks tasty huh? :p

One quick snack I love to have on hand for Michael is granola bars. However, they are like $2.00

for a box of only 8. For about $5.00 I can make them myself and make about 30-40!! Stored in an airtight container they stay fresh awhile. I got the recipe from a fellow blogger at http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com/2009/08/frugal-food-friday-chewy-chocolate-chip.html

Another staple lunchtime meal we always have on hand is chicken nuggets. However, there are so many additives to those "bagged chicken" meals, I figured why not just make my own? Here is what I do:

Slice chicken breasts into strips
Mix flour, garlic powder, salt, & pepper in a bowl
Beat eggs in a separate bowl
Heat oil in frying pan

Dip the chicken into the flour, then into the egg, then flour again (this makes the batter stick to chicken better). Then add to pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes, then flip. Cook until no longer pink.

I then lay the chicken out on a paper towel covered plate. After they cool down a bit, add to a freezer bag. Since the chicken is already cooked you can re-heat by microwaving! OR bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

MmMmM now THAT looks yummy!

I'm THINKING about making homemade cookies too, because the Michael man LOVES cookies :)

Do you have any healthy meals or snack ideas that are good to keep stocked?

A Year in Review

What a busy and tiring year it has been! We welcome 2011 with open arms and have hopes of relaxation, stability, and making beautiful family memories. Things have finally settled down (a bit) in our lives and it is perfect timing for this new year.

I was in the first month of pregnancy last January. We basically spent the month cuddling on the couch watching the entire series of Lost. Michael got his first tooth Jan 19, which brought on a very cranky little boy. Our 1 year anniversary celebration was spent at the Melting Pot, but cut short by my nausea. Note- do not EVER have raw meat/seafood put in front of you during pregnancy! Ugh!

We took Michael on his first skiing trip to the Poconos in February. Every week this month a new tooth was coming in. He also became a fulltime crawler by the month's end.

Mike celebrated his 27th birthday in March at our house in Avalon. We barbecued by the water's edge with family and friends and the weather was perfect. We found out we would be transferred to Virginia within the next few months so we made a trip there in search of a rental home. We left Michael with my mom for the weekend; our first time away from him for that long. That was tough!! The most exciting part of March was we found out we were having a baby GIRL :)

The Easter Bunny visited our house and left lots of goodies for Michael's first Easter. We found our Va home in April and the packing began. Packing while 5 months pregnant with a 9 month old crawling around is no easy task...but this would not be the first time we found ourselves in this situation...

I had a "sprinkle" for Tenley on May 1 with a few family and friends and seeing so much pink was super exciting to me! We settled into our new home May 8 and one week later we were headed to Hilton Head, SC for a Sporn family vacation. We found that our son was quite the water bug! Memorial Day weekend we found ourselves traveling back to Cape May, NJ for a camping trip. Big news for May- we have a walker! Yay Michael! Here he is in SC playing in the ocean...

We went to the beach a few times in June and also enrolled Michael in swim lessons. We took the trip to NJ yet again to attend my father's wedding June 18. It was very beautiful and I am so happy to have added a step-mother, sister, & brother. Here we are at the wedding...

June was also a big month for Michael!! (This was during naptime and he was not happy about that!) He is a very special boy who was spoiled by our friends and family! We love them all so much and couldn't be more thankful!
By July, we realized the house we were in just wasn't cutting it and we were going to need something bigger to accomodate our growing family. We began the house-hunting! We took it easy this summer with the new baby due in one month. This was also one of the hottest months on record! We did a Busch Gardens trip, which was also cut short because of my swollen ankles and aching back!

August FINALLY arrived and so did Miss Tenley. She was born via c-section August 13, 2010 at 12:33 pm. She was 7 lbs 5 oz, 19 inches long, and looked just like her mama :) My mom and step-dad came into town to stay with Michael while we were in the hospital with Tenley. He was a bit afraid of his sister at first, but quickly came to love her. The next few weeks are a bit of a blur...At the end of August we all went to an outdoor concert to see Darius Rucker!

Here she is---
We made another trip to Cape May, NJ for Labor Day. Traveling and vacationing with a 2 week old was not the best idea! But we did our best and had help as we were staying with my mom at the campground. My dad & family come to visit us in Va and we had a relaxing day at the beach! We also had an awesome crab dinner with everyone and the kids were great!

October is my favorite month and we couldn't have asked for better weather! We got out with the kids as much as we could! I made a trip to NJ, BY MYSELF! This was quite an experience! The kids were really misbehaving, Michael caught a cold, and Tenley was very colicky and barely slept! I tried to make the best of it and took them to a farm which ended up a nightmare! My sister spent a few days helping me and I'm pretty sure she may not have kids for many years now! My friend and I took Michael trick or treating in his skeleton costume. He did great and loved ringing door bells. Tenley was the sweetest "Halloween Ballerina". We found a house we LOVED and were approved for our first mortgage loan! So the packing began again...

We made settlement November 15. I am thrilled to own a home and am very thankful that my husband works so hard to provide for us. One week later we were NJ bound for Thanksgiving. We had dinner at Mike's parents and all the little cousins enjoyed playing.

Much of December was spent unpacking & decorating. We threw our first annual holiday party and it was a success! Of course, we spent Christmas up north and were so blessed to have been given so much! The kids received so many gifts that we had to take TWO trips to transport it all! Michael got to play in his first snowfall, which dumped 2 feet on us! Tenley started rolling this month and was loving her rice cereal :) I turned the big 2-6 and was given some sweet diamond earrings.

We rang in 2011, in bed, SICK! After all, 2010 really kicked our butts!