Friday Morning Giggles! plus a Pin

So Cute!

On a random note, since I'm now obsessed with Pinterest, I thought I'd pass along my latest I pinned it, I did it moment. I saw on Pinterest to wipe your baseboards with a dryer sheet to not only collect the hair but repel it, and I tried it. I don't think its been long enough to know how well its going to repel but its been 4 days and I don't notice the dog hair like usual (its a wonder our dog has any hair with how much she sheds), and man did it get a lot of gross stuff off the baseboards better than a cloth I though. I took it a step farther and used the dryer sheet where the baseboard meets the carpet in the crack and wow! It was disgusting and I had no idea it was so gross. It could be that my vacuum just doesn't do a good job (more on that in another post), but I was impressed. Plus, I love the way dryer sheets smell so that was an added bonus! I'll be doing this from now on (or as long as I can coupon dryer sheets :-). What did I do before pinning everyone elses genius ideas on Pinterest?

Good Morning!

Poor Ruthie and Joel have been sick for the past few days, but thankfully are on the mend. Lainie and I are starting to get stuffy but hopefully thats the extent of it for us. Besides the sickness here, we've had lots of fun this morning.

Theres been help bouncing

A good Morning Kiss

Followed by a good morning hug

Followed by a silly face with a smiling sister

And some happy tummy time!

I can't tell you how thankful I am my girls have each other (and I have them). Its evident already to me how much Ruthie loves and protects Lainie, and how excited and happy Lainie gets when she sees Ruthie. While having kids so close together has its challenges, they seem completely irrelevant when I see how much they love each other. Hope this brightens your Morning!

Proof

This video is proof of several things:
1. We've got a beach girl, who asks to go to the beach every. single. time. we go outside. (cue meltdown when we dont).
2. Chloe is the absolute best.
3. Lainie is an angel, napping her sweet little head off.
4. Ruthie constantly cracks us up. One of her favorite statements is Walk Chlo Chlo Walk...Okay.
5. I am the worlds worst videographer. period.

A story in Pictures

I'll let the pictures do the talking :-)

See where this is going?

I kind of feel like I'm getting double my money's worth! Two girls happy....I'll take it!

Does it get any better?

Overflowing.

Strong Girl

Our little Naynay is not only so incredibly sweet, but she is super strong. This past weekend, she started standing up for long stretches at a time with us only balancing her.

Also, I think its safe to say we've got a blue eyed girl!

Good Eats-Chowder style

This weekend, I happen to catch PW on Food Network and she was making corn and cheese chowder. Since its been freezing here the past few days, it sounded perfect. Even, better was that I had all the ingredients, which seems to be a rareity when I see something on tv or online I want to make.

It was delicious and definitely something you should make! You start out chopping an onion and sauteeing it in butter (I forgot to take a picture of that!).

Then chop up a few slices of bacon and throw it in with the onion. At this point, I would stop for a few minutes and just sniff. Man, it smells some kind of good!

Then add a few chopped peppers to the mix.

Add a bunch of corn (to be exact). This is what I used, plus one can of crisp sweet yellow corn.

After its all cooked together for a few minutes, sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour on top and stir.

After it is dissolved, pour in 3 cups of chicken broth and stir. Then add 2 cups of half and half. Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

I then added about 1 1/2 cups of pepper jack cheese and maybe a 1/2 cup of mexican blend cheese.

Verdict: Wow, it is really good! What I put above is exactly what I did and probably a little different from PW. She says serve immediately, and we didn't do that (she probably doesn't have to make dinner during nap time, although I think she probably used to). It was still really good later and even better with some crusty bread.

Next time, I hope to put some crab in it or clams which I'm sure would be even better. Hope you enjoy!

Worldless Wednesday-Happy Naynay

Love this girl!!!

Cinco de Ruthie-Months 18-21

I intended to only do 6 month updates after Ruthie turned 1, but she has changed so much in the past three months, I couldn't resist. Plus, a lot has changed in our house in three months, so this is due!

There is one word that best describes Ruthie and it is BUSY! As a new baby, people would always call her busy and I never got it.

Now, I totally get it.

She NEVER stops. She is constantly moving and doing something, she doesn't sit still or stay in one place for more than a few seconds. We're getting to where we can read most of the books we have in one sitting, instead of only a few pages. I honestly can't imagine what its like to have a baby/toddler that isn't busy. I love it.

Over the past three months Ruthie Loves:

-Lainie, or NayNay. Loves loves loves her. It is one of the sweetest things I've ever seen in my entire life.

Ever.

She hears her before I do and loves to bounce her in the bouncey seat, hug and kiss her, show her toys, help me give her a bath, the list goes on. She is the best big sister I could ever hope for.

-Chloe and all dogs. Loves them, big or small.

-Ice. She really loves some crushed ice and asks for it daily. Its a nice, cheap snack thats easy to clean up!

-being silly

-being outside

-anything way up high, spinning, dropping her tummy, adventurous, etc.

-She loves going on the deck

-She loves watching videos of herself or seeing her picture on my camera.

-she's crazy about the beach and gets so upset if we don't make the turn to go to the beach when we're walking

-She still loves her blankies

-Loves Elmo and Mickey Mouse. She's starting to like Veggie tales, but it isn't quite as good to her as the others.

-Papa. She's definitely Papa's girl.

-She loves the bath and especially the bathtub crayons she got at Christmas. She asks for them every night.

-She loves baby toys, the bumbo, bouncey seat, etc. i think she likes them better now than when she was a baby.

-She really really loves to wash her hands. Its about 75% the fact that it involves water and 25% that she gets to climb up on her stool. She's really proud of that.

Sleep:

We have cut down to one nap. She is going down around 12/12:30ish and gets up between 3-4ish. Most of the time, she spends about 20-30 minutes reading her books and playing with her toys and I love watching her on the monitor. Its so cute.

At night, she is going to bed around 7pm and getting up between 7-7:30am.

Eating:

She's still a great eater. One of her current favs is edamame. It cracks us up that she can eat them right out of the shells just like an adult. She also loves blueberries, gogo squeeze applesauce, fruit snacks, brown rice, cheese, apples which she can also eat whole with the skin on..so cute.

She doesn't love yogurt.

She drinks whole milk and water. She doesnt' drink juice. We don't have any, but the times I've given it to her she hasn't be interested in it.

Mobility:

She's still super fast and runs like a combination of Pheobe off friends and Willow. It cracks us up. We were just talking about how we'll be sad when she doesn't run with her arms flailing anymore.

She also started doing 'handstands', spins, rolls, etc. I think my girl is going to love gymnastics. I'm pretty excited about that!

Words:

Too many to list. She's started to say 2-3 word sentences. Things like more bread please. Which sounds like mo breh puh. I am fluent in Ruthie language, but I don't think many people are. I love the way she says things, her inflections and cute voice. She says Mama and Papa with what sounds like a brittish accent. Cute.

She has really good manners when it comes to please and Thank you. She saids cank cu and what sounds like there you go (for thank you) almost always when she should, its so sweet.

She now says Okay when she means yes. She learned this from her BFF Callie and it is so cute.

Signs:

I think the only new sign in wash your hands, which is something she made up while saying Wash wash. I have no idea what the actual sign is for it, but it works in our house.

Paci:

We have gotten rid of the paci (outside of the crib), which is huge! It has made for a lot more smiling pictures and has been so much easier than we ever thought.

Teeth:

We're still on a break from teeth although I keep checking for those molars.

Hair:

We've had some major growth on the hair front. Ruthie's hair grew in full mullet fashion, and then all of a sudden a mohawk came out! The sides are starting to come in and I was able to give her a Pebbles ponytail last week. I've cut the mullet about 10 times and haven't cut any other hair. She's getting little girl hair! I love it!

Tantrums:

Oh yeah. They've started. We're trying to get our hands around the most effective way to discipline and so far time out has been somewhat effective. She throws the kind of tantrum that engages her entire body by falling to the ground and flailing. Sometimes its just funny and sometimes its really, really not.

Other:

With every day that passes I realize Ruthie is more and more like Joel. Not only in looks, but in just about everything. She is serious, gorgeous, adventurous, energetic, super smart, hilarious (which only a few people will see) and has an inner circle. If you're not in the inner circle, you might get a look like this (only more stink eye) and possibly some tears (which Joel doesn't do :-)). There are a few ways into the inner circle.

First, if you have a dog thats friendly, you're pretty much in

Second, one of the fastest ways in is to completely ignore her and don't put her as your focus. She does NOT like to be the center of attention.

Third, french fries. Can't blame her for that one, she came by it naturally.

A few solid ways to be rejected are to laugh loudly (it doesn't have to be at her, just around her), try and get her to talk to you if she doesn't know you (definite stranger danger here), put her in a confined space with more than a few people. She much prefers wide open spaces with lots of room to run. She likes to play with 1-2 friends at a time, and if we go much over that she becomes my shadow with possibly a few meltdowns thrown in.

One of my favorite things that she has started doing over the past few months is praying. It is so sweet, she'll randomly look at me, fold her hands and call someone out. I fold my hands and say Thank you God for Daddy, then she calls out someone else and we go through the list of everyone she knows not leaving anyone off the list. I love it, she's so sweet. She has also started giving around the neck hugs, instead of just backing up into you and leaning in.

One thing that I love about this stage is that she's starting to help me bake and cook. We have so much fun measuring and pouring and mixing and just have the best time!

The past few months I feel like we've really gotten to see more of Ruthie's heart and it is so sweet. She is so loving, caring and hilarious. I'm pretty sure she loves being a big sister and there is not much that makes me happier. I can't wait to see how she changes over the next three months. I really can't believe she's going to be two!! How is it going so fast! These have by far been the best 21 months of my life. I am so lucky to be her Mom!

Happy Birthday Matt!!

Happy Birthday to my absolute favorite 12 year old!

My nephew Matt, one of the best guys, we know

We love you!

My Little Lainie-Month 3

Sweet, sweet NayNay, I'm pretty sure that nickname has stuck and we love having you around. You are easy, laid back, quiet, smiley and just a joy. We love her little heart shaped chin and snuggly self. This past month has been great and your personality is coming out more every week.

Eating:

You are still a great eater and are on a three hour eating schedule usually beginning each day at 7am. Sometimes you'll go 3 1/2-4 hours, and others you'll be starving at 2 1/2 hours. You are not a snacker at all. You eat until you're full then you stop. If I try and continue, you are over it and let me know loudly. There is no nursing you to sleep either, which I'm really thankful for. One less habit to break!

Size:

Man, she is so much bigger than Ruthie was at this age. She is very long and lean. She is in 6 month clothes and if I try and squeeze her into 3-6 month clothes, when she bends her knees she usually pops the snaps open. She is still in size 2 diapers.

Daytime Sleep:

I'm really working hard at getting her to nap in her crib for longer periods. I usually am playing with Ruthie while holding Lainie swaddled and when she starts to get drowsy I take her upstairs and put her in the crib. It is harder to do this consistently with what we have going on as I don't feel like I can tie Ruthie down to Lainie's nap schedule. If I did, we would never leave our house and I don't think Ruthie would appreciate it. Lainie has been waking up earlier in her naps than I want her to, so I've been trying to cut her waketime by a few minutes. When I go in and get her she is usually all smiles and kicking her feet like crazy. She gets very excited to see anyone. Its so cute! I really need to get it on video so we don't forget how cute it is.

Nighttime Sleep:

This month has been all over. For the first 2 1/2 weeks she was sleeping from about 8pm-4am, eating then back asleep until 7am. The third week she hit a growth spurt and started waking up at 2am, 4:30am, and then 7am. On January 28th (not that I'm keeping track :-), our prayers were answered and she slept from 9pm-7am. It was incredible, and other than me being really uncomfortable, man was it nice to sleep! She hasn't done it since, but its coming and we can't wait!

Eyes:

They're really blue, we'll see if they stay. We think they will.

Swaddled:

Yes, its so nice to keep her from flailing her arms. I'm glad we kept doing it. I wasn't sure if she was going to be a swaddled baby, but I read several things on it and almost all said keep trying it even if it didn't seem like they liked it and it worked.

Paci:

Yes, but she's not as into it as Ruthie was at this point. She takes it when she starts to get sleepy and spits it out when she's good and asleep.

Nickname:

NayNay it is. Ruthie is constantly calling her this and often times hears her crying before I do and points upstairs and yells NayNay. Its really cute.

She Loves:

-Bathtime. Ruthie helps me give her a bath and Lainie will smile away at Ruthie while she washes her feet.

-Joel, she always turns her head when she hears him and unfortunately for me, he has taken over as her favorite!

-Peekaboo. She really loves to have you come into her view as a surprise when she's laying on her back. Her whole face lights up.

-The playmat, she's not as into Mr. Octopus, but is more into the other toy.

-Being held upright and looking out.

-She's gotten really good at standing up.

-She loves to talk to you now. This video gets better about 41 seconds in

She doesn't love:

The carseat for extended periods of time (who can blame her).

Being held like a baby

The Bumbo for more than about 30 seconds.

Other:

Lainie is a very sweet girl. In general, she wakes up, eats, plays, smiles and talks, gets a little fussy, we wrap her up. She cries for about 30 seconds then starts to close her eyes (she does this a few times). Occassionally she has the witching hour, which I just hate for Joel because its typically right when he gets home or right at dinner time. Its very rare for her to cry more than a few minutes (outside of the carseat) and for that I'm very thankful. This month she started sticking her tongue out a lot and doing it when she smiles, again..so cute!

Its so funny to me how different her and Ruthie already are. Apart from looking completely different, Lainie is not near as serious as Ruthie was/is. I think she's going to be more of an extrovert, but we'll see!

We're starting to get into a groove as a family of four and are much more comfortable going out and about with both girls. I think a lot of it is the fact that we're all starting to sleep more. Speaking of my sweet littlest girl, I better go get her up!