Foodie

Nathan had the whole weekend off so I was able to take my time with our meals and try out some new recipes that I've seen on my Pinterest newsfeed.

I really wanted to try out these rice balls. It's cooled rice wrapped around a (small) cube of mozzerella cheese, rolled in egg, dipped in bread crumbs and deep fried. I know- so healthy right!?! I made some marinara sauce to dip them in and while I wouldn't make them every night, it was a fun weekend treat and Allison loved hers.

I also made cheese nip chicken- it's baked chicken that uses ground up cheese nips for a coating. Sounds odd but so good. We didn't eat all the chicken the first night so tonight we used the leftovers for fajitas.

Tonight we were invited to a game night at our friend Danny and Katie's house. It wasn't a "no-kids" event but most people found sitters. We decided to go for an hour and enjoy the visiting/snack time, then head out before the games started. Nathan was so hyped up on people (always the extrovert) that when Allison's bedtime arrived, I asked our friends, Kyle and Lisa, if they could drop him home on their way.

They agreed and Nathan got an extra hour of friend time. I brought these carrot cake muffins to the party. I love carrot cake and I had some cream cheese icing in the fridge I needed to use up so I decided it was time to pull out the old recipe cards.

More From Yesterday

Here a few more pictures that I took from yesterday. I'm so thankful for the time outdoors and I think you can tell from Allison's face that she enjoyed it too.

 

 

 

 

I love this outfit that she wearing. I remember Scarlett wearing this sweater. One of the best things about hand-me-downs are the memories that each item brings. I remember seeing a onsie once and thinking that it looked familiar but it wasn't until months later (after Allison had outgrown) it that Scarlett was wearing it on the day Nathan took a video of my growing belly (carrying Michael) and Scarlett was playing "Where's the Baby?" and lifting up the bottom of my shirt.

I love how connected to family (and another time) the clothes make me feel.

23 in January

I have been gearing up for today for the last week. It was going to be a gorgeous day in January. The winter has already been too long and although it's supposed to snow by the weekend- today we enjoyed an amazing, sunny, 23 degrees!

I invited all our Wornall friends to Loose Park (a beautiful park in KC) and many of them could make it. On the drive there I couldn't believe the amount of construction happening. Every street I went down had road crews and flaggers.

We got to the park just as the Pembroke Day School had their recess so the equipment was flooded with 40 five year olds who were very aggressive. One little boy pushed Allison (twice) and so we had a little chat with his teacher. Then a little girl pulled on my coat and said, "Amanda, will you play with me?" When I asked her how she knew my name she said she heard another woman say it. I told her I had to chase my child but maybe another time.

Allison was her usual active self so I didn't get much time to catch up with the women who showed up to visit but I was grateful to see them all. We're usually so rushed after church because Allison needs to eat and get down for nap so I was grateful to say hello to everyone and see how much all the kids have grown.

 After we got home and had a nap, we went back outside for another hour and a half. I wanted to soak up as much of this weather as possible! Allison is going through a phase where she loves to play in the car so I put her in the car and I sat outside in the sun and played on my device.

Nathan got home at 6 and was so tired. He had to to rush home (because he knows I like dinner at 6pm) and said he still has a couple of hours of work left to do before he goes to bed. I don't think people realize how much Nathan works.

I know I complain that Allison is a handful and that she tires me out but I couldn't imagine putting in the hours that Nathan does. He deals with people much more complicated than Allison and I shouldn't take for granted the joys (and struggles) that come with being able to stay home wtth Allison (because Nathan works so hard).

Baking

I've been doing a lot of baking lately. Partly because Nathan said he needs a morning snack so I offered to make something for him to take and partly because baking is a great break from all the sewing I've been doing lately.

My projects for the children's hospital are almost finished!

Tonight I made the best blueberry muffins I've ever made. I did a bit of research and found that sour cream is a great trick for making muffins that won't get sticky or crumbly after a couple of days.

These blueberry muffins were fantastic! I made a couple dozen so that I can take them to playgroup tomorrow.

While I was baking, Allison was playing in the living room. I put the pans in the oven and when I turned back this is what I saw.

I'm thankful that I was using my computer for the recipe or she probably would have pushed it off the table!

Trouble

Allison has become the definition of trouble.  Until this week, I thought trouble was making messes and throwing tantrums. No. Trouble is not listening, doing unsafe things, and being crazy.

Sometimes I just sit and watch her craziness. Yesterday I watched how in 5 minutes she moved something from every single room (to a different room).

I'm struggling that I've become the "NO" Mom. All day long all I ever say is No, Stop, or Enough!

Most days I'm in near tears by 1pm nap time. This afternoon I needed to blow dry my hair and Allison couldn't decide if she wanted to be in or out of the bathroom. I don't care if she's in the bathroom with me but the room is so small that the swinging door takes up all the room so it needs to be either open or closed. Allison chose closed, and when I held it closed with my foot (she was beside me) she cried so hard that she threw up on the floor.

I know it will get better but it seems like everyone else has calmer kids. She is just taking a whole lot out of me right now.

PVC

When my Dad was here at the beginning of the month, I asked him to make me a simple photo backdrop holder out of PVC pipe. He did a great job and I've been wanting to try it out. I haven't bought any backdrop paper but I figured for now I could use sheets or fabrics. I went to the dollar store and bought these cheap shower curtain holders, then attached clothespins to each one to hold up the fabric.

Allison has moved into 2T/24 month clothes and I love seeing what hand-me-downs I find in all the clothes my sister in law has given me. In the latest tub I found this adorable ballerina onesie. It is so sweet and girly and so NOT Allison. But I figured since we were just hanging around the house this afternoon I'd put her in it and try to get some pictures.

 She didn't mind the outfit but she would not sit/stand still for a photo.

Oh well, at least I got to see her in such a cute outfit.

"OK Mom, we're done here."

Baby Gifts

Over dinner tonight, Nathan mentioned that his co-worker (who has hosted us to dinner) is having a small baby shower on Saturday. He asked if I could make her a little something. I wasn't surprised by Nathan's last minute request, but I wanted to make something cute because I really like Amanda.

Nathan told me the nursery is an owl theme with hints of teal, so after I put Allison to bed (8pm), I found this idea, made a pattern, sewed it, and wrapped it, and was in bed at 10pm.

It measured about 18 inches tall and was so easy to make. The pattern idea that I took it from was selling for $10! I have no idea what you would be paying for because it was so simple.

I love making baby gifts- this is a (copy) of a doll I made for my friend's daughter for Christmas. I read somewhere (I think Canadian Living Magazine) that these dolls are the NEW WAY to use minky fabric. Minky fabric is a super soft, raised dot fabric. These dolls are also really simple- I made two- one for Lucy, and one for Allison. Allison sleeps with hers and uses it for a pillow, then carries it around like a doll during the day.

Call Night

Sometimes Nathan has to work split shifts. This means that he goes in for a short shift (9 hours), gets a few hours off, then has to return for the afternoon shift (7pm-2am).

Last night Nathan had to work this shift but forgot his pager at home. He called the switchboard to have his hospital pages switched to a pager at the hospital but if anyone paged him directly it came to his home pager.

He only got about 6 pages (but most were between 11pm-3am) so when the pager went off, I'd text him the number to return the call.

It made for a very long night for the both of us.

 Nathan made it up to me by bringing these beautiful tulips home. Tulips are my favorite flower and we've found a wonderful shop that always has the best, freshest, flowers. It was a wonderful treat to have in this (back to cold) weather.

Calendar

It was a year in the making but our portrait calendar finally arrived in the mail. I get coupons sent to my email through Joann's Fabrics and at the end of the year, Joann's partnered with Shutterfly to give free calendar's to it's subscribers.

The calendar only cost me $7 in shipping costs and it's really high quality. I love looking at it and remembering all the fun we had putting it together.

More Park Fun

Today was Nathan's last day of holidays. It's been wonderful having him home but I know he's anxious to get back to work. He starts to feel couped up after about 3 days off. On his third day off we were standing in the kitchen and as he left the room he carefully stepped over lego, forks, and a half dozen pointy toys. I said, "Nathan, don't just walk over them, move them out of the walk path so I don't step on them!"

"Amanda, if I picked up every toy on the floor that you could trip on, I'd spend the whole days picking up toys."

I wish I had taken a picture of my face.

After church today we decided to go to the park a few blocks from our house. It seemed like everyone in our neighborhood had the same idea and the grounds were packed. We stayed for an hour to wear Allison out and enjoy the 16 degree weather.

Allison still loves the swings and today she was introduced to the merry-go-round. Nathan didn't spin her very fast and she didn't seem too dizzy. She had a great time.

Warm Winter

After several weeks of freeze your knees temperatures, we've entered a warm spell here in KC. Yesterday is made it up to 17 degrees! That's how warm PEI was during our honeymoon (in August)!

We haven't done any park exploring lately so we checked out a map and found a small park not far from our house. It's in a small neighborhood and is right beside a small lake and it had a brand new set of playground equipment.

Allison played on the swings and went down the slide (all by herself) but she was most interested in the large number of Canada geese that were frolicking in the water. One goose kept following us and it made me nervous (geese are CRAZY) but thankfully it kept it's distance.

We stayed for just over an hour before Allison started to get sleepy. She had a 3 hour nap when we got home!

 

 

Alli Loves Elmo

Allison has loved having the attention of her Dad this week. She loved having our guests over the holidays because it meant more people to laugh with her, play with her, and encourage her. I think she was disappointed last week when she only had me.

Nathan says (each day) that he can't believe how tiring it is looking after a small person. Allison is draining and her added energy from having Dad home only makes her more wild.

Nathan has been spending a lot of time with Allison- giving her her nightly bath, reading with her, and playing with her toys- although judging from the castle he built, I'd say he enjoyed the Duplo more than Allison.

At the beginning of the week (when it was still really cold) we decided to take Allison to McDonald's to play out her energy. She was unsure of the tunnels at first (she played in the toddler area) but once she realized she could always see us, she had a great time.

One morning we were at the computer store so that Nathan could look at all the newest gadgets. I took Allison on a walk through the store to keep her hands off the merchandise and let Nathan have a minute to himself. As we were walking down one of the aisles, we passed a salesman who looked at Allison and said, "I can guess who your Dad is!" We were no where near Nathan and there were about 60 people in the store. It was cute - but I still wish Allison looked like me.

My friend April had her daughter at the end of 2014 and she looks just like her husband. April and I shared the disappointment of having gorgeous little girls who don't look like us. I was thankful that Nathan was home this week and I could go visit baby Greer without Allison. Greer is gorgeous with long, dark hair. She cuddled into my fuzzy sweater and slept for most of my visit.

I was also able to visit with my friend Eleanor and her daughter Camille. Camille turned two and we brought her a couple of birthday balloons. We also bought Allison a balloon since she loves them so much and for $1, it is absolutely worth it!

We got her an Elmo balloon because Allison loves all things Elmo.

Obviously.