Five Fact Friday

Prepare yourself for random rambling five facts...

1. I noticed that I have mom callouses.  My knees look like elephant knees because I am always kneeling and dealing with a kid.  And I finally figured out why I have these weird bruise rough patchy things on my feet by my ankle.  It is sitting on the floor with one leg tucked under the other. Mystery solved.  Mom Callous.  Also, my left wrist has "second kid wrinkles".  You hold the second kid so much with the left arm that you just get these little wrinkles that don't ever go away. 

2. I have a few bathtub tricks that I think are making my life better.  Sitting on the edge of the tub with your feet in the water makes bath time much easier than kneeling and bending over the edge. I have started to use bath time to give me a foot soak too.  Add a little scrubby brush at the end and some lotion.  Maybe get crazy and paint your toes once a month. It doesn't get much better than this (wink wink).  Also, I have started to scrub the yucky food clothes in the tub too instead of waiting until laundry day. I just hang them up to dry on the towel rack.

3. I made these Korean Short Ribs this week that were great...all 4 of us ate them. I made this Pumpkin Taco Soup and I was a little scared of it because...pumpkin... but it was really good and just added some depth...all 3 of us liked it...not sure how to give babies soup yet. Back to the short ribs...I learned a trick a while back that you need to know.  Buy a huge thing of ginger from the store and peel it and chop it into 1 inch hunks and freeze it.  Then when you need it you can pull out a hunk and grate it on your zester.  Fresh (frozen) ginger is a game changer in recipes. 

4. Kate had an excellent birthday party. She didn't want to touch the cake. I think she didn't like the sticky frosting. Oh well. We took a few cute pics and moved on to the presents. She had her 1 year checkup this week. She went from 15th to 50th percentile on height and stayed at 5th percentile weight.  She just still cant put on the pounds but is gaining at a constant rate. I started weaning her Monday.  My plan is to drop one feeding a week. So far, so good. 

5. We had a practice run for Halloween last weekend at Wyatt's school's trunk or treat.  I think the costumes were pretty cute but I need to girly up Kate's makeup and maybe work on a happy face instead of a sad face clown. Did you notice that this tutu has been worn consistently in photo shoots, birthday parties, and now Halloween? Me neither.

Happy First Birthday Kate

 

Happy First Birthday Kate

Stats
Haven't been to the Dr yet for our 1 year, but I am guessing around 16 or 17 lbs. 5th %ile is where we stay.
4 teeth
Size 4 Diaper
Clothes size 9 and 12 month

Eating
Eats 3 meals a day
Snacks...whenever she sees me or Wyatt eating she HAS to eat too
Nursing 4 times a day but after her 12 month appointment I am cutting her off..finito..I am so done. I hope she is, too but I think she will be harder to wean than Wyatt.
Loves water...she chugs like she just ran a 10K in 90 degree weather
Doesn't like milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, yogurt smoothies, juice, kefir, nothing, nada, oh well
Her favorite foods are cheese, pasta, avocado, banana, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, goldfish, chicken, pancakes

Sleeping
2 naps...9:30 and 1:45
Bedtime at 7:45...wakes up at 7 am.
Since her last sickness she has been waking up at 4 am too.   2nd kid you don't even care about night wake ups anymore.

Likes
Doing big kid stuff. She sees Wyatt doing everything so she just assumes that she sits in chairs, rides in cozy coupes, drives Gators, climbs in toddler beds, plays in sandboxes, goes down slides, climbs up steps.
Shoes...I have started hiding her shoes. She finds them and wants me to put them on immediately. One shoe, over jammies, Wyatt's shoe it doesn't matter. "Chews" "Chews" "Chews" until I just give in and put it on.
Headband...after nap time she looks at her little headband organizer and points at them until I get one. Then she has me put it on. Then she takes it off. Then she has me put it on. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Then she wears it for a few hours.
The beach...she loves playing in the water. Nothing will distract her from going back in much to the dismay of my back. It gets tired of holding her up and keeping her from going to deep.
Stroller rides
Daddy. She loves him. More than me. It's ok. I know I am just that lady who is always around. 
Waking up Wyatt from nap.
Picking up Wyatt from school.
Seeing Wyatt in the morning.
She LOVES her big brother.
Playing outside. She knows the words lets go outside...like a dog. Ha!
Dropping things and saying "Uh ohhhhh" or "Uh uhhh". Her first words..uh oh, uh uh uh, shoes, and cheese. It's a simple life.

Dislikes
Baby toys...I blame Wyatt. She only wants to play with blocks, cars, big kid toys.
Diaper changes...doesn't every kid?
Strangers...although she is much much better now. We need to try church nursery or gym care again.
Not getting her way. This girl has an attitude (compared to Wyatt) and will let you know what's up
When Wyatt doesn't share she tries to bite him.

And here is a little photo montage of Kate growing up.

And here is Wyatt's 11 month post and his first birthday post for comparison if you are crazy like me. 

Five Fact Friday

1. Kate had her 3rd ear infection. At first, I just thought she was being a nap skipper. Then I remembered she is never really a nap skipper. Then she wouldn't stop fussing. Then she had a fever. Then she was falling asleep while she was eating (while I was holding her). So we got a different anti biotic and I bought $184 ear drop pain relief drops!! The pharmacist was like your insurance only pays $6 of this one...do you want it?  Umm...uhh...nooooo....(what if she is a mess)...ok fineuh! So they do seem to help. I can give them to her before a nap and she will sleep pretty good. SHE BETTER! This cold...it has been 2 weeks and we are still snotty but better.  I blame all the drainage for this.

2. We pulled out the old Halloween costumes. Wyatt has a new game. He tigers all over the place. Tiger in the front yard (many people stopped to talk to him while driving by). We tigered at Hobby Lobby. We tigered at home. We tigered while eating pizza and wouldn't even take off the paw gloves. We wanted to tiger at nap and bath but I held strong. I hid the tiger costume but I bet he will ask for it ASAP.

3. I haven't done any more of the exercises on my pull up training plan. I froze at the end of week 2 (of 3).  But I can do a forehead up! I am super excited because it's really close.  Here is a video that I convinced Hunter to take and you get a sneak peak at our junky messy house and my trying really hard face. Enjoy!!

4. I am still mentally blocking the fact that Kate turns 1 on Sunday. I haven't bought her a present. I did break down and plan her birthday outfit and cake outfit. So there is something. 

5. Let's talk about 3 year old naps. I thought that Wyatt would nap until he started kindergarten. Both of my 5 year old nephews still needed naps. I am super good at routine. Wyatt knows what to expect. My kid will nap every day. Like a champ. Until....now. When he naps every other day.  I cry. For now, he stays in his room and plays and reads books so I can continue working. He really does give it a good try every day. And he stays happy when he doesn't nap. And there is a small perk of him going to bed at the same time as Kate on no nap days.  Summary....I thought it would be easier to work from home as the kids get older, but maybe this is not the case.

Pinterest Wins

A few recipes on the pinterest wins list....

Smoked Gruyere Butternut Soup with Spicy Chickpeas - I am pretty sure the smoked gruyere is what made this so great

Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars - This was easy enough that Wyatt could help me at 8:30 at night and still make it for bedtime...and it has oatmeal in it so it's practically healthy

Wicked Delicious Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings - I think I already talked about these...so good


Butternut Squash Noodles with Shredded Brussels Sprouts, Walnuts, and Caramelized Onions - This is an epic side dish. I used my Paderno Spiralizer to make butternut squash noodles and I loved it...almost as much as zucchini noodles.


A few recipes on the to try list....

Roasted Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole - Yes I have a squash problem right now...acorn, butternut, spaghetti...get in my belli

Use Your Cast Iron Pan to Make World Class Bar Style Pizza in Under 12 Minutes - Tortilla pizza, this I can get into. 

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie - I tried one last year that I didn't love. Hoping this one is better.


Ok, and does anyone have a quinoa recipe that is actually good? I just can't get into the stuff. I have been trying to use up a bag for quite a while.  My only win is mixed in with some homemade granola. I have even tried recipes that smother it in cheese. If cheese can't fix quinoa, I am not sure what can.

Jammies on the left...overalls on the right...not worth the fight.

Five Fact Friday

What am I going to do today?  Wyatt has no school. And we had a really rough Thursday. Like 9 epic meltdowns rough.  Like had a cold for 10 days and congestion won't let me sleep late enough meltdowns. Like I might have physically held him down for nap time for a few minutes.  Anyways, on to my 5 facts and maybe I can even get in 5 minutes of work today.

1. Wyatt has a new best friend to take with him to nap time and bedtime. For some reason he is attached to the plastic frog faucet cover. We are on day 4.

Yup this one. Doesn't it look like something you would want to cuddle up with?

2. Kate has a shoe fetish. She constantly brings me her shoes to put on.  I thought babies hated shoes. When one of hers falls off, she brings it back to me to put on again. She also brings shoes to me and Wyatt to put on.  I think she even says the word shoes in her own little version.  So I might have a girl with a shoe fetish.  Scary!

3. So Wyatt gave the cold to Kate and Kate gave it to me, and yah you feel fine when you have a cold but the congestion is serious. I still can't taste and I blow my nose a box of kleenex worth a day. Since nothing actually helps colds, I did some serious essential oil diffusion and rubbing onto the chest and bottoms of feet..like frequently for 3 days and there was no obvious relief and no shortening of symptoms.  I smelled delightful and so did my house.  Anyways, after 3 days of no sleeping because I couldn't breathe, I bought me some NyQuil and some Affrin and that was a wonderful night of chemical induced symptom suppressing sleep...amen.  Affrin is magical and it took much will power for me not to use it more than 3 days in a row but I held strong.  I came across a few serious yet funny addiction websites such as this one.  This is some serious stuff people but such a life saver for a few days of breathing at night.

Down with essential oils...up with addicting chemicals that allow you to breathe for a few blessed hours!

4. Our way too kind neighbors gave us this John Deere Gator Power Wheels Thingy that Wyatt is in love with.  I have really enjoyed watching a 3 year old learn to steer and back up and shift gears.  So comical! After 3 days, he is really getting the hang of it and can follow the sidewalk for the most part. I just need a way to safely buckle Kate in. Because I think she would be safer in it, than out of it.  She really wants to climb in and ride too poor girl.

5. We pumpkin patched already. I guess we will have to go once a week. I got a few sorta ok pictures but nothing amazing. I have to get some one year photos of Kate ASAP. Maybe this weekend our  noses will be dry enough for pictures.

Five Fact Friday

This is my five fact Friday...chillun raisin edition.

1. I was just conversing with a friend (friend, you know who you are) about things people do for their chilluns that they shouldn't and I came up with this statement that I think is soo true. Are you ready for my great words of wisdom?  Never do something even one time for your kid that you don't want to do for the rest of your life.  These tiny creatures are creatures of habit and they will make you repeat repeat repeat it. And if you didn't want to do it the first time, you surely don't want to do it the 17th time and you will have to rip that bandaid off and it will be painful.  So just don't do it...ummmk?  And of course I have done some of these very things myself...that is how I know how painful it is.

2. Yesterday I should have given up on my quick trip to the grocery store but I pushed through and regretted almost every minute of it.  Setting the scene...Kate woke up as a boogie monster and had a low fever.  Wyatt was a tad on the grumpy side. Our living room exploded by 8:17 AM. I decided at 10:47 AM a trip to the grocery store was what we needed.  A quick one of course. I loaded the kids, and we headed that way.  Wyatt declared he had to poop about 4 minutes into our drive so we turned the car around and headed to the bano de casa. He finished his business by 11:17 AM.  I realized at this point that we should have given up on the trip, but I left my stuff in the truck and if we were going to go get the stuff out of the truck we should just go. A quick trip...remember. Wyatt picked a piece of grass on the way to play with in the car. After we pulled out, his piece of grass broke and that set him off into hysterical crying because if we can turn around to poop we can turn around to pick a new piece of grass. Well, no...I wasn't going to turn around and pick him a new piece of grass.  We made it to the store and he had no more energy to scream so he did the pathetic I want mommy sniffles. I had to carry my 3 year old through the whole trip while pushing Kate in the basket.  See #1 Janet, but I just pushed through.  This is how I came home with things like a 3 lb bucket of crab boil seasoning (because it was the first one that I saw) and the kind of bread I didn't really want (because I didn't have to bend over as far to get it). Survived, we did.  Barely, we made it.

3. I went to watch my nephew's soccer game last weekend. He is 3 and a brave soul who scored I think 9 goals in his first game (maybe a few for the wrong team but still). In the game I watched, the parents on the other team played too. This is not a joke.  The parents were out on the soccer field...holding their kid's hand while they played soccer.  There were probably 5 adults on the field including the official coaches and the official referee.  My SIL said one parent even pushed my nephew out of the way. Seriously?!? Are we that kind of hovering parents now? My kid can't play soccer by himself so I scored a goal for him.

4. My sister is teaching first grade this year for the first time. She has taught second and third in the past.  She says that all of the other teachers and principals and APs just want to quit because they can't handle the parents. Parents refusing to be accountable for their kid's behaviors. Parents believing their kid's far fetched stories over the words of multiple adult teachers at the school. They keep trying to teach the parents that their kids need more independence. More independence.  Quit doing everything for them.  Maybe some of these parents play in my nephew's soccer league? Ha ha.  This is all easy for me to say because I don't send my kids off to a school all day where I have to trust other adults to treat them appropriately.  Interesting thoughts though...my sister usually taught in a low income school where almost all of them had free or reduced lunch and there was zero parent involvement.  These kids knew how to follow instructions and do things for themselves. Oh man...I am not ready to be a parent of bigger kids and do the right things. 

5. A few more poop items because...I just have to.  Wyatt had to go in the middle of nowhere at 8:30 at night last weekend.  Like really in the middle of nowhere and I had both kids. I made him hang his bootie out of the truck while I held his arms because I didn't want him running around in the grass at night and Kate was asleep and on and on. Well I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to go in this position but Wyatt pushed through...ha ha. Success. Luckily only 2 cars drove by. I don't think I will be able to do this with Kate. Hmmmm. Also, he noticed the handicap paintings in some of the parking spots this week.  He said...."heyy mommy...he is sitting on a potty".  Ha ha..umm it's really a chair, but it kinda looks like a potty.

And of course a few pics to share of the dailies...

I tried to do a pull up at the playground...this is as far as I can get.  Ha! It is farther than it was. I still have about half of my pull up training plan left. 

Kate can already climb up most of the playground.  I need to look at my pics and see if Wyatt was already doing this before 1.

Wyatt has to sit with his plate almost touching my plate now. I need some space kid.  Perhaps I should read #1 above?

Five Fact Friday

1. Kate's 1st birthday is sneaking up on us.  I asked Wyatt what she needed for her birthday.  He said ummm, I think a dump truck and a backhoe loader.  I said you sure she doesn't want something that girls might like a little bit more?  No, because she can make piles with these.  Ooook buddy. If you say so. 

2. The universe is telling me that maybe I can work again this week.  I have survived 4 conference calls and I even felt like a contributing valuable member of a team for a few minutes.  I am sure this will sway into I should just quit this gig next week, but for now, things are looking up.  Kate has returned to normal nap length of an hour and a halfish twice a day instead of the dreaded 45 minute naps.

This is how we go get Wyatt when he wakes up from his nap

3. I was only able to make it to one of my two boot camp classes this week...again.  You would think corporate America would allow a husband to make it home by 6 or 7 PM at least 2 nights a week but this is not the case.  You would think a wife would be understanding and feel sorry for her husband especially since he has been having to get up at 4:30 AM to drive to a different office...but again...this is not the case.  I am halfway through my 3 weeks to a pull up plan, and I would like to start stroller running again but the mosquitoes will not allow this yet. 

This is my front door...and those are hundreds of mosquitoes. Wah.

4. I made the bestest chicken wings ever this week. You should check out the recipe I followed here. They were really really good and I am already plotting my next chance to have them.  I did not use all the butter and I did not have parmesan or garlic in my house but it still rocked.  I also tried Pioneer Woman's black bean burgers and they were a hit with Kate and pretty tasty in my opinion. Hunter said they were good too but this was after he got home too late for me to go to boot camp so he knew that he had to be nice.

5. Kate and Wyatt are going to be circus style clowns for Halloween.  There were no cute non creepy boy clown costumes so I got creative and ordered some black dickies shorts 5 sizes too big.  I am pairing it with red suspenders, red tennies, and some bright colored boxers under his large shorts.  I think it is pretty stinkin cute. I ordered the $5 clown wig.  I might make some yarn pom poms to put on his shoes. I guess I need to paint him a red nose.  Kate will have a rainbow tutu and maybe some rainbow leggings if it's not too hot...and a red nose...and maybe a headband if she will tolerate it.  That is all. I can check off that to do item now.