Toddler Fashion Tuesday; NaBloPoMo

Oops. So it's a few days late. But this was too cute not to share. 

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Operation Pre-Winter Simplicity; NaBloPoMo

I think I did pretty good with blogging most day's in October. I need to double check but I'm pretty sure I blogged more day's than not, so more than half the month. And the month's not over yet.
It's just been busy. And I've been tired. Plus I got hit with mastitis and pretty bad clogged ducts so I've been wiped out to say the least.

But onward and upward. Right?

Anyway. I've been reading a book called Simplicity Parenting. I've been reading it for months now and again the library isn't too happy with me. They should have a longer check out time for parents because everyone knows there's no time to read. I'm not even a 1/4 through it but I already love what it's saying. It's in line with what my husband and I have always wanted to do anyway.

More minimalist, more simple, less cluttered, not so "commercialized" lol.

We live in a pretty small town home with a 1 car garage. There are 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We're feeling pretty cramped in here. It's not that we can't all live here comfortably. I have no issue with my girls sharing a room but it'd be nice to spread out a bit more. (They won't be sharing a room until the little one finally sleeps a bit better so she's still in our room.)

If you do some reading about a more minimalist lifestyle, if you read about child development, if you read about stress, anxiety, being overwhelmed, you'll find that visual clutter pops up in all of these topics. I'm not talking about wanting to do an extreme sweep of our home and get rid of everything but there is far stuff in this house than we need right now.

So I have a goal. By the first day of winter, I want my home more organized. We have stuff we don't use and that never gets seen. I have things I'm attempting to sell that we don't need anymore and I either want it sold or donated by winter. There are also some cleaning projects I have in mind; underneath both of our bathroom sinks,...it's bad people. When I got to about 7.5 months pregnant with my littlest one I stopped even attempting to bend over and put things away. They just got thrown in there. And then I had the baby, and, well...I have 2 kids so things still just get thrown in there because I don't have time haha! I want to go through my kitchen and re-organize the cabinets. When we first moved in here it was just my husband and myself. Now we have two little people running/crawling around and our needs have really changed. I'd also like to clear more things off the counters. You can ask my mother...I hate appliances on the counter that only get used once in a while.

I'd like to have these things done by winter because I know there are going to be many days that it's too cold/snowy/wet/slushy/windy/miserable to venture outside, even to the car, and we'll be cooped up in the house. I'd like to not feel like I'm suffocating on those days because I love being outside and out and about. It would be nice to be comfortable in our home and not overwhelmed with stuff.

Hmmm...Maybe I'll bump it up 11 days and say by December 11th. Since the baby I brought home from the hospital 2 seconds ago will be turning 3 (WHAT?!??!?!) mid December, and I'm sure she'll be getting more things for her birthday, it'd be nice to already have gotten rid of the unused stuff before hand.

There you have it. Let's see if I can stick with it. I'm excited too to finish this book. Once I'm done I'll do a review of it here in case anyone else is interested in it. And to me this is about more than just organizing and cleaning up. It's about being happy and comfortable and not stressed over visual stimuli all day long.

Now I need to see if there's some way I can create a running/live list on my blog here to update and cross things off of?

Catching Up; NaBloPoMo

Well it's been a few days. It wasn't because I got tired of writing, I am really enjoying getting to my computer every day and finding some time to get my thoughts out there. Where ever there is. Who's reading this anyway? Feel free to leave comments! :-)

I've simply run out of time and been tired. It's been a busy few days and I'm to blame for it. Actually Fall is to blame for it. It's just been so incredibly nice out and I love being outside with the girls. I had our calendar pretty full last week with visits to different farms and pumpkin carvings. Plus I planned out our week of meals which took me forever this week as I was trying to find some new recipes to try out and I haven't been feeling all that great. I'm having some breastfeeding related issues and I think it's making me more sleepy and possibly even sick. So finding the time and energy lately to keep up with posting every day this month just didn't happen.

But here I am! I'm not giving up. I've missed sitting here writing. Even if it's just for me. It makes me feel better. There's a lot of thoughts in this head people and they can't all be in there alone, it gets overwhelming. ;-)

What I'd like to do now is head back over to Blogher.com and finish up some of the prompts that I've missed. If you're interested here is the direct link for the prompts. I'm going to use the ones I've missed as more of a Q&A. Mostly because some of these prompts wouldn't elicit a full post from me and some I just don't care about.

What dish did you dread being served as a kid? Did I answer this already? Lima beans. I hate lima beans. But we found out I am allergic to them so luckily my mom didn't insist on my eating them. Onions. I still hate them but I've been cooking with them so that Alivia and Juliana have an opportunity to eat them. But as far as a full dish...I'd have to say meatloaf. Ugh, just the name...

Is your least favourite food from childhood still your least favourite dish? Yes. You will never catch me eating meatloaf. Ever.

What was the first thing you ever learned how to cook?  I don't know really. I'd have to ask my mother. See if she can bring back a memory for me. I remember making burritos at my dad's house because that was pretty much a staple there but it wasn't really cooking per say. It was chopping up the tomatoes, heating up the beans, getting the cheese, sour cream and lettuce ready and filled in the tortillas. I guess I was allowed to make the ground beef. I remember that now that I type this. 

Have you ever invented your own recipe? What was your first one? No. I've altered recipes plenty of times. I usually stick to an exact recipe the first or second time I make it but generally after that I change it up to what works for us and our tastes...or what's on hand. I wonder if I'd like to make my own. It seems like nothing "new" could really be made right? I mean,...hasn't it all been done? Maybe I should look into that.

What do you consider your most successful dish? Oh,...maybe the chili I blogged about earlier this month. Do side dishes count? I think I'm pretty good at Thanksgiving and Christmas side dishes. I'm always looking for something different for our family. I got a lot of compliments on a sweet potato casserole a couple years back as well as some really good cranberry sauce. There's a few more, though I'd need to check Pinterest because that's where I've saved those meals.

What do you wish you knew how to make? Cheesecake. I've always wanted to know how to make cheesecake and for some reason I've been intimidated by it. I think it's the pan. The spring form pan.
I we registered for 2 of those pans for our wedding, 6 years ago, ... I know all of these questions are about cooking and cheesecake is to bake so to keep on theme I'd have to say salmon. I wish I could not screw up salmon. It's incredibly rare for me not to over do it and it comes out very dry.

Now things get weird over on Blogher prompts all of a sudden it's about gossip for this week? I've not followed all the way through on a month of posting with Blogher yet so maybe it's common for a completely random break away from topic but I thought it was strange lol.

That's where I'll stop for today. I feel good that I was able to get here and do this.
By the way, Wednesday is National Cheesecake Day so watch for a video coming up on my YouTube channel on that. And if you'd like to see the videos of us at the pumpkin patches that have kept me so busy head on over to my channel!

I'm still here!!

I haven't given up on writing this month. It's been a very very busy last couple days.

I missed my post for Toddler Fashion yesterday but I'll get it up today. 

I'm also battling an over full computer which isn't allowing me to do a damn thing. ... I'm posting from my phone right now. 

I will make up for it with extra posts!

:)

Alivia @ 34 months old...

Yes I find it ridiculous to say she is "34 months old" and no I don't say that when someone asks me how old my daughter is. But for the sake of this blog and me (trying to) writing a post each month about how she's changed it makes sense. So just relax...it's going to be ok...(Ashley :-)  )

Alivia,

My dear sweet little adorable Alivia. You are getting SO BIG. You are growing up so fast and I just can't believe how much you change every single day. Honestly, there is something new you say or do or a new way you act, each and every day that just amazes me.

At Cyprus's 5th birthday party

You're not quite 3 years old yet and already you are the best big sister ever. You take amazing care of your little Juliana, you're patient with her, you share with her and you say how much you love her every day. I hope this continues on because it's truly the most precious thing I've ever witnessed. There are certainly moments throughout the day where you do want her to play with your toys, and that's ok. Or times when she pulls your hair or pokes you in the eye and you yell out at her but you're two and a half years old...this is normal and common and absolutely understandable. Plus she's 9 months old and doesn't know what (most the time) she's even doing when she grabs at you.

First day of fall (helping her put her hat back on)

Just today before your nap, as I changed your diaper, she reached over to touch your face and she poked you right in the eye. You got upset for about 3 seconds, because it did hurt!, and then you said this:
"That's ok Juliana, accidents happen because you're just a baby and you're still learning how to be gentle"

....I mean really? And that's verbatim...I wrote it down immediately.

You've just recently had an incredible growth spurt as well. It seems as if over night non of your clothes fit you. Your pants are too short, your pj's are too snug and non of your shoes fit! You went from having an overabundance of clothes to choose from to a very limited amount that actually look comfortable. Today we went to Target and I put a dress on you that I just bought a few months ago. As you were running to the bathroom (because you're always running) I noticed how short the dress had gotten! A woman standing next to me said how cute you were. Obviously I agree :-)

Things you like right now:

• Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Curious George. You don't get to watch very much TV but when you do that's what you pick. You also love watching "Tiny Babies" which is a vlog we watch on YouTube together (if I haven't already watched it while you were napping...yes...while you were napping. Things do happen during that time and I'm not ready for the day you figure that out haha)
• You LOVE reading books. Any and all books. Right now we're still on a Curious George kick as well as Ladybug Girl. But there are a wide variety of books that we read every day and you love going to the library to pick out more.
• You love helping me cook. Even if it's just spreading almond butter on your bread. As long as you're right next to me, and you have a hand in it, you're happy. You pull one of our ridiculously heavy chairs across the kitchen floor and up to the counter. You're excellent at peeling any fruit or vegetable I give you. You can grate cheese, lemons, garlic. You crack your own eggs. You mix batter. You pour all the ingredients we need into the bowl. You're really quite the little helper. You're begging me to let you by the stove but I'm not ready for that yet. I'm too afraid you'll burn yourself on something. Maybe in a couple years little love.
• If you could spend all day outside you would. We go to the park about 5 times a week, walk to the mail box everyday (even on Sundays) we sit on our deck and play every day. We sit out on a blanket in the grass and relax in the shade of a tree by our front door. You love watering the tomato plant and splashing in the water from the faucet.
• You love, love, love playing baby dolls...I don't think I've ever played baby dolls this much in my life...and I have 3 little sisters. You pretty much reenact everyday life with them and we are always playing with you.
• You also love Little People by Fisher Price. You've collected quite the little army of people and they are also played with every day.
• You ask me now to put your hair in braids or a pony tail!

You like to sing and dance. Right now your favorite song is "3 Little Birds" by Bob Marley.
You always want me with you. Every day for about the last month you've started saying "I don't want you to go anywhere ever mommy. Not to the store. Not to the library. I just want you to stay with me forever."  You've also been telling me at nap or bed time, when we're giving "baby hug and a kiss" "I'm going to hold onto you forever. Until the sun comes up! It's going to be a long long time mommy"

Talk about melting my heart.

The other night Juliana was crawling all around the hall way while I was singing you songs for bed. Usually I either hold you both at the same time (yes this is very difficult!) or I'm holding you on my hip but this night I was holding you like a baby and swaying you back and forth. Your eyes started getting really heavy and I told you that if I kept rocking you I'd end up rocking you to sleep. Then Juliana wandered out of eye sight so I had to step around the corner and corral her back to the hallway. You looked up at me and said "Can you do that?" I asked what you meant and you just said "Can you do that sometime mommy. Can you rock me to sleep?" Goodness just typing it out makes me get all teary. I just can't even handle the sweetness! It's so amazing that I used to rock you to sleep every single night. That was how you feel asleep. And then things change, we alter what we do, you get older, another baby comes along and before I know it my little girl is asking with awe in her voice if mommy can actually rock you to sleep. It somewhat breaks my heart that I don't anymore, and that you'll never remember when I did.

OK...must change the subject now or I'll never finish writing this for I can't see through the tears! :-)

You're doing great with learning numbers. You can count to 18 most days but sometimes you'll go weeks where the numbers get jumbled up after 6 or 10. Its cute listening to you count. You're not as excited about the alphabet anymore. You used to sing your ABC's all day long but you've lost interest in that at the moment. You still know all the letters if I point them out to you it's just not on your radar right now.

Stickers are a big hit as is play dough.

And you're almost done potty training. I'm hoping that actually moves along here a bit better.

Little one you're my favorite Alivia and I'm excited to see what new changes are in store for us over the next month!

Love,
Mommy

Fall Pictures... in a Cemetery?

About 2 weeks ago Dustin and I took the girls up to Central City to gamble for a few hours.
HA...just kidding. But there is a grave yard up there that is actually very beautiful and a couple years ago we took some pictures up there with Alivia so we decided to head back up this year and get a few of all of us. We were heading up on our own so we had to get creative with taking a "family" picture but we did manage to snap two. And keep in mind this is using a cell phone so quality could be better.

This cemetery dates back to the 1860's and has beautiful old wrought iron gates, marble headstones and beautiful aspen trees. One of the saddest things we notice while walking through here is how young so many of the "occupants" were when they died. Some merely months old, most small children. And possibly even more sad is that you see a lot of young siblings together there.

If you're ever in the area and have a chance to drive around this is a beautiful place to get out and explore a bit. Keep in mind you are in a cemetery and please be respectful of the area.

Here are the photos we took this Fall. Hope you enjoy!

The sun had just come out and was right in our eyes!

 

My cooking style: NaBloPoMo Day 8

You could probably say my cooking style is similar to other stay-at-home-mom's...
Quick and easy.

I could just end this here. It's straight forward and to the point. But,...I'm not usually one to stop short. We all know I like to ramble.

Honestly though I think it's a bit more elevated than that. I do like to cook. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a 2.5 year old that loves to help me in the kitchen. I also have a 9 month old who hangs onto my legs and makes it very hard for me to move about the kitchen. And even with this I try to cook healthy meals that my girls will enjoy as well as myself.

My style involves looking up and trying out new recipes as well as throwing in a few tried and true meals that I know we all love. I really enjoy cooking new foods. I have several cook books that are finally getting a bit more use out of them. When I meal plan I use a combination of cook books, magazines, online searches and friends recommendations.

Most importantly to me they need to be healthy. And in my family that means minimal sodium (no added salt usually), ZERO trans-fats (ever), no TBHQ/BHT and as natural or close to nature as it can be. Because of this I do usually have to edit recipes from my current cook books because most of those are very high in salt. 

I like cooking fresh foods. I love using the crock-pot, though I despise cleaning it, and I' starting to love stir-fry. Something I'm not good at is freezer meals. I tried my hardest to do them before my first daughter was born. I did actually a ton of work on them with my mom the Wednesday before I went into labor (just 2 days later) but we ended up not eating all of what we prepared and I HATE soggy foods and a lot of the freezer meals turned out soggy after reheating them.

Well...that's it. I'm not sure if they gives you any sense of the "style" of cook I am. As long as I can make it quickly and it's healthy I'm game!

Toddler Fashion Friday: Mommy's clothes

 So the other day Alivia decided she was going to wear some of my clothes. She found one of my shirts I hadn't put away yet and attempted putting it on. ... Over her own sweater hoodie. She has her head through the arm sleeve and her arm through the head opening. :-)

We were making fall decorations. Target has these for only $5.00! And it was super easy for Alivia and I to do together.

The Great Escape: Thoughtful Thursday (NaBloPoMo Day 6)

So I've escaped from the house. Without the kids. Or my husband. It's just me. Maybe "escape" is a bit extreme but,...no, escape sounds about right. Don't get me wrong I love my family. I'm sure if you've read any other post I've written that would be apparent. But one can only take so much before you need a break.

I did escape. After the baby woke up I laid in bed with her for about 25 mins while she cooed and made silly baby sounds. Alivia was surprisingly still asleep so I told Dustin I was going to run out before she woke up. It's much easier to leave the house when she is sleeping. She never wants me to leave. She tells me so every day. Even days that I'm home all day with her. "Mommy I don't want you to ever go anywhere". haha :-) it is sweet.

The moment I start thinking about leaving the house several thoughts run through my head. All the places I can go, where should I go, what should I do? Oh the possibilities. I'm a stay at home mom now. I'm used to working. To going. To always having something that needs done. And that's still the case but now it's all centered around my family so when I get a chance to run free what do I do?

Here's a sampling of what goes through my mind while I'm getting dressed to leave:

I'd like to finish my book. I really should finish it. The library would love to have it back. They keep sending me emails about Bobby Joe down the road who's waiting for the book. I'm sorry Bobby Joe, it's taking me 18 times longer than it used to to finish a book. OK. I'll go to the library and I'll finish the book there and then I'll return it while I'm there. Yes, that's what I'll do.

I should bring my laptop, though, too. What if I want to write something. Or sort through my 5,867 pictures that are taking up space on my computer. That would be a good idea. It's hardly functioning at this point it's so full of pictures. But if I bring my laptop I'll need to bring my external hard drive too so I can pull pictures on to there. That's a lot of stuff to bring. Maybe I'll just bring my book and my laptop and then I can wander around the library for a bit. I can look at all the books. I'm rarely at the library with out 1 or 2 children with me so it'll be nice to walk around by myself.

OH books! Maybe Barnes and Noble! YES! I love new books. OK, that's where I'll go. I'll take my library book to Barnes and Noble and I'll read it there and then I'll stroll through the aisles looking at all the new books. And planners. I love planners. I'm terrible at using them but I'm really great at buying them. It does take me forever though to pick one. I'd hate to spend my whole time away from home trying to pick a planner to buy. Wait, I don't need a planner. Stay away from the planners. 

Maybe I'll go to Starbucks. I can sit and read and have my half-caff americano and I'll read my book. And I'll take my laptop.
Oh and I'll bring my head phones in case I want to watch a couple YouTube videos, I have a few I'd like to catch up on.

Wouldn't it be nice though to walk around the mall?! I could do that. It's so far away though. The baby needs to eat every 2 hours. It'll take me 45 mins to get there and 45 mins to get back. That's hardly worth it. And I don't have any money so I should stay away from the mall.

Is it too early to go to the bar? A glass of wine would be nice. 

I'd like to look at the trees again in the mountains before they stop changing colors. A nice drive up to the mountains without a screaming baby in the back. Wait that's too far away. Maybe this week we can drive back up there again. I heard that Vail has some incredible golden trees right now. Yes, I'll ask my family about going up on Sunday to Vail so we can see the trees. Oh yeah and I want to go back on that hike again to Lair 'O Bear, but that has to be on a Wednesday because the castle is closed on weekends. So Wednesday. I need to ask my mom if she'd like to go on Wednesday with us. 

We also need to plan a trip to Anderson Farms to pick out our pumpkins and take the girls around the farm. OK, that's it. I'll go to Barnes and Noble and I'll bring my planner and I'll plan out our month of October with places we should go and things we should see. There's a lot going on this month. It'll be good to get it all down on paper. Oh,...I left the house without my planner. That's ok. I have my lap top. I'll just put it on Google calendar. 

Well if I'm going to plan I should do my meal planning for the week too. And we need groceries. So I'll just plan out our meals and then make a shopping list and then later today I can go shopping with the girls. 

Is that really how I want to spend my time though? Meal planning? Ugh.

...I'm not even kidding. Please tell me I'm not alone in this. There's probably more but I just can't even think about it right now. This is almost constant though. Whether I'm leaving the house or not I'm always thinking about what needs to be done, should be done, can't be done, will be done, when will any of it be done. I'm working on it. When playing with the girls I'm a lot better about just being there mind, body and all. Just there. But it's not long before my mind starts wandering again.

So where did I end up you may ask? Where did my great escape of 2 hours take me? Let me tell ya...

I drove to Barnes and Noble. Then decided I'd grab something at Target to eat at B&N so that I wasn't spending so much money on breakfast there. I got to Target at 8:01...they open at 8 thank goodness. Target is a black hole my friends. Really. I'm serious. And they have this magical pull once you get inside the doors that says "you must wander through all the aisles...even the fishing aisles. You don't fish. But go, look, lose 15 mins of your day". Actually it appears that this magical pull has a much further reach than the front door because I was parked at BARNES AND NOBLE......

What did I get?

What in God's name did I get?! A Halloween Banner for $3, Crisp Apple hand sanitizer for $1.29 and an alligator Halloween costume...for a DOG. I don't have a dog people. Do you see any food there? No? Neither do I. Even though $7.59 is the cheapest I've ever gotten out of Target for...it's nowhere near what I was there for. 

So I go back to Barnes and Noble. And they don't open until 9. What the hell? Do they not realize the thought process it took me to get there?! So I'll go to the library. But I'm starving. So I stop at the Krispy Creme that's forcing their fatty doughnut smell all through the shopping center. (at this point I also contemplate walking around World Market but somehow stop the thought before my legs can take me there). So I go in and get myself a free doughnut and start to head to the library. 

....they don't open until 9:30. See maybe I should add to my empty planner the opening times of all these places. Then next time my random thoughts will know where I can actually go.

So Starbucks it is. It's 9:11 right this minute. And what have I done the entire time I've been here?

This. This post. This rambling, weird, jumbled up post. I bought a coffee and a bagel. The bagel is still in the bag and the coffee...well the coffee I'm drinking black which I don't usually do but I bought this new cup here because I thought it was cute and I can't get the damn lid off. Which I knew before I bought it because as I was deciding to buy it I attempted opening the lid and couldn't. The barista told me it's because it's new. So they filled my new cup up with my coffee and put the lid on and I can't get it off. And some older guy laughed because I couldn't open it...thanks buddy.

Anyway...I need to head back home now because the baby needs a nap and she won't go down for Dustin. I know this because he's texting me right now telling me so.

Here's my book. I brought my book. 

  Sorry Bobby Joe...