Hockey Game

Scott & Nate went to the hockey game last week. Nate came back being completely enamored with hockey. Scott let him choose a puck to bring home and it has been his prized possession of the week. Aren't they cute??

This was at the doctor's office on Friday morning. Of course, the puck had to come along with us.

Nate was so funny because he couldn't remember the name of the game "hockey." So when he talked about it, he would use whatever sport came to mind - baseball, football, soccer, you name it. At least he got that it was a sport!

Lila Talking

Lila loves to talk - she will talk to us, to herself and sometimes to the cat. KP is thrilled and still very much keeps her distance. Enjoy!

Score One For The Cleaning Team

After a few Fridays and Saturdays at home when I was looking at every imperfection about my house, I decided we needed to make some changes. Starting with me. I had to face some facts.

Number 1, as previously stated, was that I had to to let go of some of the cleanliness standards. Fact.

Number 2, was that I was not going to be able to marathon clean anymore. I'm a turn on Lifetime, clean for 2-3 hours straight and get everything done at once kind of girl. Neva-gonna- happen with the addition of a second child. Chunks of time are a thing of the past, at least for now.

Number 3, and most important, realize that Scott does not see dirt and is never going to see dirt like I do. Triple Fact.

So I decided to devise a plan that would keep us on track and our house clean, or at least cleaner. And I have to share because it is working!!

The Plan:

1. Come up with a list of 2-3 things that we can do each day that will keep the house cleaner and assign them to people (i.e. me & Scott). Some examples, Scott gives Nate a bath at night and Nate plays for a bit after he is clean. So I asked Scott to wipe down the sink and toilet while he was in there. I take a few minutes after I put Lila to bed to dust. I have my list, Scott has his list. And eventually (very soon) Nate will have a small list of tasks. 5-10 minutes of focused cleaning each day makes a huge difference. Truth be told, I've been doing this for years, but something about getting other people involved has really helped.

2. Do the major cleaning tasks on Thursday night, so that the house is clean for the weekend when we are home looking at it. After dinner on Thursday night, I start sweeping, cleaning the bathrooms, etc...Then after the kids go to bed, Scott mops the floors. Another thing on Scott's list is to facilitate the clean-up of Nate's toys with him and help take everything back downstairs so that we can start fresh.

And these simple steps have made such a difference. I am so happy! You see, Scott will do anything I ask him to in regards to cleaning, but as stated above, he's not going to see dirt like I do. So by farming out the tasks, it makes everyone feel like they have ownership for the cleanliness of the house. Score!

Another big benefit of this plan is that since we got the major have-to-do cleaning out of the way before the weekend, I can spend any spare time I have doing all that other stuff that needs to get done...i.e. cleaning out closets, cabinets, junk drawers, etc...

Some of you may already employ these tricks. I'm just slow to the game. What are your tricks to keeping a clean house?? C'mon, leave a comment. It won't bite you!

Recipe Monday

A change of gears this week - my family could probably eat this as a main dish with a baked potato. My dear Aunt Lee sent me this recipe...

Kentucky Baked Broccoli

2 packages frozen chopped broccoli
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
1/2 lb cheddar or American cheese, diced
1/4 lb crushed Ritz crackers
Salt, pepper to taste

Prepare broccoli according to package directions; drain. Add melted butter and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Sprinkle cracker crumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees 15 to 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Makes 6 servings.

Can be prepared ahead of time and stored in fridge.

Enjoy!

Hodge Podge

Oh, you thought I hit the wrong button when selecting a picture from my files?? Like maybe I selected the January folder instead of the March folder? No. Un-uh. This, my friends, is apparently what happens in STL on March 26th. Hon-est-ly. Me and the weather gods? We gonna be havin us a talk. They are F-I-R-E-D for 2011. The pretty trees and flowers look awesome with 5-6 inches of snow on them. And it is supposed to be 72 by next Saturday. Spring is rockin and rollin us this year. Okay, okay, enough about the weather. We have a couple of cuties that keep us happy inside. Starting with this one that loves to sit up - playing with Minnie.

Funny story. Nate took this picture. And afterwards, I was asking him to sound out the words on her bib. The bib says, "It's not easy being this cute." He was doing great. We got to the word "this" and I said, sound it out. "Th-th-th...throw-up!!!" Well, no. But that is what your sister does 90% of the time, so I could see why you would think her bib said that.

Nate wanted me to make a Darth Vader pancake on Saturday morning. Here's my attempt. I think I'll stick with my day job.

I made peanut butter play-doh on Saturday for something for Nate to do. He loves the stuff. This time he played diner, made a make-shift tray, and said "Order Up!" no less than 582 times.

I was trying to think of something fun to do for dinner on Saturday night and I remembered the fondue set. We made cheese for an appetizer and chocoloate for dessert. Lots of fun!

Well off I go into the nastiness that is our streets right now. With the temperatures predicted to be well above freezing for the next few days, the streets, yards, driveways are surely to be slush!

Happy Spring!

4 Months!

Wow, is this little one really 4 months old?? This past month has flown by exceptionally fast. Lila continues to be a very laid back, go with the flow baby. She continues to amaze us with her "chilling" abilities.

A few notables about Lila and her 4th month...

• Lila has rolled over twice from front to back that I know of - once when I walked out of the room to get something and the other when only Nate was watching her. So he's really the only one that has seen it. She also tries to roll from back to front, but only gets to her side.
• She sleeps 10-11 hours at night and takes 2-3 naps during the day. Such a blessing. If she didn't have to get up so early, I think she might be able to get this down to 2, but we are going with it for now.
• She weighs 16 lbs and is 24 1/2 inches long. She had a great check-up at the doctor yesterday.
• Lila is wearing 3-6 month clothes and some 6 month clothes. I think the month sizing is completely crazy. Some 6 month clothes are huge and other stuff fits just fine.
• Lila started going to Nate's school a few weeks ago and is doing great! She fits right in and we love her teachers. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers around this situation!
• Lila still loves to "talk" and will talk your ear off when she is happy, or about to get mad.
• Lila Lula Bell and Sister Lou continue to be her nicknames. Nate also comes up with a new one about every other day.
• She loves her brother to pieces and will just smile and smile when she sees him. Nate thinks she pretty neat too.
• Lila's hair is still blond and the baby hair is starting to grow out. It makes her already wild hair wilder.
• Lila is really trying to roll her tongue. I didn't think it was possible for a baby to do this, but she's working on mastering the skill.
• She is also working on grasping toys in front of her face. I wonder if she will have a favorite!

I picked her up from her crib just the other day and thought, "She's not my tiny infant anymore. She's a rock solid, real live baby." Tear...

Happy 4 months little one. You continue to be a light in our life and fill our days with joy. Love, love, love you!

The Cardinal Monkey

This is for my sweet friend Penny Lou (her name really doesn't have the Lou on the end of it, but I think it fits nicely. See a pattern??) She gave this Cardinals monkey to Nate a few years ago. He found it in his stuffed animal collection this weekend and it has been his new best friend ever since. That's the great thing about stuffed animals - they leave for a while but when they come back, it's like a new friend! He has even taken it to school both days this week and "instructed" Lila on how to hold him. Love her wild hair!

Go Cardinals!!

Recipe Monday

I got this recipe from the "Just Get 'Em Fed" publication by Kelly Morris. She gives http://www.cuttingbackkitchen.blogspot.com/ the credit. Yes, it is yet another chicken recipe, but let's face it, when you have young children that don't touch ground beef, you eat a lot of chicken!

Garlic Parmesan Chicken

6 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil

Mix together cheese, garlic, and dressing mix. Dip chicken breasts in olive oil, then coat with cheese mixture.

Lay chicken in a greased baking dish. Bake @ 400 degree for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink.

Enjoy!

Around The House

We spent the weekend pretty much around the house. The spring weather was fantastic and it was nice to stick around and get things accompished around here. I think it's amazing that the tasks that seemed insurmountable a month ago when the weather was icky now get checked off with ease...as much ease as you can have with children in the house :) Cleaning closets and decluttering junk cabinets has never felt so good. Despite the burned patch of grass we now have in the backyard (not telling!), it was a great weekend filled with lots of quality family time.

Nate & I sitting outside (gasp!) at Llewellyn's. A fabulous family lunch outdoors (gasp!)

Nate has really gotten into arts & crafts lately. So I promised him if we decluttered his art box (i.e. throw out all of the junk that he usually deems valuable) that he could get a few new supplies when I had to run to Michael's on Friday for frames. He loves him some art. That's for certain. He spent much of Friday afternoon (when it was raining) creating masterpieces.

He loved it so much that it's the first thing he had to do when he got up on Saturday morning. Scott had just polished the wood tables (yay!), so we had to re-locate.
Lila is moving and shaking on the floor these days. She doesn't quite roll over either way, but only because I think she gets lazy! She kind of stalls out when she gets on her side. I couldn't decide which of these pictures I liked the best, so you get to view all 3! Lucky you.

Her hair is coming in blonder than before. Watch out. Blond haired, blue eyed boy killer. Nate takes a big offense when Scott calls her a boy killer. Sign of things to come and he doesn't even know it! What a protective brother he is.

While I was cleaning out the office closet, I found Nate's Halloween costume from 3 years ago. It doesn't fit, but that didn't stop him from wearing it all morning. In fact, I think he has it on now while he takes a rest. Boy loves a costume.

And lastly, my 2 cuties in the fort Scott helped them build on our bed. I'm learning to really go with the flow and if it makes life fun for a few minutes, then we should definitely take part in it (even though it kills me to have my bed messed up!)

Missed My Cuties

I had to be out of town the first part of the week for work. It was rough, but I had to go to Sanibel, FL where it was 80+ degrees and the sun was always shining. I missed Scott and the kids terribly and sometimes wonder if I can keep all the plates spinning. But then I get some sleep and I feel that I can. At least for another week...:)

I did get to Skype with them, which made a big difference. Scott does a wonderful job while I'm gone and I get so many comments from my male peers & colleagues that he must be very brave. I don't know that I would call it brave, but instead, dedicated. Dedicated to me, our family, and my career. I couldn't be more thankful.

Here are some pictures of my cuties cuddling. Nate is looking more grown up everyday and Lila just grows everyday. I can't believe she will be 4 months old next week. It is really not possible. But yet, it is.

Recipe Monday

My good friend Nicole gave me this recipe and it was just in time. I was looking for something new to do with pork chops. Most of my recipes contain chicken so I'm always searching for recipes with other meats.

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup country style Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
6 medium red potatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced (optional)
6 boneless pork loin chops (5 oz each)

Directions:

In a slow cooker, combine first 7 ingredients. Stir in potatoes and onion. Top with pork chops. Cover and cook on low for 3.5 - 4.5 hours or until meat is tender.

Wearing Green Has A Whole New Meaning...

When you have a little girl! Here's our little green girl...

And since this is probably the only year Nate will tolerate matching clothes, here's our little green boy too...

We headed down to the St. Patrick's Day Parade today and met up with the Peach's. Here's our lovely god-daughter Meggie.

Lila got 1,001 comments on her outfit and she even made a new friend. Amy's mom, Mrs. Cindy.

There were so many people there, it was hard to get the pictures I wanted. But here's the boys watching the parade. Nate came home with lots of beads to add to the collection we already had from last year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Brutal Honesty

I've had to be brutally honest with myself the past few weeks. Since Lila was born, I've been riding a high. Telling myself I can do it all. I can have a wife-mind, mother-mind, and career-mind all at the same time. And do everything well. And on time. And in an organized, clean fashion.

Well.

I can't.

I mean, I can.

It just doesn't look like I thought it would.

My house is less clean than it has been in years. Because spending time on the floor with Lila or cuddling in the chaise with Nate is more important.

I used to pride myself on only having a meal once a month. We now have spaghetti more than once a month. Because reading a book to Nate or playing airplane with Lila is more important.

I don't hop right up when we are finished eating dinner to clean up the kitchen like I used to. Because spending those few extra minutes talking to Scott about our days is more important.

My middle of the night stress doesn't involve thinking about work anymore. Because thinking about making the best decisions for our kids and our household are more important.

So I can do it. It's just not how I thought I could do it. And there are things about my house that drive me insane. But we'll get through it. And some day, there won't be Legos to pick up or dirty bibs to wash. And that will make me sad.

So for now, instead of being mad that there is PVC pipe in my bathtub when I step in at 6:00 in the morning, I'll just smile about Nate playing with them in the bath the night before. Because he won't do that forever. And that's more important.

LegoLand

LegoLand, oh LegoLand, you are what dreams are made of...

In early December, right after Lila was born, we were struggling with what to do for Nate's birthday. He had previously said he wanted a party with his friends from school and since we had just had another baby, we wanted to try not to disappoint him (not that we usually do, he is one lucky kid :) But after searching for days, all while trying to get used to having an infant again, I could not find a location that was just right - nor did I really have the energy to keep on looking.

So I started thinking of places we could go as a family and maybe spend the night and let that be his birthday party. I suggested Chicago, Scott suggested LegoLand, Nate agreed to the plan and we were set. Oh how thankful I was and am that we did not have to have a birthday party less than a month after Lila was born.

And the alternate plan was well worth it! And at sort of the last minute, we asked Scott's parents to join us to make it extra special for Nate. And they did. And it was awesome to have them be a part of this trip.

I called this the Missouri Tiger, but I'm sure that's not what the Illinois-ans were thinking when they built it.

Feeding Sister Lou to the hippo!

Indiana Jones made out of Legos...notice Lila checking him out.

I had to crop myself out of this picture but it is the only full shot we got of Lila Lou's super cute outfit...thanks to Sarah & Hamil! I think it is the first dress she has worn. Looking forward to many more this spring and summer!

The King & Queen on the Dragon Ride.

Riding the Dragon Ride with Mimi!

Santa Claus made out of Legos...

And Nate's favorite - Darth Vader.

Of course you have to build some Lego creations when you go to LegoLand.

And then race them...I think he looks so much like me in this picture.

Racing with Paka!

I think this might have been his favorite part. You built a tower on this platform and then pushed a button to simulate an earthquake.

Nate's wouldn't fall so he had to give it some help. He is the master Lego builder you know.

Lila was happy to chill out in the Baby Bjorn and do some chewing.

Riding the bicycle ride - I think Scott had to do all the work.

I guess lions eat little boys!

Mimi & Nate riding around - it was a whirlwind weekend!

After LegoLand, Nate, Scott & Paka headed downtown to the Lego store. The girls stayed at the condo because it was very snowy and cold. Nate picked out his prized "Slave 1" from Star Wars and they are currently building it. He is in love.

Mimi & Lila! Lila's hair looks dark in these pictures but it still looks light to me in person. We'll see!

A fabulous weekend! Thanks to Mimi & Paka for making the trip to the windy city to be with us. We are so blessed that we can provide opportunities like this for Nate to explore his imagination. And of course if we lived in Chicago, we'd have to have a season pass to LegoLand :)

LegoLand Preview

For those of you that are wondering about LegoLand, it was awesome! We are busier than a one armed paper hanger over here, so I haven't had a chance to do the full blown blog. But here's a preview that pretty much sums up Nate's enjoyment.

More to come!

Recipe Monday

My sister-in-law, Amanda, sent me a great recipe (thank you!) I'll be adding this to our monthly menu!

Chicken & Rice Casserole

• 3 chicken breasts - cooked & shredded
• 1 box rice-a-roni, prepared according to package directions
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups shredded cheese

Mix together chicken, rice, sour cream, soup, and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Pour into greased baking dish and top with remaining cup of cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Nothing Sweeter

There is nothing sweeter. Nothing in the whole wide world.