Cravins'

Last weekend, my SIL made the best breakfast snack / indulgence. I've been craving it ever since. I couldn't remember exactly how she made it so I came up with my own version. It's a can of refrigerated biscuits pulled apart and twisted. Melted butter on top (no margarine allowed), sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar then baked for 12 minutes. I know it's not the best thing for me but I made a fruit plate with bananas, blue berries, strawberries and cantaloupe :) Harrison tried it and said "wow" and that made my morning.

Shed Inspiration

I've been searching for shed ideas and found really cool inspiration. This magazine was a special edition last summer of Better Homes and Gardens. The cover of shed makeover.

We're going to add this type of shelving to the north side wall. We already have most of the lumber AND Ryan has started it! I like how they painted the inside walls too which gives it a bright feel.

I'll be on the outlook for old wooden crates to use as shelving.

This is a picture from a garden tour I went to last year. I love the wide doorway and the gigantic pots and of course the boxwoods.

Backyard Shed

We couldn't believe the weather today! It was that perfect temperature and I was tempted to plant the garden but then I reminded myself it's still the end of January and we have a couple of months of winter left. We spent quite a bit of time in the backyard decided our next project . . . The Shed. I'd like to paint the outside a _____ color (can't figure that out yet, any suggestions?) and add double doors in the middle with steps leading up to it.

Here's a shot of the inside. Pretty bare bones and boring. Needs some organization and spice!

And yet another shot of the inside and all our junk. I'm thinking of also painting the trim a different color.  What do you think?

In Bloom

I received this hydrangea plant from my mom for my birthday. I'm finally getting around to potting it an actual pot. The weather is starting to get warmer and my To Do List is starting to get longer.

Oh Baby

Today's appointment with my OB went really well. She was able to find the heartbeat right away (141 bpm) and I'm measuring 15 cm which by week 20 should line up with my week. The big ultrasound is February 24th, the same day as my next appointment. I decided to schedule it the same day since they are in the same building. At 17 weeks, the skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, that's probably why I'm starting to feel him/her move around :)

My other baby's second day of pre-school went better than the first. When I picked him up, he wasn't crying however he did tell me he cried. After talking to his teacher, I learned he was upset (aka crying) when they went outside to play. On Tuesday, they played inside so of course this was something new which threw him off. Someday we'll get it figured out :) But the good news is, he's willing to go back!

Website Wednesday - picclick

If you're like me, you can tell a lot from an image. Whether it be recipes, books, artwork, etc. instantly I know if I'm intrigued or to move on. I stubbled upon this site called picclick Visual Search. Click HERE to check it out. Select the tab at the top - ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Plenty of Fish, Yelp, All Recipes or Google. Narrow down your search (ie Etsy > Art > Paintings > Oil) then browse through a hundred examples within seconds. Pretty cool, huh?

First Day of Pre-School

I'm not sure what he was thinking in this picture but it's probably pure excitement. He was dressed by 7 and had his backpack on at 7:30. I tried to explain that school didn't start until 8:30 but he was excited and ready to go. All good signs :)

I told him to turn to the side so I could get a shot of Thomas. I love this picture.

I was really concerned how he would react today so I've been mentally preparing him. We discussed what would happen several times so he knew I wasn't staying there. I walked him to his classroom, hung up his coat and helped with the hand washing. After 10 minutes, I decided it was time to go. I asked to have a hug. He hesitated at first but then gave me one of the best hugs ever. As I was walking out of the building, I lost it. The tears were rolling down and I was just trying to make it to the car before anyone saw me. I wish I wore my sunglasses. I can't believe we're to this point already. It makes me so sad, happy and proud of him. It's hard to explain until you've gone through it.

My morning flew by and before I knew it, pick up time was already here. As I was reaching for the handle to open the door, I heard a familiar cry. Yes, my baby was in the hallway crying but the teacher was right next to him. As soon as he saw me, he latched on. His teacher told me he got upset (aka crying) every time they switched rooms. H is the type of person who doesn't like surprises and doesn't just go with the flow. He needs time to think and adjust. As we were leaving the building, he said he didn't want to come back. Yikes again.

You know what the best cure is for a day like this? A lunch date with his favorite person . . . DADA. We had a nice pizza lunch and his world was sunny again. Later he told me he cried during music class while the other kids were singing and he didn't like to sing. I'm pretty sure it's because he didn't know the words yet. 

What next? We'll try it again on Thursday. He told Ryan tonight, he was ready to go back again. Thank goodness. What a roller coast of emotions . . . for Harrison and me!

School Shopping

So we had to make a last minute trip to Target last night. Tomorrow is the big day and I wanted to see if they had any bigger backpacks. He'll keep a folder in his so his teachers can write us notes. Unfortunately, his Thomas the Train backpack is a little small. Another lesson learned, finding a toddler approved backpack in January is impossible. The Thomas one will have to do.

Cat Man

The other day, one of us started singing "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson and now it's Harrison's new favorite song. Can you remember the words? We couldn't so we had to repeat the same line about 25 times. Go ahead and start humming. Da, da, da, da da.

Small Town Picker

We escaped the "big city" (not really big, but bigger than most) this weekend and headed off to visit family. Look closely at the picture above. Yes, it's correct. The score is 3 to 3 with 2:27 minutes left in the whole game. A nail biter. Welcome to the basketball world of 6 and 7 year olds. I have not laughed that hard in a very long time. It was one of the cutest things and luckily the game ended with a tie. I think we still might be there if someone had to score again.

Have you seen the show American Pickers on the History Channel? This place is right up their alley and mine too. Most people would think this was junk but I love to find the perfect piece and give it a good scrubin'. 

I don't know why but I love this chair. I offered ten buckos for it and he said SOLD. Bridget steam cleaned it for me and I touched up the legs with a wood marker. I love the shape of the back and the front legs remind me of a bowlegged person which in turn makes me laugh. It's actually not very wide (kinda hard to tell from the picture) and will look perfect in H's room. His rocking chair will move to the back room for the baby. Come on, how many kids have a time-out chair this cool ;)

I also was able to find an old quilt that's in fairly good condition for my front porch swing and two picture frames. My total trip was around $20, not too shabby.

School Stress

I thought this graphic was fitting for today's post. As some of you know, I've been dealing with the stress of finding a pre-school program for Harrison. I wanted to start him somewhere soon so he's used to going to school BEFORE the baby comes and I feel he's at the age where he can really benefit in a school setting. Well, in my mind I was going to send him to the Montessori school down the street where our neighbors kids attend, no problem, right? Wrong. Sorry, no openings but probably in June. WHAT? JUNE? The baby is due in July, can he handle the changes? Can I? Panic activated! So I called about 8 different places, some were only full time (I'm looking for 2 or 3 half days a week to start), others didn't return my calls, and the rest I was on the waiting list. Most of them said they would have openings this fall. FALL? Like in 7 months from now? Yikes.

I'm still new to this whole mothering thing and this has been quite a lesson for me. I ended up asking Aunt B to see if her friends knew of any good pre-schools within our section of town (another requirement from me in case I need to get there in a hurry, plus less car time is a good thing). She recommended two and I almost didn't call b/c I'd given up then I thought what the heck. 

"Hello, do you have any part-time opening for a 2 1/2 year old, well 3 year old in April, who isn't potty trained" (you have to add the potty training part b/c they will ask and some require). Yes, we do. YOU DO!!! Great, we'll be there tomorrow to check it out (this was yesterday).

So the next day, Ryan was off work and we brought Harrison to his first school. I was really impressed with the program, the maximum class size is 12 and there are two teachers in every class. They have a craft project each day, music class or chapel, recess time (playgrounds indoor and outdoor), healthy snack time and class activities. All this in a half a day. As we were leaving, H wouldn't get in the truck b/c he didn't want to leave the school! Now, we'll see how next Tuesday goes when Mama and Dada aren't there . . .

Aqua Moms

The hospital where I'll be delivering has an Aqua Mom swim class. I started this week and so far so good. I was pretty wiped out by the time I made it home. It's great to have a group of women to talk about pregnancy for an hour straight. Somehow the topic never gets old :)

Website Wednesday - Pregnant Chicken

My friend Ashley sent me a link to a posting on this blog. Click HERE to get a good laugh from this blog. Click HERE to check out the Awkward Pregnancy Photos. You can't look at them without going "OMG!"

Packing Up H

Here's another hospital photo. I had to post this one (I didn't have the blog when Harrison was born) because our hair looks like we've both ran a marathon. We're only just beginning at this point.

Hush Little Baby

I've really been going down memory lane these past couple of days. Babies are only this size for a fraction of time, it's really unbelievable. 

First Pic of H

I'm almost positive this is the first photograph taken for little H. So sweet and innocence and us so clueless!

Before and After - Harrison

I've been going through my photos lately and stumbled upon these. We're going to do this with #2, if we remember :)

Is it just me, does Ryan look like he went out and got a haircut? I never noticed this before?! I was laid up in the hospital for five days, I'm not sure what all went down. Hmmmm.

Book Binge

I've been on a book binge since Christmas and above are all the ones I've recently read. It's been cold and cloudy so I'm really not motivated to do anything. Plus, my back aches really bad if I go to sleep before 11. So I'm looking for suggestions on what to read next . . . 

Progression of Harrison

This is what I'm hoping to accomplish with my monthly baby bump pictures. I really don't see how I was walking in the last photo and that was taken a week before he was born! Click on the photo to get a better view.

Website Wednesday - pia jane bijkerk

Today's website (thanks, Heather) is a blog by Pia Jane Bijkerk. Click HERE to view. She's an internationally acclaimed stylist, photographer and author specializing in interiors, still life and food. She continues to use her home as her workshop and her travels as inspiration and delights in stepping off the beaten path to discover the unexpected. She divides her time working and living between Sydney, Paris and a houseboat in Amsterdam. I love the design of the blog and her photos take me to a far away places. Enjoy!

Monthly Pic

Here's this month's picture at almost 15 weeks. I really don't care for pictures of myself but it is fun to watch the belly grow. Let's see, the baby is 4 inches long and can sense light. He/she can turn its head, open it mouth and press its lips together. Not baby for somebody who only weighs 1 ounce!

Oh, and those are my new maternity pants, I bought with Christmas cash. I can pull the elastic all the way up to my belly or keep it low. Sounds sexy, huh? My maternity clothes from H aren't quite fitting yet and my other pants are too tight. 

Snow Day / Work Day

One of the negatives about working from home, is I never have the "snow day, can't make it into the office" excuse. But it is lovely to look out of the window. Harrison decided to make a snow angel but managed to get it all over his face instead. Silly monkey.

Fire Chief

We toured the local volunteer fire department this afternoon and as you can tell someone was pretty pumped. Who knows what would have happened if he realized the keys were in the ignition.

Museums

Get this, our neighbors have been to all the museum within a 6 hours radius of their previous home! I'm pretty impressed with this fact, not only because they found time to do this, but also they have not one, not two, but three kids (age 7 and under). It got me thinking about how much of the history, art, science, etc. those kids have already been exposed to. I don't think that's a realistic goal for us but we can definitely tackle our city. So today, we took Harrison to the History Museum. I was pretty impressed and as an added bonus, there was a train exhibit. We discovered a kid's playroom upstairs and Mr. H kept himself entertained for at least 45 minutes. I call this a successful outing :)

Finally Friday

TGIF . . . it's been one of those weeks.

Wide Load

I'll admit it . . . I eavesdrop. I just can't help but listen to Harrison's conversations. He's big into imagination play and making his figures talk to each other. The one guy said to the other guy "good thing this is wide enough for my big ole bottom." I am not responsible for this statement.

Website Wednesday - Baby Name Wizard

I've known about this site for years, actually pre-Harrison days. Click HERE to check out the Baby Name Wizard. It's pretty cool to discover how popular a name is and the year the name hit its peak. The name mapper is really neat too.

Mr. Picky

Harrison has a horrible habit of picking his lips. It drives us CRAZY but it's his soothing mechanism. We are constantly giving him lip balm in hopes the picking will stop. Every night before he goes to sleep, he'll lay there and tug at that lip for about 30 minutes. Lately, he's added extra sound effects with his tongue so it's even worse!

Where's the Poop?

My friend Melissa told me about this book, Where's the Poop? written by Jule Markes and illustrations from Susan Kathleen Hartung. Our boys are the same age and she's having more success in the potty training department. She warned me it was a little gross but it helped her little man. So what have I got to loose? 

I wasn't sure what to expect and I was actually pretty surprised. The lift-the-flap book shows that all creatures have a place to do their business.

I like the last page, "Excuse me, I'm making a poop. Please shut the door!" Harrison LOVES this book, really loves it. Me? I've literally have read it 25 times and I'm a little sick of it. Plus it has no effect on this use of the toilet. Tonight after we read it, he asked if we could find a book on throw up! Boys!!!

Psychedelic Soap

Isn't this pretty cool? It's amazing what sunlight and a little soap can do.

Another Year of Resolutions

Are you the type to make resolution only to break them in February or do you even bother? I'm a list maker so I kinda enjoy this type of thing. Let's see this year, Goal #1: I (more like we) will get our finances more in order. Actually, we're pretty good but it will be nice to know we can definitely retire at 60. Goal #2: get into better shape. This one is going to be difficult with my lack of time between raising a toddler and working full time but the hospital where I'll be delivering at has an aqua moms swim class. My doctor said it will feel really good especially when I enter into my third trimester. Goal #3: organize the house. I have more junk drawers than I know what to do with and Harrison's room is starting to be overrun with toys. My list is maybe kinda boring so I added the image :) What are your resolutions?