yogurt mess

At 17 months, Ellie is the messiest, pickiest, and slowest eater ever.  She'll eat breakfast fabulously.  Eggs, oatmeal, fruit, bacon, smoothie, pancakes.  Loves it all. But then it goes downhill fast.  For lunch and dinner she'll eat yogurt, some types of cheese, carrots, peas, corn, and most fruit (frozen blueberries being the all time favorite)  But that's it, she won't do chicken in any way, she'll rarely do ground beef or turkey, and won't do beans.  She'll eat cottage cheese if I blend it smooth with applesauce.  Skinny girl needs some protein.  

But aside from the food update (more for a record for myself), here's some adorable pictures and a video of a meal with Ellison:

 

Owen is 3!

I had the awesome opportunity to give a talk at Women of the Word Live on Tuesday night at our church.   So my evenings the last couple weeks have been filled with prepping my talk.  So now it's time for some much overdue blogging!

My little man turned 3 on June 10th.  What?!  Wasn't this picture just yesterday?

Nope, he really is 3. My attempts at stopping time have all failed.

 

Before I get to some of the details of age 3, here's the stats from the doc.  He did awesome at his checkup and was relieved he didn't have to get a shot.  He enjoyed looking at the fish.

For the first time, he had to have his blood pressure checked.  I'm thankful he got a little doctor's kit from Grandma and this part is always included in our pretend checkups.  The nurse did a great job explaining it like his arm getting a big hug.

He also had his hearing and eyesight tested for the first time.  He passed everything with flying colors.

He's weighing in at 33 lbs which is the 67th percentile and he is 3ft, 2.5" which is the 70th percentile for height. It was a super fast appointment as I only had 1 question, which I'll get to later.  He's a perfectly healthy little guy.

Eating: I would say that as we've gotten closer to 3, Owen has definitely become more of a picky eater.  Although maybe it's just that he can now voice what he wants and doesn't want.  The kid hasn't met a fruit he doesn't love.  Well, except watermelon.  But top favorites are raspberries, cantaloupe, and apples.  He does ok in the veggie category and enjoys carrots, broccoli, and corn.  But that's about it.  Oh, and he enjoys salad when it's all mixed together.  As far as meat goes, he's hit or miss with chicken, loves steak and beef, and doesn't care for fish at all.  Goldfish crackers are still a #1 favorite as are all forms of dairy: milk, yogurt and cheese!

 

Sleeping: I can finally say that after 3 years, Owen (mostly) sleeps through the night.  Once or twice a week, he may get up once but William can usually get him back down pretty easily.  He still needs us to lay with him until he falls asleep and the boy can drag out his bedtime routine like no other.  For about 6 months, we've been working on cutting this time way back and he's finally able to fall asleep on his own of course after a few tears.  His current favorite thing to do is sleep on the floor.  So we lay out a waterproof sheet and blankets and camps out on the floor surrounded by his cars and 3 favorite stuffed animals.  His favorite lion, Leo is starting to become less and less important which makes me a bit sad.

Potty training:  I sure hope Ellie is as easy as Owen was.  I think he had a total of a handful of accidents and one in public.  He wears underwear all day and for naps, but still does a pull-up for bedtime.  Most of the time it's dry, but I really have no interest in pushing him to wear undies at night knowing it could possibly make him wake up more, something we're just feeling good about.  He loves that he can pee outside since it's summer. :)

Play:  Hands down favorite thing to do it play cars and trucks.  It varies from playing with his Cars movie characters or just hot wheels.  He loves trailers or tow trucks, anything that can pull or haul other cars.  We make roads out of anything and spend many an hour crashing cars, taking them to the shop, and hauling things all over the house.  He plays with trains occasionally.   He loves to play outside and would swing all day.  He’s getting more comfortable in the water thanks to swim lessons and pool pass that has got us to the pool a lot this summer.  He loves to paint and draw or do any craft project I set out for him.  Here’s the latest in his ability to write his name.  Pretty proud of my 3 year old.

Language:  Despite what you might see in public, Owen is quite the talker at home.  He doesn’t love talking about letter identification, but I’m sure that will come with some preschool this fall (more on that in a later post).  He doesn’t say the letter v or s very well.  And a few months ago, I noticed that he was starting to stutter a little bit.  It was largely when he was tired or excited and often when trying to start a sentence with a “what, when, why” type of word.  I mentioned it to the doctor 2 weeks ago and he didn’t seem too worried.  And of course, since mentioning it, I haven’t noticed it at all.  I’m hoping it was a short time of his mouth not being able to keep up with his brain!  This kid loves to sing.  It’s one of our favorite activities to put on music, and makes fools of ourselves dancing and singing.  Here’s  a little taste of my man dressed up in who knows what singing Twinkle Twinkle.

Discipline:  I know we had it pretty easy with the 2’s, so it wasn’t a shocker to me that as we approached age 3, he started to test the waters a bit more.  This kid is classic first born and wants things a certain way.  Don’t move that truck an inch or you’ll get a blood curling scream out of him.  Don’t even think about starting to eat without his bib.  And only mom can put it on, not dad.  He knows that if dad does bath time, mom’s putting him to bed (we switch off those duties every night).  The kid is regimented like nothing I’ve seen before.  While I am so so thankful that for the most part, he’s very well behaved a sweet, we still have many a moments throughout the day where he needs correcting.  The biggest areas he seems to get time out for is screaming when something doesn’t go right and keeping his hands off his sister.  He runs after he, falls on her, and in general is kind of rough with her.  The problem is she loves it so her laughs encourage him to keep going.  So we’re still working on that one.  Friends: I love that he understands what friends are now.  He and Sam can entertain themselves quite well together and actually often play better without me hovering over them.  Sam is definitely his best friend and he talks about him on an hourly basis sometimes.  He loves Alex and Ben (and their awesome sandbox) and talks a lot about Caleb C, and Grace & Caleb.  He loves making videos for Aunt Jenna and talks about his Grandma/Grandpa and MeMaw/Papaw all the time.His gentle spirit still melts me.  He loves to cuddle and give kisses and is quick to cry or be shy.He loves to pray and knows that Jesus lives in his heart.He loves to climb in and buckle his own car seat and is becoming more independent everyday.Owen, we love you more than words can ever say.  It is a delight being your mommy! Happy 3rd birthday little man!

bad food week

With Ellie’s birthday, a trip to Peoria, and 2 showers this week, this is how I’m feeling about my food choices this week.  Credit goes to Holly on Pinterest. :)  And yes, I have eaten every food listed below in the last few days.

our new menu plan

I am pretty excited about the new menu plan we’ve been using at our house!  It’s no secret that meal planning and prep is not my strong suit.  I do it because my family needs to eat, but I don’t enjoy it.  A few months ago, several ladies in my Mom2Mom group shared that they were using a new service called Fresh 20 that emailed them their menu plans every week, along with their grocery list.  They offered to send me a couple sample weeks to see if I liked them.  I loved it.  I simply printed my list, went shopping and knew that I had what I need for the next 5 dinners.  Out of the 10 dinners we tried, 8 were hits.  I love that they use only 20 fresh ingredients and a few pantry staples. 

I went to buy a year's subscription when I found out the current groupon (my referral link) going on was for EMeals.  (here’s the direct link to the groupon)  It’s the exact same premise as Fresh 20 just a different service.  I also enjoyed that it was Dave Ramsey endorsed.  I was blown away that you can choose from 10 different plans - classic, clean eating, simple gourmet, paleo, low carb, low fat, portion control, natural and organic, gluten free, and vegetarian.  We are currently in week 3 of the portion control plan and I’m very happy!!We have really liked the meals and Owen is actually eating them!  I mean seriously, he ate curried chicken and broccoli tonight.  And didn't even ask for yogurt. :)  I feel like all the hard work of hunting down new recipes is done for me and I simply print my grocery list and go.  I like that EMeals gives me 7 meals a week instead of 5 like Fresh 20, although it usually takes us a week and half to 2 weeks to get through one menu plan. I like to add in a few of our old favorites, a leftover night, and a fend for yourself night or 2.  Here’s a sample of a week if you want to take a peek.

I would say this idea is great for you if you don’t love menu planning.  And if you don’t have a super picky eaters as your spouse. :)  But I’m a big fan.  Let me know if you have any questions or want to try a week before committing!

tooting my own horn

Weight.  It’s such a touchy subject that I haven’t talked a ton about this on here.  But I hit a pretty big milestone this week, so I thought I should toot my own horn for a short post.  And while I try not to care about the actual #’s on the scale, I’m using them here to show how hard I’ve worked. :)

This is me in labor with Ellie.  I weighed about 185.  I felt great.  I loved how I looked pregnant with her for some reason.The first 10 always come off easily.  Just having  a baby seems to help. haha  The next 10 came off with nursing and paying a little attention to what I ate.  But then I was stuck.  And even at my pre-baby weight, I was in the “overweight” category according to BMI calculators.  I was still in my “fat pants” and was really struggling every morning in my closet searching for things to wear.  Enter in the invitation to be in my brother and sister-in-laws wedding.  It was just the final kick in the butt I needed.  Along with that, I’d really love to spend lots of time at the pool this summer because the kiddo’s ages will be perfect for it.  Gotta get a tan for that bridesmaid dress.   And I wanted to be a bit more comfortable in a swimsuit.

So I suckered 2 friends into texting each week pictures of our scales for accountability and signed onto my MyFitnessPal account, which had laid dormant for over a year. As of this week, I’m at 144.4  That’s about 40 pounds down from my highest.  And about 20 pounds that I had to really work for!  I am now in the “normal” BMI category and weigh what I did at my wedding.  Now nothing looks like it used to largely because I’m not working out a ton.  I’ve focused more on my food intake since that what my current schedule allows.  I try to fit in at least 2 working out videos a week and will walk more once it gets warmer.  But mostly, it’s just been keeping track of every single morsel of food that goes into my mouth and making better choices.

Not fun, but seeing the results has kept me motivated to keep going.   I’ve kept a close watch on my milk supply for Ellie, but thankfully it didn’t change at all.  I don’t have any “real” before and after pictures, but here is a picture from November:And here’s a picture from the dressing room yesterday while trying on a jean size I haven’t worn since high school! Thanks to A and L for the awesome support and encouragement along the way!

Happy 8 Months Ellison!

Happy 8 months (only 2 weeks late again) to my sweet little girl, Ellison Jakeh!  This month has been HUGE stuff for this girl, all kinds of new stuff to write about.She is full-on crawling now and gets where she wants to go and fast!  Her belly isn’t off the ground, but using her right arm to pull and her left foot to push, she moves quick.  And boy is she teaching me what it’s like to have to truly baby-proof.  With Owen, I could leave out anything and not have to worry about it.  Not with El.  One minutes she’s wrapped up in my yarn, the next she’s trying to eat the cat food out of Sophie’s dish or make a nose dive down the stairs.  Can’t turn my back on her for a second.Along with crawling, she has an awesome little hello/goodbye wave, usually with her right hand.  She also gives kisses in two ways.  She’ll make the blowing kisses noise for you and also leans in and gives sloppy wet baby kisses.  Too adorable!  She loves to clap her hands and can find her paci in the middle of tons of toys and easily get it to her mouth. Food: Last month, I finally read this book:Many of my friends have read it.  But I held out because I don’t do many things as a mom that start with the words “baby-led” :)  But it just needs a different title.  I should have read it when Ellie was about 4 months and before we started purees.  But the nutshell is giving your baby whatever you’re eating from the get-go and skipping purees.  She loves to eat all sorts of things, but still likes the purees we started on because she gets more unto her tummy faster.  It’s actually fine because I’m getting TONS of baby food with WIC right now.  But for baby #3 someday, I’m definitely re-reading this book from the get-go.  Her favorite foods from the month have been frozen blueberries and peas, toast, avocado, cooked broccoli, pears, yogurt, bits of turkey, mashed potatoes, and of course her beloved Puffs.  She’s definitely eating a tons more variety of foods than I was giving Owen at this age.  And she’s almost mastered the sippy cup. Yay!  She can hold it up as long as I don’t make it too heavy for her.Sleep:  see months 1-7.  Still a good napper and still up all hours of the night wanting to nurse.  Can you tell I haven’t put my foot down yet?  Sucker mom.Ellison still adores her brother, even when he clocks her on the head, rolls on top of her, and takes away her toys.  Yep, still loves him.  Wants to be near him all the time and he can get her to laugh like no one else. She loves bath time!  Even if she’s screaming bloody murder at dinner time, a bath always makes her laugh and smile.  Again, even if her brother is dumping huge cups of water on her head before I can stop him.She’s been doing great in the nursery on Sundays which is a relief because she doesn’t sit nicely through service like Owen did.  This semester, I hope she’ll do just as well in childcare for Mom2Mom.Her favorite things to play with are Owen’s car ramp, and anything she can bang like drums or the xylophone.  She could really care less about her baby toys. :) Happy 8 months little one.  We love you so much and can’t imagine life without you!And for fun, check out the “interview” I did with Owen at 8 months!

Pinned It, Did It Monday

If you’re like me, since the invention of Pinterest, I’ve wasted spent hours on that site gathering ideas that are supposed to make my cooking better, my kids smarter, my closet more put together, and my crafting cuter.  I’ve been striving to find the balance of using Pinterest.  On way one I feel like a slug and feeling bad for myself while looking at all these “perfect” things you can find on that site.  And on the other hand, I DO find tons of great ideas.

So I’m introducing my new Monday blog feature, Pinned it, Did it!  I want a way to be accountable for actually doing some of the things I pin each week instead of just wasting time pinning them.  On Mondays I’ll try and post one thing that I did that week from Pinterest.  It might be a recipe I’ve tried, a new crafty project that I completed,  a cleaning tip I tried, a cute quote that made me laugh, or something fun I did with Owen.  Today, I’ll start with 2 things to get rolling.  The first is a tip I found about selecting watermelons.  My first 2 melons I bought this season were just ok, so I thought these tips were good ones to implement.

Picture I pinned: Source: Watermelon Picking Tips from Fifteen Spatulas
Review of the tip: I totally forgot to take a picture of the watermelon I bought, but it was delicious!  So I give this tip a huge thumbs up.  There were tons of great tips on buying and cutting a watermelon.  Don’t forget to read down in the comments section, because there were more tips down there!
The second pin I actually did this week was a fabulous bread recipe!
Picture I pinned:

Source: Crusty Bread from Simply So Good
My pictures:

add water and that's it!

I did everything in my kitchen aid

after rising for 18 hours

and after baking!

Review: This was fabulous!  A great, basic bread that looks beautiful and tastes great.  And no bread maker needed.  Although you have to think a bit ahead because it needs to sit for 12-18 hours before baking, I will definitely make it again.  Can’t wait to experiment with adding in some yummy mixings!

So that’s in for Pinned It, Did It!  If you do anything from Pinterest, I’d love for you to take a picture and send it to me.  I’ll feature it.  I love finding pins that actually make my life better in some way when we actually do them. :)