Playground of Dreams

Today Lilliana and I packed up and headed to Arlington to play with Rachel and Rebecca at the Playground of Dreams. It was so much fun and the girls probably could have stayed out there all day. The weather was perfect and there was just so much to do and see while we were there.

Rebecca turned 2 in June so her and Lilliana are almost exactly 6 month's apart and it is neat to see where we will be in just 6 short month's. The girls played really well together which is neat for Rachel and I since we are friends and former roommates from college.

After the park, we headed to Chick-fil-A for a yummy lunch and then home for a long nap. Luckily Lilliana napped for almost 3 hours so I was able to get a quick nap myself along with finishing some laundry for the week. We head out on Sunday for the beach and I can't wait. I am so excited to see my little love have a great time playing in the sand, at least I hope she still loves it!

MTM - "Mouse Food"

Ok, so this weeks, Muffin Tin Munchie, was so not planned, not that anyone could tell! ;) I kinda forgot that it was Tuesday until I was putting together Lilliana's lunch and then it was almost too late but since I wanted to stick to my schedule I went with it and just kinda threw some things together. It had been a long day already at this point and Lilliana was not in the mood to wait very long for her lunch, so this was the only theme I could think about and just went with "bite" sized foods, I know creative right?




from left to right is Minnie Mouse fruit snacks, strawberries, crackers, hot dog, ketchup and cheese

Strawberry Yumminess!

Earlier this week, after perusing the Internet for a dinner recipe, I stumbled upon one for strawberry bread. It reminded me of a similar recipe I have for banana bread and looked oh so easy. I decided that Lilliana and I would whip some up, especially since I already had all the ingredients in my pantry combined with a crate of strawberries in the fridge that needed to be used soon.



we started out by laying out the ingredients which included



then we pulled up the recipe I had found online in order to follow it correctly!



Lilliana was such a big helper and wanted to just dig right in with Momma. She loves strawberries so I hoped she would love this bread.



the bread baking in my oven (excuse the dirtiness of it, after viewing this pic, I quickly learned it was in dire need of a good clean!!)

Well, mission accomplished, Lilliana LOVED it and it made my house smell oh so yummy! I thought about trying it next time with splenda instead of using regular sugar, but we'll just see. We definitely enjoyed it for breakfast that week along with fulfilling a couple snacks.

Here's a copy of the recipe:

Strawberry Bread
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 tes. baking soda
1/2 tes. salt
1/2 tes. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 Tbl. vanilla
1/2 cup oil
1 cup chopped strawberries (I used fresh but I'm sure frozen that you thaw would be fine too)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (I just sprinkled some on the bottom of the bread before baking because I forgot to stir them in)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients. Stir until well moistened. Pour in greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until done throughout. (Next time, I will add the strawberries after the bread is completely stirred and mixed thoroughly because I felt I smashed some of them since I added them earlier :)

Wordless Wednesday!

Evening at the Park

Last Sunday I got cancelled for work so Clay and I took advantage of the time the 3 of us would have together and headed out to the park. The weather was gorgeous and we had such a great time just spending time together. This is such a rarity these days since Clay works all week and then I have to go into work on the weekends. I look forward to when I switch to Friday / Sunday nights in November where we'll always have Saturday nights together :)

Lot's of catching up to do ....

Below are some posts that I have been working on and other's that I have slipped in out of order. :)


School Day #6

Muffin Tin Munchies - circles

School Day #5

21 Month's Young

Pay it Forward

Forrest Spence 5K


Day #4 of school

Matching

Day #6 of "school"

After another great day at school where Lilliana practiced her mothering skills by pushing the baby doll around in the stroller truck, and consuming some of her lunch with a short 45 minute nap, we headed to the traditional TCBY for some yummy frozen yogurt. I asked Lilly upon arriving what kind of "ice-cream" she wanted and she said "nilla". So nilla it was and in a cone for the first time. Probably not the smartest idea since I ended up getting chocolate-vanilla swirl and I still like the outfit she was wearing! It has only been washed once though so I am onto stain sticking for the second round of hopes to remove more chocolate this go around!! Next time I will just listen to her :)

We did have a better day at home afterwards. We played with her new puzzles upon arriving home and I showed her the fun stuff I got her at Janie and Jack for her Fall pictures next week. Then it was time to cook dinner and I asked her to lay on the couch and watch some Minnie and rest. She did stay there about 15 minutes which gave me just enough time to get the important things done with dinner and seemed to maybe just hold her off until bedtime. We'll see, so far it's the best plan I have come up with because there is NO way she is going back to sleep when she gets home. She is a wild woman!



ready for school, and to see Ms. Sha!!



wanting to go back in and tell Maggie bye-bye one more time :)



enjoying her ice-cream cone



"cheese" face, with very little ice-cream left!!

MTM - "Circles"

I have been following a blog for a while now and Brittany has some wonderfully, creative ideas on there. She used to be a teacher in her past life, before giving birth to her little boy, and I have decided to follow along in her footsteps for something fun called "Muffin Tin Munchies". She actually got the idea from another blog that has some great ideas, you can find it here.

We started this week on Tuesday and I hope to be able to continue this at least weekly. This week we started with "circles" for our theme. Mostly because it was easy and things I already had in the pantry. Lilliana was also requesting Pizza for lunch so what better way to curb her appetite and stay in theme!



ready to decorate her pizza, she LOVES pepperonis



spreading the sauce on our pizzas



now time for some cheese!



having a taste of pepperoni



it finally made it to the pizza, (of course there is some evidence of pizza sauce on her lip!!)




This is our Muffin Tin lunch, (minus the pizza at this point, it was baking in the oven). From left to right, top row first is yogurt bites, ritz cheese crackers, vanilla wafers, bananas, (slot for pizza) and cheese (yes I know it's square, too much work to round it out at that point!) I would love to say that this helped Lilliana be encouraged about lunch and she ate the whole tray .... but that would be lying. We have actually just recently started to struggle with our eating habits and at times I do good to get any food into her tummy much less healthy options. I am just going to continue to offer them to her and hopefully my healthy, non picky little eater will return sooner than later.

I do think she enjoyed eating on her fun, flower shaped muffin tin Mama bought for her and I hope for this to become a fun and educational activity that she looks forward too!

I was impressed that she was able to help Mama point out most of the circles and had fun doing so.



so excited about her new found way to eat her lunch!!



a pic with her pizza included :)

Day #5 of "school"

Today Lilliana had another great day at school. This week she enjoyed her time at school playing in the kitchen with Elle. This is either the third or fourth week she has played with Elle so I am glad to see her having some consistency in friendships. It's amazing what a little social butterfly she has become lately. She ate some of her lunch and slept from 12:15 to 1:20. Still had a difficult time upon arriving home today since she is not getting enough sleep compared to the naps she gets at home but I am working on keeping her busy and/or adding some sort of rest time for her when we get home. We'll see how that goes next week!

21 month's young!

Oh my precious little love,

Each time I think that I can't love you anymore, you seem to do or say something that just melts my heart. You are constantly telling me and your dada how much you love us. It is the most precious thing in the whole world and makes me beam from ear to ear each time you say it. Oh, how long I have waited to hear a precious little someone say this to me and how special it makes me feel. You continue to be a pretty good communicator and although sometimes your Dada has difficulties understanding what you are saying, typically I am able to distinguish it. :)

You are doing GREAT at "school" and LOVE to go see Miss Sha. You have even named one of your new baby dolls, Shay, after your teacher. You have no problem walking into school and typically don't even look back anymore. You have become such a big girl and it makes things so much easier on Mama.

I can tell you are really starting to grow-up and mature in the last couple month's and I just wish I could slow things down. You are such the little Momma and love to play with your baby dolls. I bought you your first one after your 2nd day of "school" and you named her "Shay". Then there is "Amy" that came from Gigi. You love to feed your babies and burp them once they are done eating. We have "tea" with your babies and even Maggie joins in every now and again! You still sleep with your Minnie, Abby, and baby, along with whatever else makes it into the crib or you request come time for sleep.

Speaking of sleep, you still take just one afternoon nap and will generally sleep anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours. You have come such a long way from this time last year!! You love your bed and at times request to be placed in it. You have started to "make excuses" here lately when it's time for night-night, as in "Where's _______?" (Abby, Baby, Minnie, Shay, Shesha, and many more). You forgot to kiss Maggie night-night or, where's Dada and so forth and so on. You just crack me up because I can just imagine these conversations for years to come.

You love to sing and I still haven't been able to figure out what some of the songs are that you have been singing from school. Your all time favorite is "Jesus Loves Me", you will climb into your rocking chair in your room and start to sing it. You are such a smart little thing! You also love to sing, "Rock-a-bye-Baby" and Old McDonald Had a Farm. I recently purchased you a new CD with kids Christian songs on it and you quickly picked up on "I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart". You love to scream the "where's" at the appropriate times. You also still love "If Your Happy and You Know It" and I would have to say your favorite part is when you shout Hooray!! We still go to storytime at Davis Kidd on Thursday's and you have become more and more involved in that in the past few month's. You love to watch Mrs. Marjorie sing and dance and you jump right in there with her.

You are such a Momma's girl and have started back crying when I leave for work. It just breaks my heart and makes it so hard for me to leave you. I know you have fun with your Dada when I leave and you are only awake about 2 hours after I leave but it is just so hard on me. I wish so badly that I could stay home with you but I know it is good for me to have some adult time also.

You are still wearing size 3 diapers and you are so incredibly close to potty training it's crazy!! You will poop and immediately go get a diaper and wipes to bring to me and ask to be changed. The only thing stopping you is that I reuse to try it until we get back from the beach in October. Only 3 more weeks little love and then we will jump in full force. I have started putting pull-ups on you on multiple occasions because you have learned to take off your diaper and there have been 2 recent mornings when I have walked in to get you from your crib and you have been completely naked! Once must have been early in the night because you had also peed everywhere!! No fun. You are wearing anywhere from 6-12 month clothes to 12-18 month things. Most of your dresses are 12 months along with pants, but you are able to fit into some 18 month tops.

You love to buckle and if I am running late and go ahead and buckle you myself into the car you have a coniption fit! It is just better for me to let you try it yourself but it is so not worth the drama that insues. Not only do you love to buckle, but you also love to zip and snap things. I have bought you the neatest puzzle for your birthday but I am not sure I am going to be able to save it that long!

I am working diligently on things for your birthday party and seem to have most things in line. I have Mrs. Danielle working on your invitations and I have started the food and guest list. Mrs. Liz is going to be there to take pictures and I can't wait to see your face when you walk in to all that Minnie stuff!

I am also working on your Minnie costume for Halloween but I have been unable to find the tulle that I need. You may end up being a red Minnie for Halloween instead of hot pink if I can't find it soon!

You still LOVE Wilson, AKA Bobby. Still not sure why you call him that but you always do. Atleast he answers to it!! You also have taken a new love to Emerson. You call her Emmy and ask for her almost as much as Bobby. Mommy and Daddy are going to a new Sunday School at church so you have started going back to nursery on Sunday mornings. It is hard on me since I have worked the night before and have to head back to work but we know it's good for all of us.

I love you little one with my whole heart and miss you like crazy everytime I am away. I am so amazed with the things you are learning everyday and I can't wait to see the woman God has destined you to be!

Love you,
Momma

Pay it Forward

While I was visiting over at Amber's blog a couple weeks ago, I saw a post about giving back to others. I decided to play along and recieved a "happy" in the mail from her. I would love to send a "happy" to the first 2 people that respond and leave a comment on this post. Just make sure to leave your e-mail address so that I can get your real address and send your happy. All you have to do is be willing to Pay It Forward and send some sunshine to 2 other people. So do you want to play?

Forrest Spence 5K

This year, Clay, Lilliana and I participated again in the Forrest Spence 5K. If you remember from last year, this is how much Lilliana has changed since then! Anyways, it was a beautiful morning and we couldn't have asked for a better turn out. Over 850 participants and more than $34,000 dollars raised!! Amazing job by all involved and I know that sweet Forrest is so proud of his precious parents and all they have done in his memory.

You can click here for more pics and information from Brittany herself, (Forrest's Momma).



Lilliana, after the race, excited to see her Mama!



Lilliana with Clay, such a good racing team :)



me and my little love!

Day #4 of "school"

Today was a wonderful day with Lilliana in school and Momma had a fabulous day of relaxation at the spa, from the gift-certificate Clay purchased me for our anniversary. I planned it this way since this is not Lilliana's normal day for PDO, but since we are going to gone on a Monday while at the beach in October, this worked out perfectly. It was such a gorgeous day when we woke up and I was glad I had a good hour 2 hours after dropping Lilliana off until I had to get to my appointment. It is amazing how much more productive and speedy I can be when I am by myself. I was able to stop at Target for some necessities, make it to Old Navy for an exchange and then to Chick-fil-a for a yummy breakfast and stop at about 4 stores in Saddle Creek with 3 more purchases all in that short amount of time. A stroller and shopping cart cover are all necessities, ya know along with the cup of milk or water, snacks and whatever doll she is clinging to at that point, but gathering all this at each stop adds on lots of time!

My spa day was luxurious and was thoroughly enjoyed. I don't think I have had a facial but once since Clay and I were married and that's been 5 years. I also treated myself to a massage and pedicure and enjoyed every minute of it. It was so much easier to relax knowing that Lilliana was in good hands and how much she enjoys "school".

I got done just in time to be able to head to the house for a quick bite to eat and shower before picking Lilliana back up. Her teacher said she was a good girl again and she came hope with her first craft. They are studying apples and the letter "A" so they made an apple craft using paint and a cut apple. It is so cute and now hanging on a refrigerator. She was so proud to show me after class :) Her little "toddler news" stated that she was good and played well with Will and Chase on the bridge. She ate some of her lunch and slept from 12:30 - 1:40. Since she obeyed again at school, we headed to the traditional "TCBY" for some yummy frozen yogurt again before heading home. That little girl sure can put away some ice cream. She has gotten to the point where she will eat almost an entire junior cup of chocolate / vanilla swirl! She does give Momma a couple bites every now and again but for the most part, it's all hers!

The only problem I am running into is the fact that, although she is sleeping well at school, it is not nearly as long as she does at home. She is typically good for the first hour or 2 after I pick her up but then she is just DONE. She is exhausted, yet not ready for bed yet and is so short with me. I know it is due to her lack of sleep because she doesn't act that way on days she doesn't go to school. I am not sure what to do about it because there is no way she will go back to sleep when she gets home. She is wide awake and in the best mood when I pick her up but her evil twin shows up shortly after. Any ideas??




showing me her "curtsy"



ready for school!

Matching

Lilliana and I have been working on her color recognition lately, and what better way than with matching! I found these little puff balls at Michael's and had all kinds of colored bowls so put them to use. Lilliana is not really getting the concept yet and I try hard not to get frustrated with her. Lets just say it's a work in progress! She enjoys watching the balls roll on the ground and saying "uh-oh" more than anything but I am just pleased she will sit still to play with me!

Happy Birthday Palmer!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday Dear Palmer!
Happy Birthday to You!!

Today we celebrated Palmer's 2nd birthday with a day of sun and water fun out at Buckhead. Lilliana had a great time playing with all of her friends once she warmed up to the idea of putting on her swimsuit and braving the water toys with the big kids.

Thanks for a great party Tracy!!

(Sorry that there aren't any pictures, I wasn't able to take them while chasing after Lilliana!!) :)

Day # 3 of "school"

Again, another great day at school for Lilliana. Today it was my turn to bring snacks and I decided to take some raisins and these yummy Annie's Organic crackers. Mrs Sha said that Lilliana was a good girl in class but she also told me that "she can hold her own!" (this is not the first time I have been told that!!) I'm not sure how I feel about that statement but I guess as long as she tells me there wasn't any pushing or bad behavior on Lilliana's behalf I guess I will take it.

Today her note said that she played on the slide with Jack and ate most of her lunch. They are also going to start working on the letter "A" and red circles so we are going to keep that going at home to try and reinforce the concepts.

After school we headed to Saddle Creek to do a little shopping and then headed to TCBY for Lilliana's after school snack. We shared a kids cup of chocolate-vanilla swirl and I think I actually only got about 2 bites out of it! That girl loves her some sweets!!

She won't be going next Monday since it is Labor Day, but she has a make-up day on Friday the 11th due to our trip to the beach coming up in October. I am so looking forward to this day because I have scheduled my day of spa to use the gift certificate Clay gave me for my anniversary! Hooray!!



all ready for school



sporting her shades on a bright and sunny morning :)



enjoying an after school treat at TCBY



such sweetness, she loves some sugar just like her Momma!

Le Bonheur Radiothon

Today is the annual Le Bonheur Radiothon to help raise money for the children's hospital that I work at. This hospital is so near and dear to my heart for so many more reasons than just because it's my place of employment. There have been so many families that have come through there with sick children that have made such an impact on my life and have made me a better person because of their lives. You can click here for the live feed. Help support Le Bonheur and make a difference in children's lives!

Wordless Wednesday!

Telling me NO, one of her favorite things to do these days :)

2nd Day of "School"

Today was Lilliana's 2nd day of school. Again, she had a great day and Mom had a fabulous time attempting to catch up on sleep from the weekend at work. She walked into her class like a big girl and there wasn't a tear shed. I was so proud of her. When I came to pick her up Ms. Sha said she was really good and didn't push anyone this time! Hooray!! On her little progress note it said she played well in the play house and with her friend Elle. This is the second week in a row she has played with Elle, maybe she really is starting to make new friends. :) She ate her lunch good and took an 1 1/2 long nap on her napmat. Hooray for peer-pressure. At least today I think so, I think that is the only reason she is sleeping on that silly mat. Whatever works :)

I went ahead and signed her up for a make-up day in September since we will miss one week while we are at the beach in October. I also placed her on the waiting list for another day during the week. I don't think we will officially do 2 days until probably next fall but I needed to go ahead and get on the list so I did.

So far she is really enjoying her "school" and she loves her teachers and the friends she has made there. Since she started last Monday she has been singing some song that I am unable to figure out what is. I tried to video her singing it the other night but of course as soon as she saw the camera she stopped. It's hilarious and obviously goes on for a while and has hand motions. I am going to have to remember to ask Ms. Sha this week at drop off if she knows what it is because obviously Lilliana LOVES it!!