Transitions

This one has been surprisingly happy lately. I was worried that he wouldn't enjoy leaving his role as "baby," but he seems to be thriving as a big brother. He throws away diapers, holds the baby, and consoles her when she cries. I think he's proud of himself.

 

 

He can make her happy and likes to chit-chat with her. She looks at him and smiles:

 

Hair cut is the result of a very active toddler barber session.

 

 

We've been trying to transition to the big boy bed. It works if he skips his nap because he'll fall asleep right away at night -- no running around the room and laughing with Isaac until 10:30pm (although that is cute!). But he can't quite make it through the day without a nap unless he has had a morning nap or a nap the previous day. Here he is at 4:00pm on Monday. He was melting down completely. So, I set him in the bed. He tried to escape and made it half-way off the bed before collapsing in exhaustion. It's not easy being two!:

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Conversation with the Two-Year-Old

"Why are you crying?"

"Want 'snug as a bug in a rug!'"

This is all it takes for him to lay quietly in his bed until he falls asleep. He's pretty amazing!

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Color!

It's been about 4 months since I got this crazy notion to paint the rooms before baby comes. We covered the ceilings with a flat white paint and the walls with tropical breeze, pale orchid, and taupe. The previous wall color was off-white with bone/cream colored trim. It looked pretty dirty and dark by the time we moved in. Our hallway and kids' bedrooms are re-done. Now every day when I go up the stairs, I have this view. It feels so happy and peaceful!:

 

 

 

The only regret I have is not starting sooner. I became too tired at the end of the project (my third trimester with Angie). So we hired out the hallway painting after I removed the wallpaper. It would have been economical had we not needed to paint the ceiling, doors, and trim. I worked a couple of weekend events to pay for part of the project: recessed hallway lights. We exchanged our enclosed octagonal pendants with safer, more aesthetically pleasing lights. Our electrician showed me the charred ceiling drywall behind our old lights, which were super-popular in the '80s and '90s. You know the kind. At least in 1986, the bulb ports were made of plastic. Those ports get HOT, partly because they're enclosed. We hope that by choosing recessed lights we will never have to revisit hallway lighting. I also read that pendants make spaces look smaller and recessed lights are better in your typical home's hallway. So recessed lights were the choice for a couple of reasons. I like how it works:

 

 

 

Here is a photo of Angie's room. This photograph is true to the color. There still are a couple of things left to finish like hemming the curtain and adding bedding. But the hard parts are finished. This was a very economical update: less than $100. I wish I had a "before" photo. This room looks so much better than it did! It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do!!

 

 

 

Here you can see how the room flows into the hallway. Everything looks much cleaner.

 

 

 

We received the Pottery Barn curtain and rod for free from a friend who was updating her girls' bedroom. I'm grateful for the find and will hem it soon!

 

 

 

The boys' room looks the same as it did in March, except that we've added a white curtain and put the toddler bed in there. We are slowly transitioning the boys to bigger beds -- Isaac to the bottom bunk, Andre to the toddler bed. Andre still sleeps in this crib most nights.

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Food + Health

I can't pretend to know a lot about weight loss. But what I do know is that I've had bronchitis four times this year, which is significantly more than average. After the last bout, the doctor had no good recommendations. (The kids' doc thinks it's asthmatic bronchitis; I'm still trying to find a good MD). Meanwhile, I've decided to take my diet seriously. It's hard for me, but being strong and healthy for my kids is a good motivator. Here are a couple of things we've found that are both healthy and tasty!

 

Korean Chicken Lettuce Wraps a la Cooking Light

 

 

 

Chicken Parmesan a la Cooking Light

(I made this when we were out of eggs and needed to use up some mozzarella and basil.)

 

 

 

Margherita Pizza and Dole Cherry Almond Bleu Salad

(When we need a fast & easy night.)

 

 

 

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breast Tenders

with Garlicky Dipping Sauce

 

 

 

Maintaining a good diet begins with a nutritious (filling) breakfast! We've splurged on quality cheese and turkey sausage and sprouted Ezekiel bread. It's very filling and satisfies my taste buds. I make this Sausage, Swiss, Peppers & Onions Egg White Omelet almost every morning:

 

 

 

Soft 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

 

 

 

I'm enjoying this effort at perfecting homemade bread. This is my 7th or 8th batch. I have the water temperature at just the right spot now! (Too cool and it rises much slower; too hot and it kills the yeast.) This particular recipe requires only one kneading. It's surprisingly fast for homemade bread!

 

 

 

The best part about this recipe is that the boys help themselves as soon as it's cut: no arguing about eating whole grains! They take seconds and thirds. I love it!!

 

 

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Sweet Pea: Two Months!

Our sweet pea had her two month checkup yesterday. She is doing pretty well. The doctor wants to keep an eye on her weight gain. She is gaining slightly less than average (5-7 ounces/week). The doctor is not worried but wants to check on her in a month instead of in two months.

Thankfully, she demonstrated one of her impressive colicky fits while we were at the doctor's office. The doctor came in and said, "Does she do this all the time?" No, she's actually doing it less and less, but she was awaken twice before she got to the doctor's office. And, like her mama, she does not like to be interrupted while sleeping. Because she was able to calm down, the doctor said she's probably just fine. Also, her slower weight gain may be attributed to the number of calories she burns while crying. She is so different than the boys!

Our boys were both well over 12 lbs. by 2 months of age. Sweet Pea is 9 lbs., 9 oz. (She is fed on demand and eats regularly!) That puts her in the 8th percentile for weight, but again, the doctor is not worried. Her other stats are: 22" long (23rd %) and 15.5" head circumference (79th %). She is smiling, cooing, and about ready to roll over! So, she is meeting her milestones, socially and physically. We really love this little girl!

For fun, check out The Engineer and The Eldest at the same age.

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Sweet Andre

We'd been thinking the nickname "Andy" might work well for this boy. But whenever I ask him lately, he says he likes "Andre" not "Andy." Here he is with Angie. He's saying, "Has cute fingers! Has cute toes!"

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A Country Music Fan in the Making?

We've been changing up date night lately. This weekend, DH planned a concert at our local outdoor amphitheater. Toby Keith headlined. DH informed me that he was "NOT taking a minivan to a country music concert!!" So we took the sedan. Call me naïve, but I was quite surprised to discover that there was not a single minivan in the entire parking lot. And since he had been so emphatic, I scoured the entire lot as we walked to the gate. Yep. No minivans. But so many of these:

 

Photo Credit: UlstermanBooks.com

 

We really lucked out this night. We arrived late because we wanted to get Angie settled before we left. When we arrived they were offering free upgrades because the front seats weren't filled. The opening act was supposed to be the Eli Young Band. But it wasn't. Instead, Chris Janson, whose first hit, "Buy Me A Boat," was just released, opened the night. He was excellent. I don't think we've ever seen anyone enjoy his performance as much as this guy. He played the harmonica, sang, and wrote his own music. In fact, he wrote "Truck Yeah" for Tim McGraw. We both got a kick out of that!

 

 

 

DH likes music that sounds manly. So, no sappy songs or downers ("I lost my wife, dog, truck, etc.") that some have accused country music of. This was the opposite of that. Chris Janson covered a few lines of "Country Boy Can Survive." DH can handle Hank Jr.!

 

Harmonica playing.

  

Another thing: His act was entirely clean!

 

 

 

Lots of energy:

 

 

 

We also lucked out because we had perfect weather -- t-shirts, sunshine, no bugs!

 

 

 

Since we seldom do this, we went all-out and paid way too much for beer, wine, and snacks. But we really had a blast! The artists made us laugh and had us toe-tapping to the same music!

 

 

 

One thing I love about the Chris Janson/Toby Keith team is that they are hugely patriotic. Chris made a note for my brother, who is serving our country overseas right now.

 

 

 

Made In America:

 

 

 

By the time Toby Keith took the stage, the arena was full. We had a great time and are thinking about going to another concert together again -- pretty amazing. :)

 

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