Her First Place

I decided a few weeks ago that Little M needed it would be nice for Little M to have an outdoor playhouse.  She *loves* being outside as much as possible, and I am already running out of ways to keep her entertained out there.

It was quite a process to find the perfect playhouse...way more involved than I ever thought!  I did not want  just a basic, empty house {even though they are way cheaper}.  Little M is still too little to do a lot of imaginative play herself, so I wanted the house to have some 'stuff' inside she could play with.

After vacillating back and forth between several houses, and driving around to a million stores, we finally ordered this beauty from Toys R Us

Here is the description from the Toys R Us website....The Little Tikes Home and Garden Playhouse is the fun fixer-upper! Bring out the do-it-yourself skills in your kids! They can build the fence and hang the flower box all by themselves! The Little Tikes Home and Garden Playhouse features an open design with a working door, mailbox with flag and multiple play areas. The kitchenette has a pretend stove with clicker knobs and a faucet for imaginative play. Kids are even able to plant and grow real flowers in the flower bed. The Little Tikes Home and Garden Playhouse also include a pounding bench with tools and sand and water/planting area. 

I cannot wait until it is delivered on Monday!  I hope we have some nice weather next week so she can spend lots of time playing in it.  I promise pictures of her in it as soon as it is all set up!

Lunch Time

I love eating grilled cheese {and dipping it in ketchup} sooo much....

I'll scream it from the rooftop! {or my highchair}

Mommy FAIL

Little M has been using her high chair for 13 months now and we have really loved it.  We got it from Target a few weeks before she turned four months old and started solid foods.  It is the Safety 1st Serve and Store high chair. 

I like it for a lot of reasons.  I wanted a standard high chair that would blend in with our decor and not stand out too much.  It has a soft cloth cover which easily slips off and is machine washable.  The soft 'basket' underneath catches any food that Little M throws down.  The top tray pops off and the larger, bottom tray easily pulls out with one hand.  It is on wheels which is helpful because we normally split our meals times between the dining room and the family room where we eat in front of the TV {very bad I know}.  All in all we have been very pleased with it.

Well, last night I was flipping through our junk draw and came upon the manual to the high chair.  I started browsing through it and noticed it said something about being height adjustable.  Ummm, what?!?!?!?  I quickly followed the directions and found out that the high chair does not have to be all the way at the top all the time {which has always been too high for our table, but I just thought that's how it was!}  So now Little M is not quite so high and can pull right up to the table and eat next to us! {the only downside is that she is now closer to the dog's open mouths who are salivating  patiently waiting for her to drop some food....gotta work on that!}

So take some advice from me and make sure to play around with all your baby and toddler gear when you get it so you're not missing out on a great feature for over a year!

Flashback Friday

I feel like I have been neglecting my fur-babies on here recently. So here are a few pictures of Mr. B from July 2008. It was the day we brought him home...at only 7 weeks! I cannot believe he was ever that tiny.

Spring Cleaning

I have been very busy around here recently with lots of spring cleaning! It's very hard to get much done with a toddler running around, so it is a long process. So far I have washed all my {downstairs} windows inside and out, bleached and sealed the grout in my kitchen, deep cleaned and shined up my hardwood floors, switched over my winter clothes to summer and donated three bags of old clothes, painted our 'deck' {it's what leads out to the backyard...not a real deck}, and have been working on various other home-decorating projects. And I'm not done yet! I will be dedicated separate blog posts to all the things I have done so maybe I can pass on some information and you can learn from my mistakes! Haha...what things have you all been doing for spring cleaning?

Animal Farm

This past Thursday Skip was off and since it was so beautiful out, we decided to take Little M to go see some animals at a local petting zoo. She is absolutely enthralled with animals recently and had a great time running around and checking things out. I can't wait to take her to a nearby zoo soon and see even more animals!

Pointing at the chickens

Checking out the animals with Dad

Petting the cow

I love her face in this one

Pausing for a snack with Dad

What a fabulous day!

Scrubby Scrub

I am constantly on the lookout for beauty products you can make with ingredients in your own home. It's so much cheaper and I like having less 'stuff' around the house.

Tonight I was giving myself a pedicure and thought I would try a scrub I had read about somewhere {but I really can't remember where to give credit to it!} I combined some regular white sugar with enough olive oil to bind it all together.

Let me tell you...it was amazing!! My feet are so smooth and super soft. I plan on using it in the shower later as a whole-body scrub. I have a lot left over so I am just going to store it in an old container I have. I'm sure adding some kind of essential oil would bring it to a whole new level. Go try it out tonight!

Surprise Date

Yesterday was really a wonderful day. I started it off by going to get a manicure...thanks to my mom for watching Little M. Then I played with my little girl, had lunch, and put her down to nap. My baby sister surprised me and came over to babysit early so I could get ready without Little M under my feet. Skip came home at 3:30 and got ready too, and at 4:30 we headed out the door.

Skip promised me that he would let me know where we were going as soon as we left. So as we got in the car and started pulling away, he put on the music in the car. I instantly recognized the music and gasped when I realized we were going to see this:

PHANTOM OF TH OPERA ON BROADWAY!!!! I was ridiculously excited because it is my absolute favorite play. I saw it once in high school and just fell in love.

Anyways, first we went to dinner at a local restaurant and then headed into the city. It was a pretty warm night and perfect to stroll around a little before the show. I was so excited for myself, because I LOVE THIS SHOW, but also for Skip because he had never been to a Broadway play before....ever {which wouldn't be weird if he hadn't grown up 20 minutes outside the city} It was going to be great to share this experience with him.

We found our seats {TEN rows from the front, btw} the lights dimmed, and we were absolutely enthralled for the entire 2 1/2 hours. I literally get chills watching this play. There is definitely a reason this is the longest running play in Broadway history. If you haven't seen it, you really need to!

All in all it was a magically wonderful date night and I could not be more blessed to have such an amazing husband. I love you baby!

Surprise!

A few weeks ago my husband called me from work and told me to keep the night of April 14th open because he was taking me out on a surprise date night. He got a baby sitter lined up {thanks so much baby sis E!}. I have to be ready by 4:30 and can't wear jeans. That's all the info I have! I am soo excited though. I got my hair colored tonight {thanks L!} and am getting my nails done tomorrow morning. I promise to update you all on Thursday with all the great details! Feel free to leave me your guesses before that!

Self-Feeder

Little M can get very fussy when she eats sometimes. From the moment she started eating a few finger foods, she was done letting us feed her anything! But recently she has been showing some interest in feeding herself some foods with a spoon. So I have been giving her some freedom with yogurt. It's very very messy, and I'm not sure how much is actually getting into her mouth, but I think it's important for her to learn to feed herself. Question to all the veteran moms out there though, when should a toddler be able to use utensils regularly? Enjoy the pics!

What am I supposed to do with this?

Eating the bottom of the container

'drinking' the yogurt

Concentrating very hard

She's got it!

Yay! I did it!

And the Allergies Begin

This is a staple in our household. Skip and I are huge fans of peanut butter. My favorite way to eat it is by dipping a huge chunk of chocolate into it...heaven. And we use this brand in particular because, well, my husband's nickname is Skip! Anyways, like I said we eat a lot of peanut butter around here.

Well, there is one person in our house who will not be eating peanut butter again...this little girl

We were giving Little M some lunch today and she was being very fussy and picky. So we decided to try some of these delicious peanut butter crackers

Little M gobbled one down, but then just crumpled up the second, so we didn't give her any more. We cleaned her up and Skip took her upstairs to change her diaper. When he brought her back downstairs I noticed she kept rubbing her eyes and her face was getting all blotchy. Then her eyes starting watering and swelling up. 'Oh no,' I said, 'it's the peanut butter!'

We quickly called the doctor and then confirmed our suspicious. They said to give her a tiny bit of Benadryl and keep on eye on her. By the time she went to bed tonight the splotchiness was gone, though her right eye is still a little swollen. We're going to have to take her to an allergist soon to find out the extend to which she's allergic to peanut butter and see what else she needs to stay away from. But sadly there will be no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in this girl's future:(

Busy Bee

As I began making dinner tonight for myself, Skip, Little M, and Skip's uncle and grandmother, I mentioned to Skip that I had not read any blogs at all yet today. His response? 'Are you feeling okay baby?' Haha. Needless to say blogging has become a huge part of my life. A part I love! But also the part that seems to have fallen at the wayside recently. Having a toddler is soo much more exhausting than a newborn. I may get more straight hours of sleep at night, but gone are the hours of blogging and watching TV while snuggling on the couch with a newborn. Before 9 pm tonight the only times I had sat down all day were when I was in the car running errands and during dinner. And even then I was getting up every 2 minutes to get something for Little M to eat, or pick up something she had dropped. I love, love, LOVE everything about my life and being home with Little M, but boy is it exhausting! I am happy though that a lot of my lack of blogging and commenting has to do with the fact that we have all been spending a ton of time outside recently enjoying the sunshine and warmth. I won't take any of these beautiful days for granted! So I do apologize for my lack of blogging and commenting {though I do catch up on all your blogs at some point during the day!} and promise to find more time to do it!

I also leave you with this cuteness....Little M having her afternoon snack of milk and a donut, relaxing in a short-sleeved onesie. Life doesn't get any better!

And the Winner Is.....

According to random.org, our winner is #27....Jackie!

Jackie said...

My favorite easter candy is cadbury eggs

Congrats Jackie {who was one of my very first followers} I'll be in contact!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We had a beautiful, blessed day and Little M really seemed to enjoy both mass and her gifts from the Easter Bunny!

One More Day

Only one more day to enter my fabulous spring giveaway...check it out here!