Cute Little Ava Leggies

Cute little Ava and her cute little sea-legs.

Let the Battle Begin

Okay, so within the past 2-weeks I have noticed something that makes me cringe. In every picture that I am in I am bulging at my midsection. Yup, you heard me. My tummy is flubby. Now this I cannot have. You see, I'm going to DC to visit my darling sister Jenny and her beau Chris. I have never met Chris before and I don't want his first impression to be that Sara is the FAT sister! Uh-uh, no way jose! So, this is the day that the battle of the bulge begins!

This was my first bit of action: I threw away ALL of the chips in my house...and anyone who knows me KNOWS how I love me some chips! If I was on the Biggest Loser, my biggest temptation would be some nice, fried, crunchy, salty chips. Mmmm...okay, got off target there, but I'm back now.

I will be re-vamping my weekly menus and posting them here...surprise, surprise. However, I will also be posting links/recipes and letting you all know what recipes where scrumptious versus the recipes that were blech.

So, here is my Battle of the Bulge menu for this week:

Monday: Cereal (hey, we just got back from vacation, cut me some slack!)

Tuesday: Spinach Salad and Rolls

Wednesday: Buttermilk Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries and Blueberries

Thursday: Margherita Pizza with Green Salad

Friday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries, Fruit Salad

Saturday: BBQ Chicken, corn on the cob, green salad

Sunday: Spaghetti and green peas

p.s. This is NOT a diet...I don't do diets. The very second that the d-word leaves my lips is the very second that ALL I can think about is chocolate and ice cream and chips and...well, you get it. Just so we're clear: NOT A DIET!

Dinner Prayer

So here's the thing about Tanner. He wants to DO everything Riley does, SAY everything Riley says, ACT the way Riley acts...basically, he wants to be Riley. So far Riley doesn't mind too much, but I have a feeling that one day it is going to drive him crazy to have a doe-eyed brother following in his every footstep.

The other evening, Riley wanted to say the dinner prayer. As soon as he started, Tanner started saying a prayer too. Riley would stop and tell Tanner to be quiet and that it was his turn, to which Tanner would say, "Okay Riley." Riley would start his prayer again...and so would Tanner. I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud. I'm sure you'll all understand when I say that I just HAD to get the camera and get some video of the dinner-prayer duo.

Menu Planning...Tuesday

This week is concert week...which means that I will be gone every night this week and weekend. Translation: if I don't menu plan, then forget getting any type of warm dinner because my brain will be too fried to think straight!

Monday: Personal Pizzas...Yum!

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Wednesday: Dutch Babies

Thursday: Chicken Nuggets and French Fries

Friday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Applesauce

Saturday: Something from the crock pot...don't know what yet?

Olympian in the Making

And now, introducing Ava, world famous hurderler.

Ava is almost crawling. Riley and Tanner were around 10-months when they finally started to crawl...but at 7-months, we are expecting Ava to start crawling any day now. Once the crawling starts, then the REAL fun begins: gates, worry, headache, searching for anything small that can and will go in the mouth. Ahhhh, I'm getting a headache just thinking about it.

Teethies

Can you see them? Ava has been busy! Two little teethies have popped out on the bottom and two more are pushing their way out on the top.

The Trouble With Sleeping

Why Tanner falls out of his bed at least once a week. We hear the "plop", sigh, then put Tanner back into bed. The kid doesn't even wake up.

Foodie Blog

I just thought I would share a foodie blog that I (sometimes) post to. I'm going to post more...I promise. I'm actually excited to learn how to use our fancy-shmancy camera to take pictures of food and share my favorite recipes.

Booster Shots

Today was booster shot day. I remember every, teeny-tiny detail about getting my booster shots. I remember walking down the long, dark hallway with the wall of windows showing the cloudy sky outside. I remember sitting in the waiting room and staring at the door with the screaming child behind it, knowing that it would eventually be ME behind the closed door. First they gave me the little purple polio vial of medicine to drink. No problem. Then the needles came out. I remember two nurses holding my thrashing body down so that another nurse could inject my leg. I remember my mom telling me she would buy me a toy afterward...which she did. I picked out a white umbrella with little multi-colored dots all over it. I used it as a walking cane as I limped out of the store. Hey, I'm a girl and that was traumatic. I had every right to be as dramatic as I wanted :)

So, knowing that Riley is infinitely braver than I was at 5-years old, I didn't think it would be too much of a problem. He knows that shots sting for just a second and then it doesn't hurt. I explained to him why he has to get booster shots and he told me that the little pinch was worth it so he didn't get the mumps. He had four shots given to him and he didn't even flinch. He was showing Ava, who also had to get shots today, how brave he was and that shots weren't scary. The doctor was so impressed with Riley, that he gave Riley FIVE stickers instead of just one.

Here is Riley proudly donning his many stickers given to him for his sheer bravery.

As for stats, here they are:

Riley

46 1/4 inches tall...95th percentile
51.3 pounds...90th percentile

Ava

28 inches long...95th percentile
20lbs 1 oz...95th percentile
Head...can't remember exactly, but it was a whopping 98th percentile.

Mother's Day Masterpiece

Mother's Day was so nice this year! I got to sleep in, which was great since I am totally sick and needed some extra sleep! I awoke to the yummy smells of breakfast and Todd really out did himself: Raspberry-Lemon Stuffed French Toast, strawberries and cream, and orange juice. Delish! Riley surprised me with a one-of-a-kind piano composition that he composed himself. He was so excited to play the piece he wrote for me. It was really cute. Todd cleaned the kitchen, helped with laundry, cleaned the dining room, the living room and the family room. Got the kids totally ready for church. Sheesh! It was nice. After church we had a nice lasagna with garlic bread and homemade lemon-raspberry cream cheese bars...and no, Todd did not make those. I did and they were yummy! The best mother's day gift was Riley actually eating his lasagna! Seriously, we've waited five years for this and it was sweet. This child does not eat pasta! Crazy, I know. Then we watched America's Funniest Home Videos and played Sorry. I beat Riley THREE times in a row and he didn't even cry. Happy Mother's Day to me. It was a great day. I especially loved the talk in church given by a 14-year old boy who praised how mothers have infinite patience, always know what to say or do, are always kind, and are...and I quote..."soft". I was trying to hold in the giggles. Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!

Dirty Diaper Fun

Disclaimer: Please don't think less of me for taking/posting this video.

So, I was in the kitchen making a fabulously delicious cake to surprise Todd with at work for our anniversary, when I hear Ava laughing hysterically. This particularly caught my attention because, though Ava smiles a lot, she doesn't laugh too often. Well, I was intrigued and left my chocolate ganache to sit while I went to investigate. This is what I found...and this is the part where I beg you to not judge me too harshly. Riley, still in his jammies, had carried Ava into her closet (full of dirty clothes I might add...but at least they were in a hamper instead of on the floor!), and he was throwing a wet diaper at the wall above her head, consequently hitting Ava on its descent. My first instinct was to grab the diaper and tell Riley off, but then I did what any true-blue mother would do...I went to grab the camera. Luckily, no noses were broken nor heads smashed in the making of this video. And, now that I have this video, I solemnly swear that the next time Riley decides to chuck a dirty diaper at my baby girl's head, I will take it away in an instant and put it in the trash where it belongs.

Lazy Weekend Gone Bust

We had absolutely no plans this past weekend and we were SO excited. Just imagine...NOTHING to do except for relax and have fun with the kiddos. I had been looking forward to it all week. Well, Friday night rolls around and wouldn't ya know it, our basement floods. Sheesh!


So, just to recap...THIS is what I wanted to do...

NOT this...

This

And yet, this is what we ended up doing.

Ava and her Rosy Cheeks

Ava had just woken up from a nap and had those trademark rosy cheeks (thanks Sara!), so I decided to snap a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

Overland Park Arboretum

So last night we finally took the kids to the Overland Park Arboretum. We'd heard a lot about it but had never gone (it only took us 3 years!). Now that we've been we'll be going back regularly. It helps that it's free. The kids had a blast. The boys ran themselves silly on all the trails. We also played some tic tac toe and dug around in the rock garden. Definitely worth the 5 minute drive.