I have the two sweetest boys EVER! Seriously. They are sugary sweet to the core. It makes my heart melt when I see them interact with each other. I can't take credit for it. It's just how they were made. So kind, so content, so considerate, courteous, helpful, concerned, loving, so in tune with others. A lot of it describes Caleb because he is able to show it more through his words and actions, but Nathan is such a happy cutie pie too.
Nathan smiles and giggles so easily. He loves his big brother. Caleb is such a helper and loves Nathan so well. He gives him toys, he tries to make him laugh by talking baby talk, tries to soothe Nathan when he's upset.
Of course, they have their Daddy's genes. David is very tender-hearted. I'm thankful they have such a wonderful role model. I hope they grow up just like him. I know there will probably be many sibling fights in the future, but I pray that overall they become close friends for life.
I can't even fully describe in words how sweet they are with each other, but we caught this cute video that shows a bit of it. I was reading a book to them, and Caleb put his arm around Nathan's neck. He even patted his back. (Excuse my appearance, I was really sick that day. Actually, we were all sick that day. That's why Caleb is still in jammies.) :)
(Edit: Obviously they are not perfect! We have plenty of rough days. But overall, they are little sweeties.)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Another recipe - Strawberry Summer Cake
Just another quick recipe I thought I'd share.
I don't usually make too many desserts. But I had some strawberries that weren't getting eaten, and I came across this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen website.
The strawberries were all touching before I baked it. So I probably could have squished more in there. Actually, it would have been cute to add blueberries in there and do a kind of patriotic cake for Memorial Day.
It's yummy. Like a warm strawberry shortcake. I bet it would be good with whipped cream. I might have to go get some...
I don't usually make too many desserts. But I had some strawberries that weren't getting eaten, and I came across this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen website.
The strawberries were all touching before I baked it. So I probably could have squished more in there. Actually, it would have been cute to add blueberries in there and do a kind of patriotic cake for Memorial Day.
It's yummy. Like a warm strawberry shortcake. I bet it would be good with whipped cream. I might have to go get some...
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Homemade Fish Sticks
I made homemade fish sticks for the first time. Caleb gobbled them up! They turned out really great and were easy to make! I'm freezing some for a quick lunch idea for him.
I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website. I made them exactly how it said. I really don't know how healthy Panko bread crumbs are for you, but there were only like 3 ingredients on the nutritional info, verses like 20 ingredients on processed fish sticks in the frozen boxes. So at least it's a step in the right direction.
They came out nice and crunchy. I'm thinking of make fish tacos some night with them. Yum!
I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website. I made them exactly how it said. I really don't know how healthy Panko bread crumbs are for you, but there were only like 3 ingredients on the nutritional info, verses like 20 ingredients on processed fish sticks in the frozen boxes. So at least it's a step in the right direction.
They came out nice and crunchy. I'm thinking of make fish tacos some night with them. Yum!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sometimes Mommy needs a break
If any husbands want a lesson in awesomeness, you can come ask David. He loves to spoil me. Mostly because I refuse to do things for myself. So he gets a lot of enjoyment out of pampering me...which usually come in the form of massages or food.
He and my friends' awesome husbands conspired together to give us a Mother's Day at the spa. We did it a couple weeks after Mother's Day, which was good because they said it was super crowded that weekend.
We have an amazing spa around the corner called Trellis Spa at The Houstonian. It's supposed to be the best day spa in Houston. I don't know because I haven't ever tried any others, but I would definitely recommend this place. The lady who did my facial said it's "where all the celebrities come." (said with a Russian accent)
You can spend the whole day there. They have tea and coffee, cookies and fruit. There is a darkened tranquility room with chaise lounges in front of a fire place. And you just hear the sound of tricking water. Ah. Sweet bliss. And there is a steam room and hot tub.
We each had a body treatment, facial and massage. My body treatment was a satin sea polish. It was this warming seaweed mud on my back, and a salt scrub all over my body. It was WONDERFUL! Then I got massaged all over with hydrating lotion. I probably could have stopped with just that because it was so great. Then I got a mini facial where she massaged, steamed and hydrated my face. She even extracted blackheads!! Ewww! But it was great! Then I got an upper body massage which left me so relaxed, I was like a puddle on the ground.
We didn't want to leave! It's hard not to feel guilty about indulging in such a pampering day. But sometimes a mommy needs a break. And I have to give myself permission to enjoy it!
He and my friends' awesome husbands conspired together to give us a Mother's Day at the spa. We did it a couple weeks after Mother's Day, which was good because they said it was super crowded that weekend.
We have an amazing spa around the corner called Trellis Spa at The Houstonian. It's supposed to be the best day spa in Houston. I don't know because I haven't ever tried any others, but I would definitely recommend this place. The lady who did my facial said it's "where all the celebrities come." (said with a Russian accent)
A picture of their floating pool from their website.
You can spend the whole day there. They have tea and coffee, cookies and fruit. There is a darkened tranquility room with chaise lounges in front of a fire place. And you just hear the sound of tricking water. Ah. Sweet bliss. And there is a steam room and hot tub.
These are the best robes! So warm and plush.
We each had a body treatment, facial and massage. My body treatment was a satin sea polish. It was this warming seaweed mud on my back, and a salt scrub all over my body. It was WONDERFUL! Then I got massaged all over with hydrating lotion. I probably could have stopped with just that because it was so great. Then I got a mini facial where she massaged, steamed and hydrated my face. She even extracted blackheads!! Ewww! But it was great! Then I got an upper body massage which left me so relaxed, I was like a puddle on the ground.
After our treatments, we had lunch.
I had a nice pesto chicken and pasta meal.
The girls got a salmon salad.
Mimosas! Cheers!
I'm blessed to have such wonderful friends to share a special day with.
(And hopefully they don't mind too much that I posted these pics of us without makeup in our robes, but it was too great not to share!)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Funny Caleb
Caleb cracks me up.
Here are some funny things he's done/said recently:
He has had a runny nose the last few days. The other day he asked me to wipe it with a "hankerchief!" ha! I don't know where he got that one from. My guess it one of his books.
When David gives him a bath, he names off all the body parts as he is washing them. One night, David said, "Ok, let's do your other side!" And Caleb said, "Hamstring and quad!"
He really loves doing his jigsaw puzzles. I have to help him, but he does a lot of it too. We have the caterpillar one, a Thomas the Train one, and a Brown Bear one. He is very patient, and when he tries different pieces, he'll say really slowly, "maybe....here?" He was showing his Uncle Danny his bear puzzle, and Danny taught him the Spanish word for bear, "osito." So now Caleb keeps calling it "osito!"
Caleb was going outside, and asking David to come out too. David said, "Hang on, I need to check on Mommy." He wanted to see if I needed help cleaning the kitchen. So Caleb came over to me and pulled on the back of my pants and said, "All clean." hahaha! He was "checking me." Because I always ask if I can check his diaper.
When Caleb stayed with my parents, he called my sister "Susie Domine." They told him that her last name was Wolan, so he called her "Aunt Susie Wolan Domine." hehe.
His great-grandmother sent him an MP3 player preloaded with Bible songs. Here is a video of him dancing to it. He loves music.
And here is a video I made of him a month or so ago and forgot to post:
Here are some funny things he's done/said recently:
He has had a runny nose the last few days. The other day he asked me to wipe it with a "hankerchief!" ha! I don't know where he got that one from. My guess it one of his books.
When David gives him a bath, he names off all the body parts as he is washing them. One night, David said, "Ok, let's do your other side!" And Caleb said, "Hamstring and quad!"
He really loves doing his jigsaw puzzles. I have to help him, but he does a lot of it too. We have the caterpillar one, a Thomas the Train one, and a Brown Bear one. He is very patient, and when he tries different pieces, he'll say really slowly, "maybe....here?" He was showing his Uncle Danny his bear puzzle, and Danny taught him the Spanish word for bear, "osito." So now Caleb keeps calling it "osito!"
Caleb was going outside, and asking David to come out too. David said, "Hang on, I need to check on Mommy." He wanted to see if I needed help cleaning the kitchen. So Caleb came over to me and pulled on the back of my pants and said, "All clean." hahaha! He was "checking me." Because I always ask if I can check his diaper.
When Caleb stayed with my parents, he called my sister "Susie Domine." They told him that her last name was Wolan, so he called her "Aunt Susie Wolan Domine." hehe.
His great-grandmother sent him an MP3 player preloaded with Bible songs. Here is a video of him dancing to it. He loves music.
And here is a video I made of him a month or so ago and forgot to post:
Once-a-month cooking...or my attempt
Once-a-month cooking is a lofty goal. To cook enough meals to last you the whole month?? That's a lot of organization and work. But it's also a good payoff.
I decided if I had 5 or 6 meals, that would be good. It would at least give me a night or two off from cooking during the week. However, it's hard for me to find a whole day to dedicate to cooking. So what I've been doing is making double meals and freezing half...or making two easy meals in one night...or making a meal to freeze on a day we're eating leftovers. Right now in my freezer I have enchiladas, stuffed shells, pulled pork, cooked/shredded chicken for a soup or casserole, chicken stock, banana bread, pesto, meatballs, and lots of spaghetti sauce. I also want to make and freeze some homemade fish sticks for Caleb, pizza dough, rice, and some marinated steaks and chickens to grill. Hopefully I'll get to that later this week. And I don't even have a deep freezer!
Most of it is already packaged and frozen, but here is the lovely bread and broth I made.
I decided if I had 5 or 6 meals, that would be good. It would at least give me a night or two off from cooking during the week. However, it's hard for me to find a whole day to dedicate to cooking. So what I've been doing is making double meals and freezing half...or making two easy meals in one night...or making a meal to freeze on a day we're eating leftovers. Right now in my freezer I have enchiladas, stuffed shells, pulled pork, cooked/shredded chicken for a soup or casserole, chicken stock, banana bread, pesto, meatballs, and lots of spaghetti sauce. I also want to make and freeze some homemade fish sticks for Caleb, pizza dough, rice, and some marinated steaks and chickens to grill. Hopefully I'll get to that later this week. And I don't even have a deep freezer!
Most of it is already packaged and frozen, but here is the lovely bread and broth I made.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Firsts for Nathan
Nathan had two firsts this week. One is sitting up on his own! He is so happy and proud of himself. Isn't he cute?! He still bobbles some, but overall he has good balance. He also is getting his first tooth! He hasn't seemed fussy (or fussier than usual), so it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. I'll get a picture of it when it comes in more.
And this picture of Caleb makes me laugh. He loves sports. He's really been into baseball lately. He can actually hit the ball with the bat when I toss it sometimes. And the other 90% of the time that he misses, he doesn't get frustrated, he just gets the ball and tries again. I told him I wanted to take a picture of him while he was holding his bat. He didn't like that, and started whining. But he never moved from his batting position. It had been a very emotional morning already, and I think me stopping to take a picture put him over the edge. hehe
And this picture of Caleb makes me laugh. He loves sports. He's really been into baseball lately. He can actually hit the ball with the bat when I toss it sometimes. And the other 90% of the time that he misses, he doesn't get frustrated, he just gets the ball and tries again. I told him I wanted to take a picture of him while he was holding his bat. He didn't like that, and started whining. But he never moved from his batting position. It had been a very emotional morning already, and I think me stopping to take a picture put him over the edge. hehe
Friday, May 13, 2011
Marco Island
Warning- after finishing this post, I realized it was really long. Feel free to skim and/or just view pics.
Last week David, Nathan and I went to Marco Island, Florida to go to the Christian Brothers annual convention. I wasn't planning on going this year. But I'm so glad I did. We had a great time!
We traveled with 3 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, a car seat, a stroller and a baby. So David engineered a way for the two of us to carry all that ourselves. Nathan loved it!
The flight over there was great. It worked out perfect with Nathan's nap/eating schedule. He fell asleep at the beginning of the flight. He only slept for 30 minutes, but it was enough to refresh him, and he was happy the rest of the flight.
It's still a lot of work to wrangle a wiggly baby in like 10 inches of space. Both flights were completely full, so we didn't get to have the row to ourselves. Each time someone got stuck with us, we saw the look of despair on their faces. Lucky for them, Nathan did really well.
Most of the days Nathan slept in until 8 or 9, which was fabulous. He napped wonderfully. Our room had this big closet area, so we were able to squish the pack-n-play in there. Since we brought the noise machine, we had the freedom to watch tv and talk and not have to turn out the lights at 8:30.
The hotel was awesome. It had like 5 or 6 restaurants on location, with two on the beach. There were two pools, a spa, and direct access to the beach. Christian Brothers treated me to a spa day. I got a stone massage that was AMAZING! Seriously, I'm picky about massages, and this was awesome. David looked after Nathan while I relaxed.
We had great food - all provided by the company. They always host a fancy awards banquet, which I was able to stay for most of. But Nathan was getting cranky, so I had to cut out early.
While David was in meetings, Nathan and I relaxed by the pool, walked around, chatted with other wives and babies, or napped. But most days David was done in the afternoon, so it felt like we had lots of time with him. We had a great time bonding one-on-one with our littlest one, but we sure missed Caleb!
Nathan got soooo much attention. This was good for him. He is so attached to me. It was nice to have him passed around to lots of people and get used to it. He was the "baby fix" for all the other moms and grandmas there. I can't count how many head rubs and cheek pinches he got.
The flight back home was not as smooth. I was hoping my Mother's Day gift would be a swift, easy flight. We had it timed so perfectly. We got there 2 hours early. Nathan was going to be ready for a nap right when the flight was supposed to leave. And then we found it the flight was delayed THREE hours! That meant 5 hours of waiting with a baby in an airport. It was rough. It felt like all day. We were the crazy people getting all the glares from people thinking, "Why can't you shut that kid up?" "I hope we're not on that flight." There were a few meltdowns. Nathan napped for like 30 minutes while David walked back and forth in the teensy tiny terminal we were stuck in. But finally we were able to take off. (A side note: It's nearly impossible to nurse discreetly in an airport. All seats in the airport face other seats. I suppose it's good for security. But a screaming baby draws a lot of stares. And so does a nursing mom.)
While in the air, we noticed the flight attendants hurrying up and down the aisle...then grabbing the defibrillator...then they asked for doctors or nurses to help. There was a lot of commotion at the back of the plane. Two of the girls with our group are nurses, and later told us that a man who has terminal cancer was on our flight. He took too many meds and passed out. I guess he eventually regained consciousness after getting oxygen. Apparently last time he passed out, he had a heart attack, so they were trying to prepare for that. It was kind of crazy to see all that happen. But I'm thankful everything was ok. And I'm thankful we didn't have to emergency land.
After the long day and craziness, we were planning on driving to Hunstville to get Caleb back from my parents. But instead, I got the greatest Mother's Day surprise. David and my parents planned it. They bought flowers and had Caleb walk up to me and say, "I love you, Mommy!" So sweet. Then he later told me, "Happy Mudder Day!" I missed him so much. I couldn't ask for anything better. Here is the video my Dad captured. I just wish I could have had a video of Caleb's cute face as he came up to me.
While Caleb was in Dallas, he had a great time. He went to a Rangers baseball game and saw fireworks. And my parents are pleading the fifth on how much ice cream and late bedtimes he had. They better have their fun now. It's only a matter of time before Caleb starts telling on them!
Last week David, Nathan and I went to Marco Island, Florida to go to the Christian Brothers annual convention. I wasn't planning on going this year. But I'm so glad I did. We had a great time!
We traveled with 3 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, a car seat, a stroller and a baby. So David engineered a way for the two of us to carry all that ourselves. Nathan loved it!
The flight over there was great. It worked out perfect with Nathan's nap/eating schedule. He fell asleep at the beginning of the flight. He only slept for 30 minutes, but it was enough to refresh him, and he was happy the rest of the flight.
It's still a lot of work to wrangle a wiggly baby in like 10 inches of space. Both flights were completely full, so we didn't get to have the row to ourselves. Each time someone got stuck with us, we saw the look of despair on their faces. Lucky for them, Nathan did really well.
Most of the days Nathan slept in until 8 or 9, which was fabulous. He napped wonderfully. Our room had this big closet area, so we were able to squish the pack-n-play in there. Since we brought the noise machine, we had the freedom to watch tv and talk and not have to turn out the lights at 8:30.
They had a big Christian Brother logo on the beach for us when we arrived.
The hotel was awesome. It had like 5 or 6 restaurants on location, with two on the beach. There were two pools, a spa, and direct access to the beach. Christian Brothers treated me to a spa day. I got a stone massage that was AMAZING! Seriously, I'm picky about massages, and this was awesome. David looked after Nathan while I relaxed.
We had great food - all provided by the company. They always host a fancy awards banquet, which I was able to stay for most of. But Nathan was getting cranky, so I had to cut out early.
While David was in meetings, Nathan and I relaxed by the pool, walked around, chatted with other wives and babies, or napped. But most days David was done in the afternoon, so it felt like we had lots of time with him. We had a great time bonding one-on-one with our littlest one, but we sure missed Caleb!
Nathan eating poolside.
Nathan got soooo much attention. This was good for him. He is so attached to me. It was nice to have him passed around to lots of people and get used to it. He was the "baby fix" for all the other moms and grandmas there. I can't count how many head rubs and cheek pinches he got.
Look at those chubby thighs and knees.
He loved pool time.
The flight back home was not as smooth. I was hoping my Mother's Day gift would be a swift, easy flight. We had it timed so perfectly. We got there 2 hours early. Nathan was going to be ready for a nap right when the flight was supposed to leave. And then we found it the flight was delayed THREE hours! That meant 5 hours of waiting with a baby in an airport. It was rough. It felt like all day. We were the crazy people getting all the glares from people thinking, "Why can't you shut that kid up?" "I hope we're not on that flight." There were a few meltdowns. Nathan napped for like 30 minutes while David walked back and forth in the teensy tiny terminal we were stuck in. But finally we were able to take off. (A side note: It's nearly impossible to nurse discreetly in an airport. All seats in the airport face other seats. I suppose it's good for security. But a screaming baby draws a lot of stares. And so does a nursing mom.)
While in the air, we noticed the flight attendants hurrying up and down the aisle...then grabbing the defibrillator...then they asked for doctors or nurses to help. There was a lot of commotion at the back of the plane. Two of the girls with our group are nurses, and later told us that a man who has terminal cancer was on our flight. He took too many meds and passed out. I guess he eventually regained consciousness after getting oxygen. Apparently last time he passed out, he had a heart attack, so they were trying to prepare for that. It was kind of crazy to see all that happen. But I'm thankful everything was ok. And I'm thankful we didn't have to emergency land.
After the long day and craziness, we were planning on driving to Hunstville to get Caleb back from my parents. But instead, I got the greatest Mother's Day surprise. David and my parents planned it. They bought flowers and had Caleb walk up to me and say, "I love you, Mommy!" So sweet. Then he later told me, "Happy Mudder Day!" I missed him so much. I couldn't ask for anything better. Here is the video my Dad captured. I just wish I could have had a video of Caleb's cute face as he came up to me.
While Caleb was in Dallas, he had a great time. He went to a Rangers baseball game and saw fireworks. And my parents are pleading the fifth on how much ice cream and late bedtimes he had. They better have their fun now. It's only a matter of time before Caleb starts telling on them!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)