EASTER!

We had a great Easter weekend! It gets a little tricky having 3 families to see on holidays; however we always make it work. I always stress about it initially because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings and make sure to switch it up, but thankfully we have fairly easy going family. Henry and I went to my dad’s on Saturday morning (Kyle was out golfing with his dad and brother). My dad set up an Easter egg hunt for Henry and it really moved me and brought back memories of my own childhood. Seeing how much my dad Loves being a grandpa makes my heart melt. They gave Henry a bunch of sand toys, bubbles and a wheel barrel to keep at their house for this summer as well. We went out to eat and it was making me laugh watching everyone who wanted to be by Henry’s side the whole time, and take him for walks around the restaurant, etc. This kid isn’t loved at all!!!!!! HA!! He really loves all of his Uncles and you can tell he always goes straight to Uncle Bub, Uncle Jared and Uncle Drew. They are all so sweet with him and Henry is soooooooo lucky to have so many Uncles! We spent the rest of the day outside writing with chalk and went on a long walk at my dad’s house down by the naturey part of his neighborhood.  I snapped a bunch of adorable pictures of Henry down there…it was a beautiful day and the lighting was great. On Easter Sunday we had our own Easter at home, with coffee, an egg hunt, opening Henry’s easter basket and then headed to my mom’s for brunch. She set the table up with Great Grandma’s dining ware and it looked so pretty. She made my favorite…pierogis (Holidays just wouldn’t be the same without them!) pork loin, cucumber salad. It was delish. When Henry started getting tired we drove to Valerie and Scott’s (my in-laws) and had another delicious meal there! She made ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, coleslaw and a yummy cheesecake. There was another easter egg hunt waiting for Henry there as well! He loved it and brought each egg to his Grandpa to open for him. He was a little cranky on Easter day and I’m thinking since it was only that day he was just overly tired. He didn’t eat really all day and slept for 13 hours that night. We kept him home yesterday and didn't go out anywhere to catch up on sleep and he seemed much happier. 
Since I knew we would be keeping him home I decided to make it a craft day. I found a great salt dough recipe ( 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, ¾ cup water~ bake at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours) and did Daddy and Henry handprints, and Mama and Henry handprints. Henry loved doing it and you can tell he does handprint art at school a lot because he knew exactly what to do. I also did a “Made in MI” sign using his foot and hand to look like the mitten and the U.P. It turned out so cute! I framed it and put it by our kitchen.
This week is spring break and although we are a little sad we aren’t on vacation- we have a few coming up soon!! We are going to a lakehouse on Lake Michigan with the Schultz Family for 7 days the first week of July. I can’t wait!!!! Annie, Ryan and Ally will meet us there from Chicago. Then on July 17th we are flying to Florida with my mom and we get to see my Uncles and they finally get to meet Henry! Kyle is still unsure if he is able to come or not because of some football scrimmages he has during that week (life of a coach!). He may end up flying out seperate after the scrimmage. We will see. If he ends up not able to go I will be so sad, but it will be fun to have a girls getaway with my mom to Florida like we always used to too. We will also do Disney World and Animal Kingdomon that Thursday and Friday. I can’t WAITTTTTTTTTTT to take Henry to Disney World! We are staying in a timeshare right at Disney. Too fun. I know he is young but I know he will just go nuts there and will love the rides with us and seeing all the characters and people. I really can’t wait.  In August we are in the works of planning a weekend getaway with my dad and Tracy up north as well. Summer can’t come soon enough! The warm weather has been great. It’s so nice to not have to bundle Henry up in a thick jacket and hat and just let him walk on the porch when he wants to. I know I am going to LOVE our back deck this summer….on the warmer days we’ve had I’ve just left it open (no bugs yet) and let Henry go in and out as he pleases. The kid loves going and being outside and when you bring him in he will sit at the door and bang on it and cry…aww. Speaking of outside- we ordered Henry a Schwinn trike off of Amazon! It is sooo cute and he loves riding it. He also loves drawing with chalk and makes us blow bubbles while he yells "boobles...bubbles" constantly.

April has some fun things planned. We are looking forward to baseball games starting this month (Kyle coaches) and taking Henry to all of his games!! I am also having a pinterest party this month and will definitely make a post about that.

Just remember...APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS!! :)

A different kind of journey

If you would have asked me 15 months ago, when I first gave breastfeeding  a go (and when I say go...I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing- but knew it was something as a mother I wanted and needed to do) I would have never said that I would make it past a year. It was tough....learning how to do it all/all the hours you spend pumping to give your baby breastmilk for when you go back to work....no one tells you how taxing nursing is, and the attachment your baby has with you (at all hours of the night..ha) but once Henry and I got in our groove, it was like the stars aligned and we knew what we were doing. I remember once I got to 3 months, I felt relief and accomplishment that I made it that far and decided to set another goal to 6 months. Once I made it to 6 months, 9 months was my next goal. I remember the day I made it to 9 months, I had no idea how I made it this long...but neither I or Henry were ready to end our nursing relationship and I remember thinking could I possibly make it to a year??? No way. 15 months ago I would have said that would never happen, I couldn't imagine nursing a toddler! People would say "she is still nursing her 1 or 2 year old...ewww" and I would agree! SHAME ON ME! Well....we did make it to a year and I felt this sense of urgency to wean him when he turned one. The American Pediatric Association recommends nursing until at least 2 years old, along with our pediatrician who would ask me why I was in such a rush to end it when I would ask her for advice. Why did I feel this urgency to wean him????? Well that's easy....because of others opinions. Henry was not ready to wean at one, and honestly neither was I. Don't get me wrong...he's not attached to my boob all hours of the day or asking or anything like that, it's simply his comfort before he drifts off to lalaland....many others kiddos need this as well aka a pacifier or bottle or blanket or lovie. I have joined so many breastfeeding groups throughout the past year for support/encouragement/advice....and it seems every nursing mom I've come across feels the same way. Unless you have had and nurtured a nursing relationship with your baby past 1.... that person will never have any idea of the type of bond it builds and euphoria. Just as people who bottle feed say they feel judged for not breastfeeding...same thing goes for women who breastfeed...except we get the "you are STILL doing that????" jibber jabber. That's all it is to me now...jibber jabber, uneducated opinions, insecurities...etc,etc. I think back on our whole breastfeeding relationship and think Wow....I did it. Nobody praises mom's for making through the hurdles or breastfeeding and reaching your goals...no one. (I take that back...my mom did, and my mother in law as well...so thank you for that <3) I know that this journey is slowly coming to an end, and I will try not to be sad, but happy looking back on that amazing time of my life and I will never forget it.

This is an article I found on one of the facebook groups I joined about a woman ending her nursing relationship with her son. It broughts tears to these eyes.

http://www.natthefatrat.com/2013/02/on-end-of-nursing.html?m=1

ZOO!

This past weekend it was unseasonably warm and instead of going to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum- we took Henry to the Detroit Zoo! We never got around to taking him last summer (I know...I can't believe it!...although we did do the Chicago Zoo with Ally, Annie and Ryan!). What can I really say other than that he LOVED it with his whole heart! Not only did he love seeing all the animals, but he loved running free and being around all the other kids. His favorite animals were definetly the GEESE and DUCKS! HAHAH! They were everywhere and he always yells "wooooah" whenever he sees birds, and they really excited him. He really liked the rhinos and kangaroos as well. Pretty much everything and every animal was an amazement to him. Me and Kyle realized how out of shape we are...the zoo is huge and Henry was running around everywhere. I really do hate when I see parents coop their kids up in strollers the whole time and think it's good (even though way more exhausting for us parents) to let them run free and explore. The difference on a tots face...from being stuck and contained in a stroller, to running free and exploring. I felt bad for some of them there! Even when we go to the mall, I rarlely bring the stroller with me. I love watching him walk/run around and have some control in what he wants to do and what he wants to see.

Henry LOVED all the animal statues and we think he thought they were real....too cute

Henry chasing the geese

Lots of other little ones were pushing strollers and so of course Henry wanted to follow suit

Vegas & Henry 15 month update!

The hubby and I had a wonderful time in sin city. I missed Henry terribly and thought about him non-stop…but I had pictures texted to me all the time and lots of updates which helped. I don’t even think he realized we were gone! It was probably good for him too to get out of his normal routine. He LOVES his grandparents and they all had so much fun with him. This is our 6^th (yes 6^th!) time going to Vegas since we’ve met, and it wasn’t our typical trip. Usually we go to a few shows, and we kept checking the show tickets, but we didn’t see anything that really interested us. I would like to see another Cirque show, but Kyle wasn’t too info the first one we saw…I will admit…they are WEIRD. We had fabulous lunch and dinner’s everyday… I cannot get over the food there. It is always SO good and I’ve never had a bad meal. It isn’t your normal burgers and fries…everything is different, and so fresh, and so amazing. You can’t get food like that over here in MI. We won some money too! All in all…great trip and great couple’s time. Now I am back in full time mommy mode. J

We went over my mom’s last Thursday since Bub and Kati were in town for the night before they leave for Florida. Kati’s mom and sister came over to meet Henry….he was hilarious, as usual, and loved being the center of attention, as usualJ. He was running around in just his little diaper, and making everyone clap for him and just acting like a goof ball. He is always flirting with Kati and he gets a little shy around her! It is so cute. It is so sweet how much he loves uncle Bub…always reaches for him or runs right to him with his arms out. When Henry and I first got there I asked Bub if he didn’t mind watching Henry for a few minutes while I showered. SO random…but I LOVE all my mom’s skin and body products and wanted to use them! LOL. I also dug through her closet and found the comfiest clothes I could find and lounged in those the rest of the day over her house. She laughed when she got home... it reminds me that I really need to start buying some nicer face cream and what not because it really makes a difference.

I pretended it was spring this past weekend and did some spring cleaning upstairs! I L-O-V-E cleaning, and it has gotten worse since I had Henry! I love feeling organized and everything to always be in its place. I went through all of his clothes and boxed up the clothes that are too small. I know a lot of people get sad doing that, or thinking of their babies growing up…but I just get excited for him and I am loving every stage more and more! Back to cleaning…. I am really trying to throw stuff away/store it if it isn’t being used or is just “extra”. Babies don’t need to be surrounded by a million toys and I have gotten good about putting a lot of it away, and separating it into rooms so we don’t have a ton just in our living room. I’ve read since Henry was a newbie that it isn’t good for the babe to be surrounded by a ton of toys and it is better to give them a few options and keep rotating them out.  I am the complete opposite of a hoarder…whereas Kyle likes to hang onto stuff and it drives me nuts.  I think a household runs SO much smoother when everything is clean, and has a place. Now if only I could get Kyle to understand this….:)

Henry update: 15 months!

Henry is officially (unless he sleeps bad the night prior) down to one nap a day, and has been for a few weeks now (he will take a second nap in the car if we are out usually). I have to remember to write all these things in his baby book so I can compare with future babies! They say they usually drop the first nap around this age and he definitely has…which I am thankful for, because it makes going out and doing things easier since I know he doesn’t nap until around noonish now. Even if he only gets an hour nap all day….he is still cheerful and doesn’t get cranky like he used to when he was younger. He somehow naps better at daycare sometimes than at home! They tell me they sometimes even just rub his back and he lets them give him baby massages after baby yoga time. What! I couldn’t believe it. He is pretty good at sitting still to watch a movie or whatever…but to lay there and get his back massaged shocked me! I need to try it…I hear baby massage is awesome for them. Speaking of daycare…he still loves it. Walking up to the door everyday he smiles so big and can’t wait to take his jacket off to see his buddies.  We discovered he likes fish sticks (my favoooorite!). I am going to try normal fish with him…I think we did a while back and he liked it. He is a pretty good eater for the most part, I can’t complain. Isn’t always the biggest eater, but I know he will let me know when he is hungry. Oh- minus milk and eggs. He hates it and gags. His words are still fascinating me everyday…my mom showed a few videos to a speech pathologist at her work and she couldn’t believe Henry was only 15 months (yes…I am totally bragging!!!! ;)) No but really… sometimes I don’t even realize he is picking up on things and he does. When we were gone to Vegas, his grandma Val taught him that sheeps say baaa….and when I read him a book the other day and pointed to the sheep he smiled big and said “baaaaaaa”.  We have been making him say owl, octopus and hippo a lot because it sounds so stinkin cute. He loves hippos.  When he wants something from me and I am busy he has started saying “MAMAAAAA”. He has said mama for a while, but not to get my attention. :D LOVE that.  What else? Oh- he really enjoys “organizing”. He loves taking bowls out and stacking them and moving them around, same with items from the pantry, etc. He will bring real food to his play kitchen and put them in the fridge. He likes throwing his dirty diaper away in the garbage after we change him and claps after. His favorite movies are Finding Nemo and…..Lion King. I LOVE snuggling up with him after a long day and watching a Disney movie. It is the best….I myself  am a big Disney lover. We’ve found that anything with animals in it he likes. He is really loving his dog Iggy…although I am still not totally comfortable with them playing. Iggy still isn’t a huge fan, and Henry likes to ride him like a horse and is constantly climbing all over him. Henry loves throwing him the ball and chasing him around outside. We took Henry sledding for the first time in our backyard and he LOVED it. All the neighborhood boys were doing the same right next door and he had fun watching them.  I have some cute videos of him going down the hill... I will try to post one. He wanted to keep going over and over. I was surprised he actually stayed in the sled going down the hill. He had a few big falls, but he is hardly ever dramatic and nothing seems to phase him really. That’s why when he does cry from getting hurt, we know he’s serious.  

We have some fun things coming up, we are taking him to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum this weekend, I am so excited! The link is here: http://www.aahom.org/ If any mommy friends want to go, let me know! We leave for Chicago in a few weekends as well for our niece Ally's 2nd birthday! I can't wait to get Henry and Ally together as well. They are so cute together every visit we have.

Henry is almost 15 months! And February is almost over....wow...

What a week off! Kyle and I left Wednesday night for our couples getaway to Vegas. Thanks Dad for the skymiles! We ended up doing the trip for almost free. Can't beat that. We had a GREAT time, however have come to the conclusion that our next getaway will be much closer and more of a tranquil setting. We definitely enjoyed staying in bed, taking random naps and relaxing much more than going out. Although...the older Henry has gotten, the harder it makes it to leave. He had a blast home with his Grammy and my dad helped out and played with him for a bit as well. I don't even think he missed us!!!! :) He ended up sleeping 13+straight hours the day we got home...I ended up waking him up in the morning and bringing him in bed with us because I missed him so much and he just laid between us smiling and talking to the fan...:) <3

It is a few days early but I want to post about Henry at 15 months now! He is still in 18-24 month, or 2t clothes....and we bumped up to size 5 diapers. His eyes are still hard to tell what color they will be....so we call them hazel for now, mixed with brown blue and green. He is starting to play on his own with his toys more (and actually playing with some toys) like his cars, car garage, golf club and golf balls, basketball hoop and still loves books. He just loves the Lion King....I swear he wakes up sometimes and roars! It's so funny because he does the exact same thing at certain times in the movie...like certain dances for certain songs, and says uh oh or claps at certain parts. His grammy bought him some Lion King toys and he loves them and sleeps with Nala now. It's seriously so cute how much he loves it and just animals in general. He makes lots of noises that animals make, even more now than last month....and we always have him do what a mouse says..."squeak squeak"...but he does it really fast and quiet. Grammy said she had him do it the whole time we were gone:). If he says a cow anywhere he moos, or quacks for a duck.  My favorite is Hippo..."Happo". I will post a video of him repeating all the words. This post I guess is mainly about his speech at this age....I cannot believe how much he says, how clearly and he is already stringing two words together! Whenever he hands us something he says thank you...and can I add it is the cutest sounding thank you I've ever heard? It's cute enough that when he hands US things he says it, but the way he says it...gets me everytime. He has also mastered all done...saying it, the meaning of it and he has known all done in sign language since about 6 months old. We crack up, because whenever we are done doing something, anything...in the background we hear "all done!" It's hard for me to wrap around how much he understands at his young age and how much he can say. Like....the other day...I didn't know he knew what an apple, penguin, tree or whale was...and he pointed all of them out to me on his playmat. I feel like stuff like that happens everyday that he surprises me with knowing. His kisses are the best right now and loves to give them, especially to mama and babies. We were at the playcourt at Great Lakes the other day and he was loving on a baby there...and I recognized right away that it was a little 7-8 month old red head cutie from his classroom at school! How stinkin cute that he recognized her?!? He sleeps through the night 97% of the time now I'd say.... for 11-12 hours. Sometimes he will nap for 3 hours a day, and other times 1 hour. Ya never know. So basically for being a wake up every 3 hours type of baby for the first 11 months of his life....he is a great sleeper now! I still sleep like crap and never seem to get a good nights sleep no matter what. Boo!

I have a project I am going to be working on soon...and I haven't even told Kyle! I've seen all of these awesome DIY pottery barn knock off tables on pinterest and other tutorial websites...and I am going to give it a try soon. I've always hated our high top table in our kitchen, it's beautiful, but not sturdy and just doesn't feel cozy to me. So.....that is on my agenda for the next month....I am sure Kyle will be thrilled.....:)

Well....back to work tomorrow, kind of looking forward to getting back in our routine...and I know Henry will be excited to go back to daycare, even though most of his daycare days are half days now...it still gives him 3 hours in the morning to play with his buddies and do some fun activities. I cannot believe that Friday is March 1st.... the way time is flying by nowadays is freaking me out.

Sorry about the weird, random post.... I will get back in a groove this week! :)

Happy SNOW day! (Well...for me and Henry anyway). I cannot believe there is another snow day. I feel like we have had one a week for the past month at least. Kyle and Henry (they are different school districts) had one Friday as well. Now that Henry attends school at the elementary school, they are closed whenever the school is. I get so excited when I get that text early in the a.m and turn off my alarm. WWWOOOOOHOOOO :-). So only 4 more days of work until 9 off with my baby and two of those in Vegas with the hubby (alone time is muuuuch overdue....Even though the thought of leaving the little is killing my heart!) We spent the day at Somerset with Grandma Lynn and now are being lazy bums the rest of this cold, windy Monday...making butternut squash soup and watching Disney movies. <3

Here are some random pics from this past weekend:

new hair color! (sry about no make up here...) a coworkers sister is doing an apprenticeship and needed hair models= free cut and color/highlights! cha-ching!

hair did! (first time in a long time...)

V-day cupcakes....strawberry cake with vanilla frosting

 

 

philly cheese steak green peppers... O-M-G....I followed the recipe exact from here

 http://peaceloveandlowcarb.blogspot.com/2012/06/philly-cheesesteak-stuffed-peppers.html  They were soooo good and so pretty. I served it with scalloped potatoes and a salad.

A little toilet paper roll Valentines craft for the Grandparents

 

:)

 

 

Happy Thursday! I am up bright & early today....Kyle's cough kept me up all night last night. :(. Poor guy. He is staying home today and gets some Henry time as well. I am just praying Henry and I don't catch whatever he has... ***Edit*** I am just getting around to finishing this blog post today (friday!). Today was ANOTHER snow day! I feel like we have had quite a few so far.

So our dinner's this week thus far have been SO good! On Monday's Valerie (my mother in law) watches Henry during the afternoon...and we came home to a delicious dinner! Thanks Val! What a treat that is....it is not often that someone else cooks ME a meal during week nights. Tuesday I was really craving some chinese...now Kyle does not really like chinese. And we have tried every chinese restaurant within 10 miles of us and they are all disgusting. So I decided to take on baked sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. It is hands down the best chinese I've ever eaten, SO easy and it's also a great meal to serve to guests because it turns out so well and everyone is always impressed. Here is the link that I got the recipe from:

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

It really is worth giving it a go. If you like chinese...and want to know what is going in your chinese food:) this is the recipe! Here is a picture of how mine turned out...

Last night I whipped up a simple and easy spinach salad, with walnuts, feta cheese and tomatoes. I drizzled some poppyseed dressing on top. I could eat feta all day every day. Yum. Such a simple, healthy and satisfying light dinner....(compared to the meal I cooked the night before...look above...for whaht looks like an army!) Here is a picture below

Hopefully I get around to cooking some new and fun meals this weekend. We have no big plans as of now and I have a few new ones I've pinned that I'd like to try...and quite a few toddler treats too....until then!

Some fevers and wood art wall decor

Is it just me....or is this winter dragggggginggggg?  Worst spring fever, ever! I am dying to get outside with Henry and do some new things with him....also a little tan wouldn't hurt! I keep daydreaming about starting our mornings out on the deck, going for a walk before workdays, going out on my dad's lake, spending long days at the pool.... it is already February...so just a few more months! Speaking of fever....this little Schultz family is having a little baby fever! ;). We have felt ready for quite some time now to add on to our party of 3, but timing wise with Kyle's work schedule hasn't been right just yet! The thought of giving Henry a brother or sister makes us SO excited ( & maybe a little nervous, mainly about the chaos, not about Henry not loving it because everyone who knows Henry knows he would love another little tyke in the house...but that is to be expected, right?!). It just makes me giddy...the thought about him being a big brother someday. I see all those pictures on pinterest of the cute mom and dad with their little pack of cubs all close in age posing all cute as a family and I can't help but pin them. Ok, ok.... I am getting a little ahead of myself here and this is NOT a preggo announcement in any way. But can you tell the subject makes me excited??? (We are pretty open about our future plans with friends and family so I am sure most of you already know our plans, this blog just helps me to express my excitement even more) :) I have seen some horrible comments on facebook and other places of moms judging others about their decision to have more babies or when to have more babies... it is SUCH a personal decision and I just wish all mom's would realize just because something doesn't work or isn't right for their family, doesn't mean that's what everyone else should do. That goes for all aspects of being a mom...not just when to add another kiddo. I knew feeling judged would come along with motherhood, but the competition among mom's is insane to me and I will never understand it. That is just my little rant for the day. Back to fevers...poor Kyle has been getting consistently more and more sick all day long. Henry has thankfully had a sick-free winter thus far, since our lake trip with Annie, Ryan and Ally back in October, as well as myself! Hopefully we can steer clear of this one, because his cough is pretty bad. :(

This weekend was another great one! Saturday was Kyle's youngest brother, Drew's 21st birthday!!!We met the family at Dave and Busters (he picked it so Henry would be able to go.....insert awwww here!:)) I have never been there before, but I loved it! We all had so much fun playing the games and of course Henry loved it too. He was almost in a trance it seemed from all of the loud music and lights and video games. Definitely hesitant at first, and by the end was running around, watching all the big kids and made a little baby friend. I didn't get any pictures because we were so busy playing games and chasing Henry.

Today was spent in....PAJAMAS!! :). During Henry's 3 hour nap, I followed a tutorial on http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/ for a wood wall art tutorial. I was originally going to do the LOVE one that they have posted there...however I had a change of craft in mind and did one for Henry's room. I wanted to keep it neutral and not too kidish so he can keep it with him as he grows older. He can totally rock this in his dorm room one day!:) I would!

This picture does it Zero justice. It turned out beautiful. I followed the tutorial on the website exactly, minus the wording. I also didn't line the wood planks up evenly, as I liked it more rustic and homemade looking. I used just plain old sand paper as well over the white letters to wear it down (which you can't see in the picture). I plan on making a few more...one for our room and a gift for my niece Ally for her 2nd birthday coming up.

This week is just a boring old work week, but I have some new recipes I am going to try and I will be sure to post them if they are worth it! :)

1/30/2013- Henry is 14 MONTHS! All about Henry

Where to even begin with the new updates??! I will try to make this detailed as I haven't made a detailed one since he turned 12 months. Henry is at such a fun age, and just when I think he's done "the cutest thing ever" he does another "cutest thing ever" :).

Henry is wearing 18-24 month clothing...he has a really long torso and super short legs so pants are always  long on him. Size 4 diapers, although I think we will be switching to 5's soon. Size 6 shoes (big feet!). His eyes are still greenish/brownish/goldish and long eyelashes. I just gave him a haircut the other day and completely botched it, but was able to fix it up a little for him. His hair grows out SO fast (i am jealous) that it already looks back to normal thank goodness. He has his top 4 front teeth and top 4 bottom teeth, and all four first molars in! Those really bothered him coming in...but as soon as they broke through sleeping got a lot better.

Henry has been sleeping great from about 8pm-anytime between 7 and 8am wakeup. He started sleeping much better once Kyle started putting him down and wasn't being nursed to sleep.  We start bedtime around 7:30 and by 8 he is reaching for the rocking chair saying "nigh nigh". :) He is also down to his one nap a day, as long as he's had a normal night of sleep, and goes down around 11:30 and wakes up around 1:00-2:00pm. Some days he still does take a morning and afternoon nap.

Words Henry says the most ...night night, mama, dada (and knows...for example when i pick him up from daycare and he sees me he says mama! or when kyle comes home from work DADA!:)) ball, buh-bye (which he says everytime a door closes, someone leaves or we leave somewhere), cheese, shoes, uh-oh, no, yes (and knows how to nod his head yes), silly, dog, duck, sock, duck, happo (hippo), please (papapease), thank you (tankyew), help (elp...which sounds like up sometimes and he knows that this means if he needs something to say it), up, down, poop, and he knows lots of animal sounds and can point to probably 20 different types of animals if you ask "where's the lion, where's the cow, where's the duck, where's the giraffe, etc".

Animals are by far his favorite thing right now and he is in love with the movie Lion King. He brings us the dvd case and says "papapapeaseee" and claps and dances when we go to put it in. We've read on a lot of sites that it is good for them to want to watch the same movie or read the same book over and over because repeating an experience over and over creates stronger connections and that's how toddlers learn- through constant repetition. Would you believe me if I said he knows the scary parts of the Lion King (Scar) and sad parts (mufasa falling....we always fast forward that part though)....because he does! He knows when they are coming too. At the end of every scene change he also yells "UH OH!" LOL! We laugh everytime. Maybe he will be a director one day! He LOVES the musical scenes in any movie and just music in general and is always up for a dance party. He has some pretty cool moves and always looks like he is raising the roof.

He loves going outside and we all have pretty bad spring fever right now! The weather has been just horrible and way too cold to even take him for a walk. The few nice days we have had though we spend the day outside, pushing his cart, going for walks and looking for dogs. He loves being outside and I literally can hardly wait for this summer!

What else...he has been kind of a picky eater lately. I'd say his favorite is tomato sauce and noodles, grapes, blueberries, yogurt and anything we are eating.:). He sucks down the fruit/vegi pouches like they are smoothies. I tried making a strawberry/spinach/yogurt smoothie the other night for him but the consistency was weird and I don't blame him for not liking it, although I loved it. He loves water and we have no plans to (until much older) give him juice or anything flavored since he drinks water so well. Milk is still a struggle, and he gags. He does better with soy milk or almond milk, but still isn't a huge fan...so I mix it in yogurt, oatmeal, pasta, or give him cereal with milk. He loves holding his own spoon and dipping it in whatever he is eating and feeding himself.

I think Henry is most happy when another baby or kids are around, or having the house full of family and friends. He is very social and loves the attention. We have dinner club with friends every month, and Sandy and Tim have a 2 year old and 6 month old and Henry is so sweet with both of them. He obsesses over baby Luke a little and wants to be by him and give lots of touches and kisses, and gets mad if you take Luke away and likes to follow the 2 year old Sam around and terrorize the house together:). The new daycare is going GREAT! He sleeps so good there....he sleeps on a cot (i still don't get how he just stays there and doesn't get up and walk around!) and gets 2-3 hours of a long afternoon nap there when he is there a full day. At his old daycare, he would get maybe 30 minutes a day. Yuck. They are awesome...I think since it is not for profit and the ratio of kids/teachers is so great that the kids get so much attention and they have the time to help each kid individually. They are always doing so many fun activities and crafts and everyday I pick him up he is dirty and messy and paint in his hair and I love it because I know he was having some fun.

OH-and I have to add that when Henry doesn't want something or something is making him mad/upset he throws his arms by his side and grunts. LOL!!!!!! It is soooo hard not to laugh and I always have to leave the room so he doesn't see me CRACKING UP! When we tell him No, he does whatever he is doing more and gives you a look. You can tell he's really learning his boundaries and testing some things. We haven't witnessed any pushing or roughness yet...but I am sure that is right around the corner.

playing golf aka throwing golf balls all over sports authority

loves to push his shopping cart

playing basketball with the kettering bball team before their game;) how luck is henry that his daddy is the varisty football coach and coaches baseball? he already loves sports so much

looking at the ducks in bass pro...he always squats down to see them

Until the next monthly update! <3

Weekend

Kyle and I stayed downtown Friday night after pricelining a CHEAP 5 star hotel and going to the Wings game. It was great and Kyle and I haven't been out on a date in like 4 or 5 months!! We prefer to stay in with Henry...but know how important it is to have those nights out and alone. We are super excited for our 2 day get away in February. I have 9 days off, and 2 will be in Vegas with Kyle. Thanks Dad for the skymiles!!! :-D

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

"uh ohhh".....

best helper.

I snagged up this piece at Homegoods on Sunday. Less than $30.00....I put it on the wall when you walk downstairs that is what you see, between the kitchen and living room. I LOVE it. I need to get some different decor to put up on top though...

Okay...this monterey chicken is the newest addition to our weekly rotation. First...it was SOOOOOOO easy, second....mouth watering. All it is is pound out and grill your chicken breasts until cooked through. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400. Top with bbq sauce, cheese (I used colby jack), can of rotel tomatoes (spread over all of them), bacon and green onions (Kyle added some more cheese on top too...to "lock it all in")....bake for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. DONE! I think we ate it in the matter of 5 minutes. I serviced it with rice and a side of roasted vegetables. Henry of course loved it too.

This is the number one most requested meal from Kyle. My cajun chicken pasta. It is the perfect comfort food and I've personalized it and made it more health concious. One box of whole wheat penne (we have tons of leftovers), and then for the sauce I use low fat cream cheese, skim milk, parmesan cheese...keep whisking until thick.  Add in a bunch of cajun seasoning (we like it spicy...especially Kyle). I add in grilled chicken (that I've seasoned with cajun seasoning as well), and any vegis I have on hand that need to be used up. We used peas, carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms and onions, with lots of garlic. I serve this solo since it has a little of everything in it...the carb, protein and vegis.

Henry enjoying some peas, carrots, tomato sauce (he was dunking everything in the tomato sauce...hilarious). My mom watched him Friday night and called him a ketchup king. He loves tomatoes! I love watching him feed himself with a spoon. So big!

We took Henry to Java Jungle on Sunday. It is a jungle themed indoor play area/with a coffee and food area. I wasn't all too impressed...but of course the toddler and kids love it. It goes up to age 10 I believe. They even have a section just for birth-3 year olds so they don't get trampled on. Henry was okay with that for a while, but really wanted to be in on the action with the bigger kids. He really is fearless. He ran around for a few good hours and we had so much fun. He kept pointing at all the animals and naming them. He is such a sweet boy with all the kids, as usual, and was obsessed with a little girl there. He kept running in circles and laughing and if she wasn't watching him he would fuss a little. LOL! Kyle called his running in circles his "sexy dance." Oh for crying out loud! For only $3.00 for Henry....we will go again.

                                                             HAPPY SNOW DAY!!!!!! :)

Mommyhood

As my baby is turning 14 months in a few days...and just growing leaps and bounds by the day, by the hour, by the Minute...it makes me sooo emotional (ohhh my poor husband!!). He is beginning to show little strides of independence and it just....makes me want to cry. I know the bigger picture of parenthood is raising your babies to one day push them gently out of the nest and watch them fly off to make their own life... and making plans to make them their favorite meals to fill their tummies when they come home and pamper them as best you can on their next visit. (ok...I know that is looking WAY into the future- but that is the ultimate goal, right?) The number one best thing that I've experience as a mom so far has been the absolute adoration on Henry's face, that faith that mama knows best and has the answers to everything, the total trust that mama will take care and make him feel safe, secure and comfortable.

Writing about Henry and mommyhood will probably be a large part of this blog. Kyle and I love being parents and we definitely make a great team and even eachother out well. I think the first few months are tough on dad's because the baby is attached to mom constantly, but now that Henry is in full blown toddlerworld, watching the dynamic between Kyle and Henry pulls at the heart strings and the bond they have is so sweet. I get so excited thinking about the future...about giving Henry brothers/sisters, endless activities to do, holiday traditions, trips to be taken, memories to be made. Nothing brings us more joy and we've really settled into our roles of mama and dada.

I stumbled upon this picture on pinterest, and thought it was too cute not to share. Ohhh the joys of parenthood! :)

 

 



Valentines wreath and banners

I've been wanting to make these soso cute heart banners and heart wreath since last Valentines day when I saw them on pinterest...but with a 3 month old and going back to work I never got around to it. I am so happy with how it turned out tonight! And the best part- SO easy....I ended up making a mini banner for my mom and mother in law as well. I plan to cut even thinner strips of the leftover paper and make another banner...maybe for my desk at work! I also used pale pinks/oranges/teal/yellow in it...which is very valentines dayish, but also easteryish and springish.

Here is the banner that I made into a circle wreath, added some yarn and hung on the front door.

 

Here is the link that you can find the tutorial on. Girls...it is seriously so easy, fun and cheap. Do it and add some sweet lovin around the house for Valentines day! 

Weekend

Kyle was gone Thursday-Saturday afternoon for a football conference and it left just me and the little. We jam packed the weekend with lots of shopping, good food and good naps. My brother Brandon and his girlfriend Kati were home from college and we got to see them twice which was great....and Henry just loves them. He can totally say Bubba! Speaking of words Henry can say....(which is growing by the day) he learned the meaning of "help" and says it almost perfectly. He picked it up so fast and now instead of the whining "uh uh uh uh" when he needs help or wants something he says in his super sweet little boy voice "help help help!" Watching him learn to speak and learn words every day makes me so proud to be his mom. He also knows please now although doesn't say it quite right...he says "pa, pa, pa" really pronounced when he is begging for food or wants something:). He loves when we ask him to repeat words "say mama, say dog, say duck" etc. As I am typing this Henry is getting in the cubbards and saying "help help help...." so sweetly and quietly so I would help him get some pots out. I mean.... maybe because it's new and the way he is using it all the time, but I just think it is thE cutest thing I've ever heard.

I didn't get around to doing any of the crafts I wanted to do this weekend- but I did do a good cleaning of the house and we all know how much time that takes all while chasing a toddler around! He likes to help me clean and I include him in everything. It is great to have Kyle back home, especially today. I used to HATE Sundays pre-Henry because of dreading the work week starting back up on Mondays. But now....I just love them. We hardly ever schedule any plans on Sunday and always spend the day warm and snuggled up in our home, cooking new meals. It's turned into a pj day and we don't get out of them all day- love it.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

 

My first trip to homegoods (I KNOW!) a chevron pillow, wicker basket, bathroom towels for henry's bathroom, a yellow throw

Sunday dinner: red potatoes, chicken breast, fresh green beans...preheat oven @ 350, place ingredients in pan, sprinkle one package of italian seasoning and one stick of butter (a half stick of butter would be enough), cover with alumininum foil and bake for 50 minutes...SO delicious. Henry devoured the green beans. (He surprises me all the time with all the vegis he likes...woo!)

Fruit/vegi pouches are the best invention ever! Here is Henry sucking down two of them on our drive home from Homegoods

Kyle's favorite side dish salad. Cucumber, red onion, tomato, (lots and lots of) feta, pepper and extra virgin olive oil

Henry on the walking movers at Somerset Mall with Grandma. He just loved them and yelled "WOOOOAH...WOAH...WOOOAH" the whole time. He was making everyone laugh:)

Henry on the chair he obsessed over at Pottery Barn Kids. I loved it and almost bought it, however it was white (heck no), $150.00 (umm no!) and it would be way too hot to sit in in the summer months....so I am on the hunt now for a bargain!



 

 

Well....we are ending the weekend with making brownies with chocolate frosting (my favorite) and then putting Henry down and catching up on some shows with Kyle. I need to add in too....that Henry knows when he wants to go to sleep now. He says ni-night. And if you ask him if you want to go ni-night he nods yes, we always ask around nap time or night time so his answer is always yes:)....and after we bring him upstairs he walks right over to the rocker in his room and pats it and says ni-night since that is where I rock him before bed. Now isn't THAT the cutest thing ever????? I hope I remember these little details forever. 



photoshoot mishap

So....I just have to share. I got an email for a free $20.00 gift from Shutterfly (WOOHOO!) and decided to order some Valentines cards to give family and friends from Henry. I covered him in smooches with the brightest red lipstick I could find, and he thought it was just hysterical...I am sure it was. The sight of me with fugly red lipstick all over my lips (face) chasing him around trying to make perfect kiss marks makes me laugh to myself as well. Kyle sat across the room the entire time with a weird look on his face and said "I will have nothing to do with this." HA! Well....the photo I got turned out SO adorable and I made a really cute card....but when it came to bath time to wash off the kissy marks, well, that didn't really go as planned....

Henry does not look too pleased to have smooches stuck all over him! I let him soak and soak and the ones on his face finally came off...but the others weren't so lucky.  He will be wearing long shirted turtle necks for a few days I think! Whoops. I wish I could share the sweet as sugar picture I took of him, but you will have to wait until Valentine's Day!!! :)

My first post! Well....my sister in law Annie recently created a blog, and just like her I get caught up hours on end reading other blogs and thought I would start one myself. I have a husband, a son, a career, a house, a dog, a funny side, a serious side, a sassy side, a crafty side and an emotional side- so needless to say I will definitely have lots to talk about! I am a wife to Kyle, a dedicated and devoted husband, father, teacher and football and baseball coach. I met him when I was 19 and we have been inseperable since. I am the mommy to Henry, a sweet and sensitive little boy with the attitude and personality of a firecracker! He was born on 11-30-11. Between the two of these boys...the washer is always full, dishwasher is always running and my heart is nonstop exploding with love and laughter.

I will make my first post on an update on HENRY! (my 13.5 month old son) I blogged his entire first year of life, and haven't since he turned one. Henry is in 18-24 month clothes, size 6-7 shoes. We still cannot tell what color his eyes are going to be....somedays they are green as can be, and others a light brown with gold streaks. His hair is frickin G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. I am pretty sure women pay top end $$ for the hair color he has. It is blonde with blonde highlights, thick and full and straight and just beautiful. He is talking more and more and Kyle and I are constantly amazed day to day how he does something new. Just a few days ago he started saying "ni-night" and start crawling up the stairs if he wants to take a nap or go to sleep. How CUTE is that? Just tonight he slammed the door in Kyle's face when I was in the bathroom with him and yelled "BUH-BYE!" and of course he started cracking up after and did it about 50 more times because we laughed.:). He can point out several animals now, and can imitate what a lion and dinosaur say "rooooar" and a cow says "mmmoo." He gives the best hugs and puts his forehead to your lips to give a kiss. *heartmelting just thinking about it* He knows what "put your arms up means" when we put him in his highchair and throws his arms up when we say touchdown (he has been doing that for a few months now...but I still love it). He LOVES to be silly and make people laugh. When we say "lets go outside" he walks straight to the front door and starts pounding on it. He really loves playing outside and going for walks (aka us chasing him down the sidewalk) and we can't wait for summer. Kyle talks all the time about how he can't wait for his time off with him this summer and that he plans to get a summer zoo pass (awww) and their adventures they will go on. I am so thankful for Kyle's time off in the summer to enjoy with Henry since he is a devoted coach during the school year. I really cherish the winter months too since it is between football and baseball season. HOWEVER- we LOVE football and baseball season and can't wait for them to start back up! Henry went to almost all of Kyle's games last year, and didn't go to the end of the seasons only because of the cold weather.

Here is part of an email I got from his teacher at school that I received today: "He gets so excited when we sing our morning song, and today he clapped his hands the whole time we sang! He has started to go to the gate when he is hungry but knows he has to wash his hands first. As soon as I say, "Let's wash your hands" he knows right where to go!"

How stinkin cute?!? After Kyle and I read it we both said "ahh we need to start making him wash his hands!" LOL. Everyday I pick him up they are doing such fun things....dying snow with different colors, playing with bubbles machines, etc. He just started this new school this past week and adjusted like a pro! Didn't even phase him and I think all the new toys, activities and friends excite him. Maybe that's why he adjusted so well...after being home with us for Christmas break, he was missing his friends and school activities!

Well- both the boys are already in bed and I am about to whip up a little night time snack and put in a chick flick. Man....I have been just dying to just pig out and watch a chick flick lately. I will post about new updates, outings, crafts, recipes, thoughts throughout the week and here on out. Have a great week!