Work Tutu

Here's the deal.  That skirt has been in my closet for a year, untouched.  Last time I wore it I paired it with a mustard cardigan and a bubble necklace.

I wanted to wear it again so I pulled it out and paired it with a couple basics.  Flats because I'm so over heels right now and a cobalt blue cardigan because someone recently told me it's an excellent color for my hair & skin complexion.  And this necklace because I love the shine.

When Addie saw me in my skirt she said, "oooh mama, you wearin your tutu?"  I said, "yes, I'm wearing my tutu" to which she followed up by saying, "I want to wear a tutu too".

I love that girl.

-stephanie

Graham Month Five

My man Graham.  Five months old already, I can't believe how fast it's all going.  I'm really excited about enjoying spring with a baby who is so interested in experiencing new sounds, feelings, colors, textures, etc.  It will be so much fun exploring and witnessing his reaction to all those things.

Stats:  Last month you weighted in at 16lbs 9oz so I'm sure you're at 17lbs at this point.  At this point, you've doubled your birth weight.  Last month you were 25" long which was up nearly 3 full inches. You definitely hit your 4 month growth spurt!  Since that appointment you've probably grown another inch.  Your head at 4 months was in the 98th percentile.  No surprise there!

Sleep Schedule:  Your sleep may be working into a rhythm at night.  For the past couple nights you've slept a 5 hour stretch followed by a 4 hour stretch.  You get to sleep at approximately 8:30-9 each night and wake up around 6:30 each day.  Your naps are still consistently 45min-1 hour naps so I'm really hoping this is the month those naps start breaking into 2 hour naps.  This will offer me a much need break on the weekends to get things done.  PS.  It might even make you sleep better at night so let's work on that buddy!

Food: Last month I mentioned  we had just introduced cereal and your first solid food, sweet potatoes.  To date you've had those plus carrots, peas, oatmeal and prunes.  You prefer oatmeal to cereal and out of the solids you enjoy sweet potatoes and prunes most.  You drink approximately 5oz of breast milk at each of your feedings throughout the day. Yep, you're still going strong on the breast milk!

Firsts: Well, you're now sitting up completely unassisted.  We still keep a pillow behind you just in case you get crazy on us.  You attended your first party, granted it was your sisters but you did really well.  You you're getting really good at finding a toy you really want and know that your hands will help bring that to you.  I love watching you do this.

Favorites: You still really enjoy nursing so I don't imagine you'll want to stop anytime soon.  You love your sister, you laugh at her when she's not watching you.  It's so cute to watch you so in love with her. You love your jumperoo and have recently enjoyed just sitting by yourself and playing with your toys.  This is huge for you as for the longest time you've needed a lot of one on one attention.

This month has been so much fun to watch you grow and I imagine next will be even more exciting to see what you learn and experience next.

-stephanie

Breakfast, MMM, Breakfast

So apparently this week I'm all about recipe posts.  I made this breakfast casserole and it's ah.may.zing!  I actually made this Christmas morning and forgot to capture any pictures.  Probably because I was so caught up in Addie's excitement.

Ingredients

Crescent rolls

3 - 4 eggs scrambled

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 pound sausage

Cheddar cheese

Start by cooking up your sausage so it's ready.  While that's cooking, roll out your crescent rolls and lay half of them in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish.  Spread your cream cheese, layer your cooked sausage, scrambled eggs, and shredded cheddar cheese.  Apply the other half of the crescent rolls on top.  Bake in the oven at 350 for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the top is browned.

You could easily add in some veggies or any other ingredients that would be a good addition. This makes enough for 4 people if you're serving with a side of fruit or yogurt.  If your serving to guys, you may need more.

-stephanie

S'mores Dessert Pizza

With everyone in my house sick with a cold we spent all weekend lounging around and enjoying some quiet time in.  Last night was the last of those nights before another crazy week started so we decided to make it a pizza night.  Addie made her own little cheese pizza and I made a pizza for Rick and me to share.  We had a little leftover pizza crust so I made a fun dessert pizza with all the toppings for a s'more!

This looks pretty prior to cooking, but still tastes heavenly!

Ingredients
Pizza crust - we use Jiffy
Chocolate of some variety - I used hot fudge sauce
Graham crackers - crumbled up
Mini marshmallows

I highly suggest making your pizza crust and cooking it partially before loading your toppings.

Spread your chocolate around the pizza, then top with graham crackers & mini marshmallows.  Bake in the oven at approximately 425.  Toast the rest of the way until marshmallows start browning.  Cut & enjoy!

-stephanie

Addie's 3rd Birthday Party

My little baby girl turned 3!  I can't believe it.  So much has changed in 3 years, she's starting to look like such a little girl.

I love her little dress.  I found it on one of those discount sites, either Jane.com or Groopdealz.com.  I need to find another reason for her to wear it.

When I asked her what type of birthday party she wanted, she said she wanted an ice cream birthday.  So off to Pinterest I went for ideas.

 

Cupcakes. Literally so easy really.  Just bake a box of cupcakes and pipe the icing on in fun colors and then add the waffle cone to the bottom to make it look like a giant ice cream cone.

I wanted to keep the food simple and easy since dessert would be more work.  Subway foot long subs, veggie pizza, pasta salad and chips.  Subway has party platters but honestly they're ridiculously expensive for the amount you get.  So we bought about 8 foot longs and were lucky enough that January was all foot longs $5.

An ice cream sundae bar was a requirement for this party.  We had nearly 20 people at the party and I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of time setting this up during the party nor did I want to spend a lot of time scooping ice cream.  So I did the set up the night before and covered the paper with a white plastic table cloth.  I scooped the ice cream a couple hours before the party and popped them back in the freezer until we were ready to build.

 The cups & wooden spoons were ordered off Etsy.  All the toppings were picked up at Target or at Meijer.

 It was all such a hit.  Addie was in heaven and everyone really enjoyed building the sundae of their choosing.

We may do the ice cream bar again for parties in the summer.  So much fun!

-stephanie