Sweet Moments

Yesterday I got to take Isla on a mommy/daughter date. At first when I told her she got to go on a date with me all by herself, she kept asking if we could bring Emma (so sweet). Then I told her "This time, it's going to be just you and me!" Her face lit up and then the whole rest of the day she kept exclaiming "Just you and me!" It made both of our day, I'm pretty sure. We went to our favorite Kirkland coffee shop, Urban Coffee Lounge, and sat at a sunny window table that was prime for people-watching. Isla kept tabs on everyone in the place and loved watching the kids and dogs play around the fountain outside. She even noticed a pregnant woman and asked "That lady have a baby in her tummy?" She is so observant! We talked for a bit, ate a snack and practiced writing her name. "I is a straight line!" I gave her a penny to throw in the fountain as a special treat. On the way back to the car, we stopped at a construction site we'd been eying from the coffee shop. Isla was completely fascinated by the crane and so we stayed awhile to watch it pick up huge buckets of cement to move and pour to create the foundation.

These are sweet, sweet moments and I want to cherish them as best I can. I hope our little date lifted Isla's spirit as much as it did mine. And I pray that I will continue to learn to slow down and savor the little things with my girls.

"New" dining area

I finally completed a project!! Let me present to you our kitchen table before.....

 ....and after!

Before

 After

Before and after

 I am in love with the final result and I'm pretty sure every single person that has walked in our home since I did the reupholstering has commented about how much they love our chairs. The fabric is resisting spills just as I'd hoped and I like that I can see the 3 chairs at the bar from the living room which brings the two rooms together. And the final cost? About $28--MUCH cheaper than a new dining set! 

Isla: 2 1/2 (30 Months)

Isla is officially 2 1/2!! We celebrated her 1/2 birthday along with my brother's birthday by going bowling. It was her first time and she did great (and I did really well too after she left because I got to use her bumpers!)

She is totally obsessed with the "Where's Spot?" books right now. Every time we go to the library, we check out 3 of them and they are pretty much all she chooses to read until we go to the library again and swap them out. So it seemed fitting to make Where's Spot cupcakes for her half birthday dessert. Maybe I should be proud that she doesn't have more of a sweet tooth but I must admit I was a little disappointed when she took a couple bites and then asked to be excused. But that was only after asking Grandma and Grandpa W to sing her Happy Half Birthday again with candles re-lit and everything.

We got her an adorable "pack pack" (backpack) as she calls it and she has been wearing it proudly ever since. It was a win-win gift really as the diaper bag has been overflowing with both of the girls' stuff.

As for other highlights about Isla this month, she is a total morning person! Even when we have to get her out of bed just before 6 AM to leave for work, she jumps up and excitedly tells us "Good morning!!!" She has a superb memory too. If we tell her what we are doing the next day as we are we are putting her to bed, it is the first thing she talks about in the morning.

Isla's mothering instincts are in full force. She loves to read to Emma and "help" her roll over. I love how at the beginning of this video how she tells Emma "Jesus asks that we obey!" as she reads her a Bible story.

Unfortunately, Isla picked up the phrase "I don't like it" somewhere along the line. She doesn't use it very often but pulls it out every once in a while at the dinner table. We've hit a few food jags (her never-ending desire for bread and pasta!) but all in all I'd say she's a pretty good eater. And her fiber intake is as high as any adult I know with the amount of raisin bran she puts away! She has also gotten really into pb & js this month. It used to be that she wouldn’t touch anything with peanut butter and I was beginning to question how she could possibly be my offspring! I think she thinks peanut butter and jelly are an all-inclusive sort of thing though as she doesn’t want one without the other. She loves dipping things and can often be caught licking lettuce leaves to get the dressing or the other day I spotted her dipping her pears in ketchup...

We have entered the phase of pretend play and imagination! Isla now spends a good portion of the day "playing house" with her tent, going shopping with her shopping cart, putting her babies (and water bottle!)down for naps, pouring coffee or making soup for Graham and I etc etc. It's really quite fun to watch. She is also really enjoying having us tell her stories. This is exciting for Graham and totally petrifying for me. It has illuminated the fact that I tell unbelievably boring stories and that I led a relatively risk-free/unadventurous childhood. I remember my Dad telling us stories about the time he crashed his sled into the blackberry bushes or the time he got a splinter in his bottom...man, I guess I haven't lived! I will work on that so I can share more thrilling stories.

Isla loves going shopping or running errands with me. I, of course, love going alone if ever the opportunity arises but this causes great disappointment for Isla. Her very favorite continues to be Trader Joe's (where she gets to push her own mini cart) and Fred Meyer/Safeway (where she gets to ride in the car cart).

Speaking of running errands, having a 2 year old is a good reminder just how odd figures of speech can be. The other day I asked Isla if she wanted to run errands with me and she said "YES!!!" Then the whole time we were out and about, she kept asking when I was going to actually RUN. I had a hard time explaining that one to her. Then a couple days ago, we were driving home from somewhere and I got really tired. I said "Wow Isla. I've really hit a wall!" I realized right away that I need to figure out another way to express my weariness! She must think I'm nuts.

Isla somehow has figured out technology without us even having to teach her. A couple weeks ago, Graham was using his ipod Touch. Out of nowhere, Isla walked up, grabbed it from him and said "Daddy, I show you!" and proceeded to scroll through and show him the various app options. Uhhhhhhh, thanks Isla? Apparently it's time to talk about screen time (i.e. take that thing away from her!)

She continues to be quite independent, and, shall I say, type A? She likes to hold her books all by herself, even if it means we can’t see the words to read it to her. Graham also noticed the other day that she’d laid one toy or doll on each step, in a nice straight line on the right side of our staircase. I PROMISE I didn’t teach her to do that!

Other tidbits I don’t want to forget:

-She always wants to be included when Graham and I are hugging so family hugs in the kitchen are rapidly becoming a commonplace.

-She (finally!) started saying “I love you” back when I say it to her!! Apparently all it took was my telling her “You can say that back to me when I say it to you, you know.” Now she says it at random and I just can’t get enough of it! The other day she even said “Thank you for loving me, Mommy!”

-Her latest coin phrase is “Yes I did!” and she uses it very emphatically throughout the day in response to almost anything. I need to record it on video because she has such a great tone of voice when she says it.

-She finally (and unfortunately!) figured out how to open our doors. Major bummer for me but she’s pretty thrilled about it! She loves “checking” on Emma when she’s napping…

-She fell into a fabulous nap rhythm over the past month where her nap length extended to about 2 hours minimum. She used to nap for only an hour or hour and a half but this two hour plus thing is awesome! And she sleeps from ~7:30 PM-7:30 AM at night.

-She loves going to the park and will spend the entire time on the swing if allowed.

What's For Dinner?

I love trying new recipes and seeing my dinner menu for the week fills me with more excitement than a kid in a candy store. In fact, I even told Graham last night as we were reminiscing over our almost 5 years of marriage "If we get to be married another 50 years, think of all the recipes we will get to try!!!" I think he was expecting me to say something a little more sentimental but hey, I have many wonderful memories that involve food.

Soooo, what are we eating this week? We tried Cooking Light's Orecchiette with Kale, Bacon and Sun-dried Tomatoes on Monday and it was well liked by all. It was super fast and utilized our current favorite veggie: kale!

Graham convinced me to give Bon Appetit's Ham and Cheese Waffles a whirl later on in the week. I refuse to used the 2 sticks of butter it calls for so will be doing my best to tweak it to make it more "healthy," but I will admit I do love breakfast for dinner! We started subscribing to Bon Appetit magazine about a year or two ago. We both love it but unfortunately it has caused Graham to view the fat content in my Cooking Light magazines to be subpar....

Tonight we are going to try Swedish Meatballs, Ikea style with Lingonberry jam and everything! I think we'll serve them with mashed yukons and roasted asparagus.
Graham made a request for our go-to favorite Bolognese recipe from my Gourmet cookbook. We were on a huge bolognese kick awhile back whenever we went out to Italian but we have since stopped ordering it because we always end up liking this version better.

Oh and lest I forget Graham's Chorizo and Gigante Bean Cassoulet! He made this on Saturday and it was incredible!!! I am normally not drawn to recipes with beans (horrid I know since I'm the fiber queen AND a dietitian...) but this was sooooo good. We used dried large lima beans instead of the gigante beans and hot Italian sausage instead of the chorizo (which, as it turns out, is incredibly hard to find in link form).

I will have leftover white cheddar cheese from our dinner waffles so I plan to try this Sweet Potato Soup with Curried Cheddar Cheese Crisps from Better Homes and Garden. It looks super simple but who doesn't love a creamy soup? Of course, I think I'll use some half and half in place of all that cream!!

Then lastly, we are going to have these Croques Monsieur sandwiches for a quick work night meal (again using less butter than the recipe calls for!)

It's shaping up to be a good week of eats! Hopefully this list inspires any readers in a dinnertime rut!

So thankful (checking off the bucket list...)

I went to bed last night so grateful! Oh how the Lord knows me and knows when I am about to totally lose it! I feel like my previous post needs an addendum as God is really showing himself to me right now. On Sunday (the day after I last posted), the girls took long afternoon naps that overlapped by ~1 1/2 hour. It was incredible and magical and something I could totally get used to! I was able to sit next to Graham during that time while he wrote a paper--there is something about being next to a person when they have been gone a lot--though we both sat with computers in lap, working on our own things, it was wonderful. Then that night, while I was at a MOPS meeting, a sweet friend sent me a text to say I needed a date and could she please watch the girls? I'm totally serious and spoiled.

On Monday, Isla did the unheard of and slept in until 9:30 AM!!!! For a girl who has woken up religiously between 7 and 7:30 for over a year, this was incredible. I put Emma down for her morning nap and once again found myself with an hour of time to myself which I used to finish reading my square foot gardening book. That afternoon, I was able to book appointments to a) get my haircut, b) get the carpet cleaned (something I've been wanting since before Isla was born) and c) set up a time to go to the dentist (not something I'm looking forward to but hey, it needed to be done!) 

Then yesterday, Graham knew I needed a day "off" from the normal routine so sent me to Home Depot with his gift card to buy the soil ingredients I need to get my garden going. After lunch, he shooed me off to Starbucks where I was able to pound out a couple hours of MOPS tasks that had been piling up with my lack of free time. And the barista just so happened to forget to make my drink so gave me TWO coupons for free drinks next time--3 for the price of 1! Oh and you know what Graham did while I was gone? He cleaned the house-a task he has not been able to help out with for quite some time.

Last night we got to go out on our little date and it was totally refreshing and wonderful and so here I sit with a full and thankful heart. Oh and did I mention that my Dad was declared CANCER FREE last week?!!!? More on that later but I just feel so passionate right now that the Lord knows how much we can handle and that He truly sustained me his week and said "I've got this" when I was feeling about ready to totally lose it.  I am so thankful!

Today's Bucket List

If I had all the resources in the world today (time, money, supernatural mothering capabilities), I would do the following:

-Make reservations at The Herb Farm to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary in two weeks. Dream on sister, I know. I keep telling Graham that I'm still hopeful an extra $500 is going to show up in the mail to make this one possible. He seems doubtful. But, to his credit, we played a rendition of The Newlywed Game with some friends a couple weeks ago and one of the questions was: "If you were given an extra $500, how would you spend it?" Guess what he said? He said he'd take me to The Herb Farm for our anniversary!! What a guy!

-Teach my children to nap at the same time. I think it is safe to say I am about to go insane. Free time is not in Graham's vocabulary at present. He's either a) at work b) at a coffee shop writing a paper c) in class or d) sleeping. And the girls have been perfectly alternating their naps for about 2 months now. I thought it was hard with one kid but two? Waaa, waa, waa, I know but seriously, this is HARD.

-Go get my haircut! I honestly can't recall whether I've had my haircut since having Emma. I went back to work last week and after spending 30 minutes trying to do my hair in the morning, I looked in the mirror at work and saw that my post-baby kinky crazy hair had reemerged despite my straightening efforts. GASP! I totally looked like a mother of two!!!

-Go somewhere, anywhere for 4, maybe 5 hours. Like shopping. Or sitting at a coffee shop and reading/blogging.

-Book a trip. Europe would be lovely, but really anywhere would be nice. It's that seeing it written in PEN on the calendar that I'd like-a trip to look forward to.

-Set up weekly dates with Graham. I love that man. And I miss him too. I can do this! 9 more days until the quarter ends!

-Buy new running shoes. I've had mine since pre-Isla. Oops.

-Shop for skinny jeans. This one is mostly to make my hubby happy. The bonus is that I'd get to wear my cool boots just that much more if I had me a pair of these.

-Find some closed-toed black dress shoes. Apparently I threw all mine away? I realized that the day before I went back to work....

-Get Emma to sleep through the night.

-Read my book on Square Food Gardening. And then go out and buy my soil and compost so I'm ready to plant when my seeds arrive!

-Figure out a way to have a few hours to myself each week. (See almost all of the above). :)

These are the things I would do today if I had endless resources. I like lists so writing these things out is helpful to me so I can refer back (ok, let's be honest--so that I can remember what is was I wanted to do--I'm still infected with "baby brain"). I certainly can't do them all but, I CAN do some. So I'm gonna!!!

It's that time of year again...

It's almost spring! And we all know what that means.....time to put some seeds in the soil! I'm excited because in a couple weeks we will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Apparently the traditional gift for 5 years of marriage is something made of wood so how perfect is it that I would request a new garden planter this year? My father-in-law ever so kindly agreed to make me one and I plan to try my thumb at square foot gardening, thanks to the recommendation of my mom. I have a book on hold at the library that I hope will offer a little more insight but it seems like a pretty effective way of growing the most bang for my buck in my limited space. My planter is going to be 2' x 6' which will give me 12 squares to work with. I just placed an order last night for the following: bush beans, both red and golden beets, a broccoli seed that is sort of a cross between traditional broccoli and broccoli rabe, carrots, arugula, a variety of lettuces (including romaine) and kale. I am so excited (and hopeful!) that I will be successful. I plan to do hanging tomato plants and strawberries again and will probably add some cilantro, basil and maybe chives somewhere in there as well. I moved my rhubarb out of a planter and into one of my garden beds at the end of last year and was pleased to see some buds on it yesterday. Hooray! I didn't kill it!