Good Morning, Great Gifts, & More

Good morning! Today is a typical morning at our house:  Callie wakes up, oh...around 6:30am, and then immediately wants breakfast.  Usually her choice is "mo-meal" {translation: oatmeal, which we make our own}. I found a bag of orange-essence dried fruit at Costco last week, so we are now enjoying orange-essence mo-meal!  :)  

Since Callie woke-up with a little cold this morning, we decided to give her a little hot herbal tea with honey and have a tea party (coffee for me).  She loves feeling like a big girl, of course, so she loves it {today she had herbal mint...would't that sound great if you had a cold?}.

When we're not having oatmeal for breakfast, we're drinking "shoe-eez," aka smoothies. This is why I just love Real Simple magazine...

Ten smoothie recipes {you can also find them here}!  I've been curious about green smoothies for awhile, so I am wanting to try some of these green smoothies.  And you see I got a HUGE bag of Spinach from Costco.  Yes we love Costco, and we must also love spinach because believe it or not, this bag is over half gone already! 

So while we have oatmeal or smoothies, Clara {"baby teryn" is how Callie says it...which evidently is sticking} watches from the living room.  She's getting HUGE...her 2-month appointment is next week, and I am anxious to hear her percentiles.  She seems to be growing FAST.  

She LOVES sleeping in her swaddle (as Callie did as well)...and is quickly outgrowing her newborn size!  Don't you just love that newborn stretch?

We are so thankful for all of the generous gifts we have gotten since Clara was born.  One I want to share with you, just because it is so. darn. cute.  Like, I can't even believe it.  

Have you ever seen cuter matching dresses?  Seriously, I now CANNOT wait for warmer weather so we can break these out!  Some friends got them for us, and they said there were from Etsy. I'm not sure which seller they bought them from, but it seems like they might be called pillowcase dresses?  

One more adorable gift we received for Callie's birthday is...a customized book!  Not just any book, but a book all about CALLIE! 

If you read her blog or know her, you can probably guess who it's from {since she is amazing at all things creative, and gives the best gifts too}.  I just have a feeling she might mention these books on her blog, so I will let her tell you more about it when she's ready.  :)

Happy Monday!

Meet Sleep Sheep

I would like to introduce you to my #1 absolute favorite baby item.  Meet....

the Cloud B Sleep Sheep On The Go.

If I run into you at the grocery store and you think you hear a faint gurgling noise, or ocean waves, or rain, or a whale (yes, a whale) in the background, it is not your imagination.  It is, in fact, my Sleep Sheet On The Go.

It's a little white noise machine (battery-operated) that attaches to the carseat, crib, anywhere really.  It produces a soothing noise that's supposed to keep a baby sleeping.  Does it work?  As far as I can tell, yes.  We turn it on, give her a pacifier, and rock her carseat a little bit and she is out!  

At under $25, this would be a great baby shower gift for a new mom!  :)   It's a total life saver.  Thank you, Cloud B.  :)  Oh, I bought mine on Amazon.  I also found them at Babies R Us (and free shipping).

When Clara's not sleeping in her carseat, she loves her baby swing.  Seriously, what would a mom do without these modern inventions? {and no, my kids don't always wear tutus, I promise!} 

How would we have time to clean our sinks???  {Did you like that tie-in? Pretty slick.  So I've had a few people ask me what we clean our sink with.  My favorite so far has been Bar Keeper's Friend.  Similar to Comet but not as harsh, it does the job.  I buy it at Target.}  

And how would we moms have time to cook?  {Another stretch to tie it all together...but I wanted to share our family's new favorite panini...Brie-Apple-Turkey.  It's good. And easy.  I make mine in what I call my Poor Man's Panini Press- my George Foreman!  Just those three ingredients on some italian-style crusty bread, and you've got a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich.}  

That's all for now! We'll be back soon...

10 Ikea Favorite Finds

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I totally have a love-hate relationship with Ikea.  Most of the store really is not my style, and many of the products are cheap or cheap-looking.  However, I realized there are about 10 things from Ikea that I really like.  And most of the items are great deals; you've gotta love a great bargain from this giant Swedish home store!

1. Stool.    At around six dollars, you can't beat the price for this plastic stool.  I keep one in my kitchen for Callie- she loves to push it around so she can conveniently reach things off the counter.  It definitely beats her pushing our chairs around the kitchen (and scratching our wood floors in the process)!



2.  Farm Sink.  I've blogged about how much I like this sink before...and since then I think I know 2-3 people who have added this stylish sink to their kitchen as well. Love it!



3.  Play Kitchen We have a similar-looking play kitchen from Target, but I love this modern, gender-neutral one too.



4.  Laptop support.  Probably the best three dollars I've spent.  We keep our laptop on this plastic stand and it keeps it upright (and my leg from getting burned).  ;)


6.  Ektorp sofa.  Okay so we have this white couch (the sleeper sofa version). It's the perfect affordable, transitional-style couch for just about any room in the house.



7.  Artificial plants Maybe I shouldn't broadcast the fact that I have artificial plants around our house, but after I killed about


8.  Mixing bowls I love these bowls so much I bought two sets. They're inexpensive, lightweight, and white (can you tell I like white?).



9.  Napkins How can you leave Ikea without throwing in a few packs of napkins?

10.  Expedit bookshelf  with baskets. I just saw this at my friend Amanda's house, and I like them so much that I plan to get two of these in our den.





There you go!  My favorite Ikea finds.  What are your favorites?  Did I miss anything?

Cici's {no white} Dark Chocolate Garbage Cookies

If you like dark chocolate, you will love these cookies!  They are another one of my mom's recipes, and I told her they are so good she could sell them.  :)  The best part is?  There's no white anything- no white flour, no white sugar, so you don't have to feel guilty if you eat them for breakfast.  :)

Cici's Dark Chocolate Garbage Cookies

½ c. butter, melted

¾ c. brown sugar, packed

½ c. honey

¼ c. almond butter or peanut butter

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 ½ c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 ½ c. rolled oats

1 t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 c. large flake unsweetened coconut*, loosely packed

1 c. dark chocolate chips or chunks, 60% cacao or more

1 c. pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

½ c. raisins

½ c. dried cranberries

¼ c. finely ground flax seeds

¼ c. raw sunflower seeds

2 T. sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375.  Stir together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.   Combine next 4 dry ingredients and stir into wet mixture.  Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well.  Drop by rounded tablespoons 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake about 10-11 minutes or so.  Cool on pan several minutes then remove to cooling rack.  Makes about 3-dozen large cookies.

*or ½ cup finely shredded coconut

Note: Whole wheat pastry flour is a lighter flour than regular whole wheat flour. Use half white and half regular whole wheat flour in place of the pastry flour to substitute. It’s really worth having on hand to bake with though!

Tips for the Terrible Twos

Callie entered her "terrible twos" at about the exact same week that we took Clara home from the hospital.  This could just be a coincidence, or just bad timing on our part (having two kids just under two), but I seriously thought we were in for it.  Could this tantrum-throwing, suddenly disobedient toddler be the new Callie?

Honestly, the first few weeks when Clara was born were pretty rough.  We had just celebrated Christmas (to a toddler this equates later bedtimes, lots of sugar, extra attention, and an overwhelming amount of new toys). She was turning two the next month.  Grandparents were staying at our house (and were a huge help, by the way). And to top it all off, she had a new sister that she didn't quite know what to think of.

My mom had some great advice for me on parenting a "terrible two"-year-old.  I guess she raised five "terrible two-year-olds" who are now adults, so she probably knows a thing or two about the subject.  :)  Hopefully these tips will help other new moms as well, who if they are anything like me don't have a clue as to how to deal with a tantrum-throwing toddler.

• Let her feel independent.  I try to let her "help" me as often as I can.  She loves it, and loves to feel like a big girl that can do grown-up things.  She helps with Clara, helps me cook, even helps me clean the house.  
• Give choices.  Giving two choices lets her "decide."  For instance, "Do you want to give mommy one kiss or two?"  She doesn't really have a choice, but feels like she does.  :)
• Choose your battles. Sometimes you have to let little things slide (but not the important things).  For instance, Callie loves to walk instead of being put in the shopping cart.  Sometimes I will let her do what she wants, even though it's not my first choice, to avoid a battle of wills between us.
• Give warnings.  If I suddenly say, "Callie, we're going to take a nap now," she most likely will throw a fit because she doesn't want to.  But, if I tell her "Callie, we're going to take a nap in five minutes," she will know that the time is coming.  This also works when she wants, let's say, a bite of my food.  I will tell her before it's her last bite so she doesn't freak out when it's "all gone."  
• Praise.  We make sure to praise her when she does something good and try to really focus on the positive things she does.  I try to encourage her to make good decisions by giving her a lot of attention when she does do something right or when she obeys.  I'm sure this works with children of all ages.  
• Be consistent.  Another piece of advice that is good to keep in mind when parenting kids of all ages.  I am finding this is much easier to say than it is to actually do it! 
• Don't give her too much attention when she gets in trouble.  This may encourage negative attention-seeking behavior. 
• Listen.  Make sure to listen to what she wants.  She's still learning how to communicate without whining, so sometimes when she starts to whine I'll tell her, "Callie let's just talk. Tell me what you want to do" and I will learn something that I would usually just ignore or scold.  

Thanks mom for the great advice!  I hope I can be as good of a mom as you were to us!  Callie definitely still has her moments and her days, but these tips have really helped us know how to deal with her.

She's really becoming a great big sister and a not-so-terrible two-year-old.  :)

Zuppa Toscana

If you're looking for a different and yummy soup recipe, look no more!  Beth made this soup for me sometime last year and we loved it (and have made it multiple times since then).  It's very similar to the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.  Sausage, potatoes, and kale are the main ingredients.  It's a perfect combination of a creamy and broth-y soup.

If you're like me and like Olive Garden soup, you may want to try the copycat Chicken and Gnocchi soup as well.

1 T olive oil

1 lb italian sausage

1 onlin, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t crushed red pepper

1 1/2 c water

2 cans chicken broth

3 large russet potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced 1/4" thick

1 t salt

1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped

1 c whipping cream

Put oil and sausage in saucepan over medium heat.  Cook sausage and remove from pot.  Add onion and cook until transparent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and red pepper, cook 1 minute.

Add water and broth, stir to dissolve bits on bottom of pan.  Add potatoes, salt and pepper.  Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes.  Add kale and sausage, simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Stir in cream.

February

February is here!  Winter is almost over and spring is just around the corner... at least that's what I'm telling myself.  Hurray!  This winter has been pretty brutal...so much snow, so much cold.  I'm looking forward to some warm and sunny days ahead.  

So we're celebrating February, the love month, with tutus.  Matching tutus (thanks Lena!).  I'm not exactly sure how we went from this...

and this...

to this... 

then this...

Your guess is as good as mine.

Happy February! ♥

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
I John 3:18

J'adore Paris

About a week or two before Clara was born, Kyle and I went out to dinner and he asked me what my "ultimate day" would be like (we ask each other silly questions like this when we're out on dates).  My answer?  A day just the two of us in Paris, walking around, seeing the sites, eating the food, watching the people, just being there together.  It's probably my favorite city in the world to visit, and no matter how many times I go, it just leaves me wanting to go back. Coincidentally, about a week after our conversation, Kyle found out he would be going on a business trip to Europe.  And, it just happened to work out that I could come along for part of it.  What funny timing!

Now, bringing a newborn with me to Paris wasn't exactly part of my original idea, but it actually worked out quite well.  She spent almost all day strapped to her daddy's chest {in the Baby Bjorn} and as you could imagine got lots of attention from everyone we saw!  She's a lucky little girl getting to go to Paris one her one-month birthday, too bad she slept through most of it.  :)  The direct flight was a huge blessing, and she did spectacular on the plane ride.

We also celebrated our seven year anniversary as part of the trip.  La Tour Eiffel has some significance to us because it's where we got engaged, so we took lots of pictures of it.  And we just happened to have a view of it from our hotel room, which was perfect {and unplanned}.  My favorite part was when it lights up and sparkles at night - so romantic!  We definitely had some chilly days, but we were bundled up at spent lots of time in little cafes, drinking coffee and eating chocolate croissants (I just can't get enough of those).  And I think I had enough bread, cheese, and chocolate to last me a lifetime (or not).

Here's a little peak into our time in Paris.  I had a tough decision of whether or not to bring my "fancy" camera, and in the end decided to leave it at home, since we had enough on our hands with the baby. Oh, and a little tip to other world travelers out there that have kids...don't bring a stroller to Europe.  We brought ours, thinking we would just push her around all day, and to our dismay found that the wheels of our stroller were too wide for the metro entrances, and the city is also not very handicap-friendly (think LOTS of steep stairs and escalators going in and out of the metro stations).  Thankfully, I brought a baby snowsuit and baby carrier, which were total life savers.

I guess this means we will have to do Kyle's "ultimate day" since we got to do mine.  I guess we will be planning a ski trip somewhere in the near future!  :)