I'm Back!!

I took a little break from blogging because we have been out of town! We had a great time away- which I will write about very soon. But- we are happy to be home too! There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed!

We came home to a 100 degree day- wow!! And it's still April! Gus has been entertaining me this morning. I wrote a few days ago about him putting his feet in the dog water. Here is where I found him today-

Yes- he has both feet in the dog water bowl- in his socks. All I could do was laugh- it was so funny!! 

I will update you on our trip soon!

Mommy Moments

My sweet baby boy just came to see me while I was sitting on the couch. I picked him up and hugged him. Then I noticed something wet...... it was his socks. And they were soaking wet. I knew what he'd been up to. I walked toward the kitchen and noticed wet foot prints all the way there- leading to the dog water. We have battled over not playing in the dog water. And now- Gus likes to put his feet in it- not good!

When Gus got up from his nap this morning, I got his milk and we enjoyed some cuddle time on the couch. As we sat there, his sippy cup started leaking all over my shirt. But those cuddles are the best thing in the world!!!

When Gus is playing out in the yard, I will start talking to him. Then he shows me whatever treasures are in his hands (rocks, sticks, etc) and then usually comes to show me. I love our little conversations already.

When Gus is playing in the house and I'm not sure where he is, I will yell and ask him, and he usually tells me. He will start talking and then I can find him. He enjoys being a little independent.

I rarely get upset when there is toilet paper all over the bathroom. I think it's funny and cute.

I feel like Gus is growing so big- he's getting really tall!! He ate almost all of his chicken mcnuggets on Tuesday when we went to Mcdonalds. There is something fun about when your little one is able to eat real food. And I enjoy being able to order him something to eat when we eat out.

I may not be able to post for a few days- but I will be back!! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend with your family!!

Confessions

1) I have had the hardest time coming up with ideas for something to cook lately!! I just sit trying to meal plan and nothing comes to mind. Well...... things come to mind, but they are usually not healthy. I am trying to cook healthier, but it is really hard.

2) We went to lunch at Chili's last weekend. We got a Triple Dipper (appetizer) and I always have to have chips and salsa there because they are my favorite. And since we had all the appetizers, I just got a small house salad for my meal. It was perfect.

3) I'm really tired of picking up toys. And as soon as I pick them up, they are everywhere again. Oh well, I'm just thankful to have someone that plays with toys :)

4) Can you believe it's almost May already? This year is going by sooooo fast, I guess that means I'm getting old since time is passing so fast.

5) I am going to really enjoy when Gus calls me mama regularly. He says DaDa all day long. When we went to the grocery store Monday, he said DaDa the whole time we shopped.

6) I got a DP today, and they must have needed to change out the box, because it was disgusting. I couldn't even drink it. Very sad....

I'm shocked I came up with these, I wasn't sure I was going to blog today at all. I'm cooking dinner for the youth at the church tonight. I'm making them soft tacos, cheese dip, and cookies. I'm going to be busy this evening. And that's what's going on in our little world.....

Flowers, A Recipe, and A Nap

We had a nice weekend around here. On Saturday we made a trip to Lowe's and got flowers for our yard! We missed the memo that everyone else would be shopping for flowers too, but we still got lots of pretty stuff! Here are all the things we bought.

And here they are planted in our pots!


I wanted to plant some herbs, so we bought thyme and basil, and then I planted seeds for chives, cilantro, and dill. Hopefully the seeds will come up!

Someone had a really good nap on Saturday.....


I decided to make some pasta last week, and I pretty much made up the recipe. I made the sauce similar to an alfredo recipe I had made before, but made several changes. It tasted really good.

Pine Nut Alfredo Pasta

Angel hair pasta
1/4 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp parsley
Pine nuts

Cook pasta according to box. (you could use any type of pasta, we just like angel hair). In a skillet, saute onions in about 1 tbsp of butter. When they are starting o soften, add the garlic. When the onions are softened, add the rest of the butter, the cream, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Allow to simmer a few minutes and melt the cheese. Add the pine nuts and cook a few more minutes. Toss with cooked, drained pasta and serve. Top with some extra Parmesan cheese.

The nuts in this give it a nice slight crunch. I love the flavor of pine nuts. You could make the recipe without the nuts also, and it would still be yummy!

Favorite Baby Stuff 3-12 months

For a long time I have been wanting to post some of my favorite things for Gus. I will be putting a link to this post under Helpful Posts so you can come back and look at it later if you like. You can also check out my favorite newborn picks there. I know a lot of you read Kelly's Korner, and I thought it was so interesting that a lot of the things she said you DON'T need, I really used! Each family and child is different. But this is what Gus enjoyed.

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Table:

A friend of mine had one similar to this. When we first got this, Gus was sitting up. We just attached two of the legs, so he could play with it while sitting. One day, I looked over where he was playing, and he had pulled up to standing on this toy!! It was such an exciting moment. We then attached the other legs. He pushed this toy all over our house as he was learning to walk. Now, he loves pushing all the buttons. This was a great purchase.

Push Car:

Gus loves to be pushed around this in this car. My grandparents have one at their house that they keep inside. He is happy to be pushed around for a very long time. This allows them to not have to get on the ground or pick him up or hold him since he is heavy. We have one that we push him around the neighborhood in. Gus has always been able to sit up well. We got this when he was around 6 months old. At first we put another strap around him, but he was quickly able to just use the seat belt. A child needs to be able to sit up well to use this.

Little Tikes Walker:First off, this was difficult to put together! My husband did not enjoy it at all. also, the blue and green flaps you can see on the front come off, and we have ended up just leaving them off all the time because Gus pulls them off. All that said, Gus has had hours and hours of fun with this toy. He used it a lot before he was able to walk on his own. And now he still uses it. He almost runs through the house with it. You can tighten the wheels so it won't go to fast. You can also fold it up, so we have taken it with us on trips.


Books, Books, and more Books!!!


These are just a few of the books Gus looks at on a daily basis. If you look back at my other Favorite Books post, Gus still also enjoys those books as well. I think books are so important for children. Reading to them early will help them learn to love books later in life!

Fisher Price Rumbly Tumbly Pooh
We got this for Gus for Christmas. I saw it and fell in love. Now, Gus is really enjoying it. He knows how to turn Pooh on, and he gets a big smile on his face when Pooh starts talking.

Cart Cover
We found this one at Target. I use it whenever I go to the grocery store and also to cover his highchair at restaurants. It makes me feel like he at least is protected from a few germs. And it is soft for when he was learning to sit up.

Tiny Diner
We use this when we go to eat somewhere. It works great to just put on the table, then you can set food on it and know it isn't dirty. I confess I don't always use it now, but I did when Gus was really little.

Alphabet Mat

We don't have carpet in our living room, so I needed something a little cushioned for Gus to learn to crawl and sit up on. This worked perfect. After he started crawling, he learned to pull it apart and put it in his mouth. But it worked great to protect him while he was learning.

Fisher Price Musical Mobile Gym

Gus loved to sit under this and play. It gave him something to do while I was cooking dinner, etc. Even after he started sitting up, he would sit near this and play with it. I put this on top of the alphabet mat, and he spent hours there.

Bumbo Chair- Gus didn't use his Bumbo chair very much, but I know a lot of people that used them. He only sat in it a few minutes each day.

Bouncer- Gus wasn't crazy about his bouncer either. I used it occasionally just so I could have a few minutes to cook dinner, but it wasn't his favorite.

These are just a few of our favorites!! I feel like I could keep adding things, but I'm going to stop here. If you ever have a question about if we used a certain baby item, feel free to email me.

What I'm Loving

Some things I'm loving:

Cheese Fries with Ranch

I could eat these every day!!! Amazing!!

Fun things of Spring:

My Precious Gus:

Source: i14.photobucket.com via Catie on Pinterest

Today is short and sweet! I'm busy picking up toys (it looks like Toys R Us exploded in our house)! Hope you're having a good Wednesday!

Linking Here and Here

Time to Celebrate

What a wonderful day to celebrate the Hope we have in our Savior Jesus Christ!!! Easter was very special for us this year!

We began preparing on Saturday by dyeing eggs. Josh did a great job dyeing them. I added some glitter to a few of them. And then we put together Gus's Easter basket for him to find the next morning.
Sunday morning we headed to church and met my grandparents there.
After church we headed home, took some pictures, and had a delicious lunch.
Then it was time for an Easter egg hunt! Gus was quite a good little hunter once his Daddy showed him what to do.

Having a son of my own has made me even more thankful for the sacrifice God made in sending his Son to save us. God loves us so much! I hope you know how much he loves you!

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Easter is Coming

Some of my favorites today:

My new birdhouse! We got a birdhouse and put it right outside the kitchen window. We have tons of birds in the backyard, and I thought it would be fun to be able to watch them more closely while I'm working in the kitchen. I'm loving seeing the little birds!

My Sweet Husband brought me this surprise yesterday- candy!! I love candy :)

I'm excited about celebrating Easter with Gus this year. We got some eggs for him to hunt- we will see how that goes. Last Sunday we let him carry in palm branches with the kids at church. He seemed fine when he started down the aisle, but then I could hear him crying and had to rescue him. But the people at the church enjoyed watching him. I'm looking forward to being able to teach Gus about Easter and what it means. As a Christian, it really is the most important holiday, and why we have a reason for living. I hope you are preparing to celebrate our Risen Lord on Sunday!!

Happenings Around Here

I have not been very good about blogging this week!! Between just being busy with life and having trouble coming up with subjects, it just hasn't happened.

Today, it's just going to be random.

After Gus's haircut, I didn't think he looked super different. But this day, he really looked like a little boy.

Here he is doing his new favorite thing- asking for milk. He goes to the frig and asks for it all the time. If he starts getting upset about anything, he goes to the frig. It's really cute. And good news- he has figured out how to use a sippy cup!! Yay!!

Our tulips and daffodils just have done amazing!!! And I love having a flower shop in my yard. I keep flowers in the house all the time, its so fun. I came home from work yesterday and Josh had added to the bouquet, aren't the beautiful?!?!

And he put one in the bathroom for me too:

I had one of my old favorites for lunch yesterday- what I call a pizza tortilla! It's just a tortilla with pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni if I have it. Just bake it in the oven til the cheese melts! It brought back memories, I used to eat these all the time as a kid.
We had a couple of cooler days, but it is warm again. So there will be lots of time spent playing outside. Sometimes Gus tries to sweep, but that broom is just a little big......

Sticks are always a good option...
Laundry, cooking, picking up the house..... all usual stuff is going to fill the day today!