pictures

Kai loves to go grocery shopping. He's my little helper!






Here the boys and Jimmy are making chocolate cupcakes!!





Waiting for them to bake in our toaster oven. Kai sans shirt because he got batter all over it!








Cassia's first time tasting rice cereal. She loves those fingers!


Tiff...thanks for sending these pictures to us...xoxo.

Baby rolled over!

Cassia rolled over to her tummy for the very first time today!!! I was so excited. Can't wait for Jimmy to see her roll over. Wow, what a milestone!
I think she is probably also starting to teethe, she constantly has her hand or a toy in her mouth and I have to change her outfits four times a day from all her drool!

I finally figured out a few things to do with the kids in all this cold and snow. Yesterday, we had a snow party. I went outside and scooped up three big bowls of snow and bought it into our kitchen for Kai and I to play with. We had a blast! It was entertainment for almost three hours! The best part is we weren't in the cold. We built snow mens and ice castles. So much fun, Kai wanted to do it again today.

Today, I started an alphabet book with Kai. I wrote an upper case letter and a lower case on a lunch sack and we clipped pictures from magazines that began with the letter on the bag and glued them to note cards to make our own flash cards. That took up half the day. Kai is starting to show interest in reading so I thought I should teach him the basics. He knows his shapes and colors, but only a few letters.

Super bowl tomorrow!!! I can't wait. What a day for junk food! We have bacon burgers, pizza, taquitos, nachos, buffalo chicken strips and chips planned for the whole day. Yes, we will eat everything. Not all at once of course, we are snackers and love to graze throughout the day. We were good and had steamed salmon with brown rice and spinach last night and tonight we had a vegetable and tofu stir fry. Kai loves fresh fish! He asked to have fish with spinach for dinner tonight too! I couldn't be happier. I wonder if Cassia will be a good eater too?

everything is white!

Today's forecast snow, snow and more snow! Tomorrow: the same thing, and the next day and the day after! I love the white fluffy stuff, but not when it prevents me from getting out of the house to do simple chores like grocery shopping. Good thing I have lots of cans in the pantry. The expected accumulation is 8 inches....not so much for you northerners, but me? I am losing my mind! What do people do when they can't get out? Now I understand why my husband didn't want to live where there's snow and I'm beginning to miss Texas. I now laugh when family tell me that it's cold at 50 degrees....I would more than welcome warm 50 degrees! They have no idea how crazy cold it is up here.

I would brave the weather with the toddler, but it is just too cold to take the itty bitty baby out. Plus she hates to be bundled up. Last night Jimmy took us to the book store, so at least we have new books and magazines to entertain us. Yes, my husband has to drive us...I'm not used to driving in the snow and prefer not too. I prefer nice clear sunny days for driving, no rain or snow driving for me.

Today I went bonkers and cleaned everything. I started throwing things away without a second thought. I should do it more often that way we wouldn't have so much "what is this" laying around the house. I also pitched a few of the kids toys that were in my way, I hope Kai won't be asking for them back because they are gone! Now I understand how my mother felt when she kept telling me that if I didn't clean my room she would go in with a trash bag and clean it for me! I can't believe that I'm using the same line with my kids! Hey, it works! No kid wants their things tossed in the bin. I used to just shove everything under my bed or closet, good thing Kai hasn't figured that out yet.

Baby food and Menu for February

It was crazy cold and wintry last night. I sat on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa watching the snow get blown around the street. I'm a southerner so snow was a treat, it's so pretty! Today is gorgeous sunny, but 7 degrees...yea I'm not going to subject my kids to that sort of cold just because I need to get out of the house. Hopefully the weekend will be a little warmer so we can get out.

Cassia is almost six months old!!! I gave her some rice cereal a couple of weeks ago and again last week, but think that I should try again at six months after talking to her pediatrician. She got a little red after each try so, I stopped trying to give it to her because I'm afraid that she possibly could be allergic to rice. How could that be??? I thought rice was safe, isn't it always the first food after milk? She can sit up with assistance, but not by herself yet.

I just read a blog about baby led weaning and the babies on that blog were eating normal non-pureed foods at six months, I kinda want to give it a try, but Bella doesn't have any teeth yet. Hmmm....I wonder if those babies had any teeth. Kai was sorta baby led I guess, but he got the pureed foods. I also made my own baby food for him, that could probably be one of the reasons why he's such an adventurous eater. People are always shocked that my two year old can handle some flavorful and spiced up foods. I think he prefers it over the bland foods most people think children should eat. Our kids eat what we eat. Seriously, I'm not running a restaurant in my kitchen and probably would have pulled out all of my hair if I were.

I did get the menu for February done, only with the help of writing it grade school style. Monday is called 'Mystery Monday', so that we can order take out on that day, have leftovers, or whatever suits my fancy. Tuesday is 'Taco Tuesday', name was invented by Jimmy because that is the night that our neighborhood taco joint is open late. Wednesday is chicken night, sorry no catchy name there. Thursday is our 'Tofu Thursday' or any other vegetarian delight. Friday is 'Fish Friday', it just worked 'f' in both words. Saturday is 'Pizza/pasta' night and Sunday is 'Burger Sunday'. This works great because it is posted on the fridge and gets rid of "what's for dinner?", for a whole month. I think I'll keep this format for the rest of the year, maybe varying it a little month to month, but we get a pretty balanced diet this way.