A Christmas Surprise!

As you may have already read, my husband and I have been discussing whether or not to find out the sex of our new baby. Well... our ultrasound was last week and since it was so close to Christmas, we decided to have the ultrasound technician put the gender - along with a photo - in an envelope to be opened Christmas morning!

It was a wonderful surprise! We're having a BOY, and couldn't be more thrilled!!

I hope you all had a blessed and exciting day as well! Merry Christmas and wishes for peace, love, and joy from my family to yours!

Toddler Activities: 16 Months Old

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

Stair Climber: Whether you have stairs in your own home or not, it is important to teach your child stair safety! Whenever you have the opportunity, spend time going up and down stairs with your toddler. Stay near your toddler or hold their hand. Stair climbing is also a great time to practice counting!

Hat Dress Up: Emma is still a little too young to really enjoy playing dress-up (although she does like to wear a pink tutu over her clothes) but every once in a while, we like to play dress-up with hats. I gather up a few of Derek's baseball caps, my big floppy sun hat, an old Halloween pirate hat, and a couple of thick winter stocking caps, and let Emma try each on. Emma gets a good look in the mirror as I describe the hat or cap.

Color Scavenger Hunt: Emma has been working on learning colors. One great activity to explore colors is a scavenger hunt! We simply take our laundry basket from room to room in the house and collect items of a certain color. This past week, we found a jumble of BLUE items, including the laundry basket!

And, of course...

Read: Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma's current favorites are:

• 1-2-3 Peas by Keith Baker
• Stop Kissing Me! by Ethan Long
• The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly by Catherine Vase

My 3 good things for today are:

1. All of the Christmas shopping is done!
2. Presents are wrapped and under the tree!
3. Even if I forgot something, I have a good excuse. (I have baby brain!) 

A Homemade Christmas

Since we are preparing for our upcoming arrival in the spring, my little family has been doing our best to stick to a budget this Christmas. But sticking to a budget doesn't necessarily mean skimping. To me, it means getting creative and crafty! 

I also subscribe to the Four Gift Rule for children (with a little rule stretching). Emma's gifts this year include:

1. Something she wants. (A nice little tea set, which was a Black Friday bargain, and also a Mrs. Potato Head from a garage sale which I snagged for a dollar - more on Ms. Head later.)
2. Something she needs. (New bath soap and lotion, along with a couple new tub toys.)
3. Something to wear. (Emma's closet is more packed than mine, so she doesn't need a new outfit, but I made her a pair of Christmas pajamas - a tradition in my family.)
4. Something to read. (This one we stretched a little, but she loves books and we got each of these for 50 cents each at our local library book sale.)

The other item in the picture below is a glass tree ornament that I got at a garage sale for ten cents. I filled it with some sand from our 2012 family vacation to California (Emma's first beach) and applied some vinyl stickers to commemorate the year and the place. 

As I mentioned above, I found a like-new Mrs. Potato Head at a garage sale this fall for only one dollar. While it was in great shape, all the parts came inside a plastic suitcase that, in my humble opinion, is about half the size it should be.

 I know that if the case is too small, the parts will never get put away, so I decided to make a little fabric bag, or POTATO SACK, if you will.

After using an iron-on adhesive on some brown scrap fabric, I cut the letters out on my Cricut Expression using my George and Basic Shapes cartridge. 

Then I simply cut out a potato shape, and arranged all of the letters along with the potato onto some scrap burlap that I also had on hand, and ironed everything down. I sewed a drawstring into the bag, and everything fits perfectly!

For Emma's Christmas pajamas, I found a fantastic pattern and tutorial over at Noodles and Milk. Her directions are very clear and easy to follow! The only difference I made for Emma's was to reduce the size to about 60% of the original pattern, since Emma is still wearing a 12-18 month onesie. The white onesie was from Goodwill, and the felt for the reindeer was "stolen" from my mom's stash.

The pajama pants were very easy as well. I actually used an existing pair of Emma's "lounge pants" as a pattern to cut out and sew. I had the giraffe print fabric left over from a baby blanket, so this whole outfit was basically free. One note on the pajamas - Emma will be wearing this outfit for Christmas morning, and hopefully for everyday use for a few months but these are not true infant pajamas being they are not flame retardant.

I have to confess that I was a little over-eager to finish everything and get it wrapped this week before Christmas, and I realize that I don't have good final pictures of the potato sack and Emma's ornament, and not a single picture of the tea set, so I will have to update this post after Christmas when they've been unwrapped!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

To Know or Not to Know?

That is the question. Girl or Boy — or a surprise?

We're trying to decide whether or not to find out the sex of our baby. When I was pregnant with Emma, we decided (at the last minute) that we wanted to find out, but Emma didn't cooperate! She had her legs crossed during the ultrasound, so she was a surprise until birth! We're leaning toward trying to find out again, but there are definitely benefits to both sides!

Benefits of finding out:

• Many women say they feel a deeper bond with the baby once they know the sex and can picture a little boy or girl.
• You can prepare an older sibling for the arrival of a new little brother or sister.
• You can narrow down your list of baby names.
• You can pick out a gender-specific nursery theme or baby clothes, if you want to.

Benefits of waiting:

• You and your family will have a delightful surprise on the day you give birth.
• Your desire to know whether your baby is a boy or a girl might motivate you during the toughest parts of labor.
• You'll be following in the tradition of your parents, your parents' parents, and so on.
• There will be no mistakes — what you see is what you get!

Did you find out, or did you wait? Would you do the same again?

Toddler Activities: 15 Months Old

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

Kitchen Items Sensory Basket: Discovery baskets, or sensory baskets, are a simple way to engage your little one in learning about the senses as well as language learning. When Emma was younger, we had a lot of fun with our ribbon sensory basket, but now that she is older and less apt to put things in her mouth, we are expanding our sensory experiences! In honor of our upcoming Thanksgiving celebration, I put together a kitchen items sensory basket with a variety of bowls, metal and wooden spoons, big and small pots, potholders, whisks, and measuring cups. Let your child touch and explore each object, and try to use many different words to expose your child to language as you describe the texture or appearance of the objects as hard, crunchy, shiny, etc. Let your child move things around, and you can describe objects as they are over, under or beside each other, etc.

Cheerio Challenge: I found this idea over at Productive Parenting. The idea is to place a few cheerios inside a plastic bottle without a lid, then let your child figure out how to get the cheerios out of the bottle to eat! I thought Emma might be a little beyond this activity as described, so I ended up using a few plastic containers with various lids for her to problem solve! She enjoyed the challenge and also the reward at the end.

And, of course...

Read: Reading - even in a laundry basket - is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma's current favorites are:

• The Great Dog Wash by Shellie Braeuner
• The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley
  
• The Great Sheep Shenanigans by Peter Bently

My 3 good things for today are:

1. I'm feeling good - no morning sickness!
2. No snow yet. Don't get me wrong, I will be very excited when it does finally snow, but I'm not quite ready for that yet.
3. Today is Veteran's Day. Thank you to all the brave men and women who have served our country!  

Good News of Great Joy!

I am shamefully behind on my latest post because we've had a busy couple of weeks. Plus, in the last week and a half, I've had two long doctors appointments. But it's for a good reason. I'm not sick, I'm PREGNANT with baby #2! I'm nearly 14 weeks along, and everything is looking good. We were able to have an ultrasound - partly because of my pregnancy history, but mainly to get a more accurate due date and determine how far along I really was.

We had a 6-week ultrasound when I was pregnant with Emma - entirely to see if the pregnancy was viable, or if they thought I would miscarry again - and she was just a tiny little bean on the screen, with a heartbeat going blip, blip, blip. So I was expecting a similar picture when we went in this time at what we thought was 12 weeks (really turned out to be 13 weeks) and I was shocked!

There was an honest-to-goodness baby in there! At 13 weeks, we were able to see a developing brain, legs and arms that kicked and moved, a tiny stomach and bladder, the beginnings of a spinal column, and a little face with eyes and a precious little nose!

It's amazing to think that there's a little lemon (about that size) hanging out inside me, and that it can already squint, frown, grimace, pee, and even suck it's thumb!

We brought the ultrasound photos home to show Emma, but - as we had anticipated - she was not very impressed! In what ways did you prepare your young children for the arrival of a new baby?

Do I really need to list my 3 good things today? Honestly? Today, everything is good.

Decorating Pumpkins... Toddler Style!

Decorating pumpkins is one of my favorite things about Halloween - probably a close second to getting candy! For Derek and me, it's really a family affair. Family or friends come over and we spread a huge drop-cloth or piles of newspaper in the living room and all carve away. So it was really important to us to be able to get Emma involved. I saw this idea on Young House Love last year, and have been looking forward to trying it ever since!

We got two small pumpkins for Emma. (And at a dollar apiece, I can't complain!)

I smoothed on a layer of painters tape, then traced out two jack-o-lantern faces.

With a sharp knife, I cut around my pattern, and peeled away the excess tape.

After spreading an old plastic table cloth over the highchair and table - to help with clean up - we let Emma go to town with finger paint!

She had fun getting messy, smearing paint, and splashing in the tub afterwards! The finished product turned out great, but I would suggest peeling off the tape when the paint is still wet. I waited until the next morning, when the pumpkins were dry, and there were a few sections that had thicker paint that tried to come off in big chunks. With a little finesse, the edges turned out fairly clean, but I think it would have been easier if the paint was wet.

All in all, it was a blast to watch Emma decorate her pumpkins, and she looked like she had a blast well. We'll certainly do this with youngsters for Halloween again! 


What did you do with pumpkins this year? How did you include younger kids and toddlers in the activity? 

Toddler Activities: 14 Months Old (Part 3)

Here are a few more simple activities that you can do with your 14 month old. You may also be interested in Part 1 and Part 2.

Ocean Sensory Basket: Discovery baskets, or sensory baskets, are a simple way to engage your little one in learning about the senses as well as language learning. When Emma was younger, we had a lot of fun with our ribbon sensory basket, but now that she is older and less apt to put things in her mouth, we are expanding our sensory experiences! In our ocean sensory basket, we have a variety of shells, stones, coral and driftwood. Let your child touch and explore each object, and try to use many different words to expose your child to language as you describe the texture or appearance of the objects as hard, crunchy, shiny, etc. Let your child move things around, and you can describe objects as they are over, under or beside each other, etc.

Pushing Pom Poms: This is such a simple idea, and very easy to make. Take an old plastic container and cut a few small holes in the lid. The holes I made are just about the same size as the pom poms, so Emma doesn't really have to push them in, but she does have to line it up pretty well. It's a good fine motor activity and keeps Emma occupied for a good length of time. 

Squishy Bag: This fun activity will aid in developing your little one's hand muscles! This is a pretty basic recipe using water and cornstarch. I've included the amounts I used, but you could probably adjust the amounts with the same results. To begin, boil 3 cups of water. In another bowl, add a small amount of cold water to 4 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a paste. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the boiled water. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture is thick, then add food coloring. Allow the mixture to cool and pour it into a Ziploc bag. You can also add glitter or small toys inside the bag. Seal the bag securely. I put a layer of duct tape or packing tape over the opening for added safety. Let your baby enjoy squishing and squashing the bag!

Update: While my original recipe did turn out okay, I've made a few more bags since then and tweaked our recipe a little each time. My most recent recipe had the most "bulk" to it. Mix 4 cups water, 1 cup cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar. Heat in a pan until thick. When the mixture has cooled, pour into a Ziploc bag. Put some drops of food coloring, and add glitter or small toys inside the bag. Seal the bag securely.

And, as always...

Read! Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma's current favorites are:

• Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
• The Napping House by Audrey Wood
• Moo, Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton

 
My 3 good things for today are:

1. I had everything on hand to make a squishy bag for Emma! There's nothing quite like finding a recipe that you'd like to try and already having all of the ingredients in your pantry. 
2. Moo, Baa, La La La! is such a fun book! It is always nice to find a book that Emma and I both enjoy, especially when she wants to read it over, and over, and over again!
3. I got all the laundry done today - even laundry basket is empty - for the next five minutes at least!

Toddler Activities: 14 Months Old (Part 2)

Here are a few more simple activities that you can do with your 14 month old. You may also be interested in Part 1.

Jumping in Leaves: Okay, so this is really more of a seasonal activity than an age-specific activity. I have as much fun jumping in the leaves as Emma! We get a lot of fresh air and exercise playing in the leaves outside, and it's actually a great sensory experience for Emma as she feels and hears the crunching leaves around her.

Piggy Bank: Whenever Grandma and Grandpa come to visit, they bring coins for Emma's college fund. Emma loves to put the coins in her little piggy bank and hear the quarters and dimes go plink, plink, plink. It's also a lot of fun to empty the bank and let her drop the coins in one after the other. We practice counting and Emma works on her motor skills by carefully lining the big quarters up with the narrow slot. Little ones should always be supervised when playing with coins since they are a choking hazard. 

Box Adventures:  I got a new bread machine this week because my old one died,  not very gracefully, while burning making its last loaf of bread. So not only did I get a new toy, but Emma got two new boxes to play with! Let be honest, everything is more fun in a box! She read in the box, played puzzles in the box, even sat in the box and talked to her doll. It's a great reminder to look for play in the simple things.

And, of course...


Read! Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma's current favorites are:

• Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
• Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet

My 3 good things for today are:

1. I got all of the leaves in the front yard raked into nice, neat piles.
2. Emma already has a start on her college fund!
3. Four words: Fresh Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Yum!

A Family Date: Corn Maze

A great family activity for the fall is to visit a Corn Maze! I feel very fortunate to live in the Midwest, where we're able to visit a local farm to pick our own pumpkins, or drive a few miles to to the largest corn maze in the state.

If your home is located where this type of outing is possible, I would highly recommend it. Derek and I reallly enjoyed it, and Emma had a blast, as you can see from the pictures!

We went to the Twin Cities Harvest Festival and Maze in Brooklyn Park, MN. Near the Twin Cities, there are at least half a dozen corn mazes including Sever's Corn Maze and Fall Festival which is celebrating its 16th year of fun and games. Many have other activities, such as hayrides, pumpkin slinging, and even haunted houses!

We chose the Twin Cities Harvest Festival this year because it fit our budget and had activities that we thought Emma would enjoy. I'm sure we'll visit other venues in future years as Emma gets bigger and is able to appreciate some of the other activities they offer.

The attractions we enjoyed most were the corn maze (of course!), as well as the giant corn pit, and petting zoo!

My 3 good things for today are:

1. We had a great, fun-filled day together as a family, for about the same price we would pay for movie tickets.
2. Something we really appreciated about the Twin Cities Harvest Festival is that they donate a portion of every ticket sold to the Minnesota Military Family Foundation. So we helped support a good cause in addition to having fun!
3. We got some great family photos to remember the day!

What fall activities do you like to do as a family?

Toddler Activities: 14 Months Old (Part 1)

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

Stickers: Toddlers love stickers! Plus, manipulating stickers with their tiny fingers is great for fine motor development. Emma can't peel stickers off the sticker sheet by herself, so I peel off a dozen or so and lightly stick them to a piece of plain paper. Then she entertains herself by unsticking and re-sticking them all over the paper. Playing with stickers can also be a great counting and color sorting activity!

Pom Pom Drop: I first saw this idea from how we montessori on Pinterest, and logged it away in the back of my brain. Then the other day, Emma and I were over at my mom's house and my mom and I were busy with a project in the kitchen. Emma was getting bored, but we needed a few more minutes to finish, so I whipped up this quick activity for her. All you need is an empty toilet paper roll or paper towel tube, some tape, a bucket, and a handful of pom poms (or small blocks, or crumpled paper, or really anything that will fall through the tube). Then let your baby drop the pom poms through the tube and into the bucket. Repeat! I'll be honest: After a few minutes, Emma decided it was more fun to just carry the bucket around and scatter the pom poms on the floor like she was planting seeds. But it did capture her attention for those precious few minutes and we will certainly be trying it again. 

Ball pit: Emma was first grandchild and niece for both sides of our family, and subsequently, she is quite spoiled! In fact, for her first birthday, she got a personal inflatable ball pit! It's the kind of thing that I would probably never buy for her myself, but she really does love it, and it can be a great way for her to expel some energy. For those of you who don't have an overzealous Auntie to buy an inflatable ball pit, you can also use your Pack-and-Play or plastic kiddie pool. The balls themselves are actually pretty cheap. You can order them from Amazon, and we've actually picked some up at our local Goodwill and Once Upon a Child since Emma's birthday.

And, of course...

Read: Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma's current favorites are:

• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin   
• Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide
• When My Baby Dreams by Adele Enersen

My 3 good things for today are:

1. I've finally gotten over a nasty cold! Maybe it will be my only one this cold and flu season. Maybe? Maybe?
2. Grandma gave Emma a whole book of new stickers that someone else was just going to throw away!
3. Emma giggled and giggled and mooed when we read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Too cute!

Toddler Activities: 13 Months Old (Part 3)

Here are a few more simple activities that you can do with your 13 month old. You may also be interested in Part 1 and Part 2.

Stuffed Animal Hide & Seek: Emma is very active and loves to explore. One of the games that we play is to hide a few of her stuffed animals throughout the house, then hunt them out! Starting out, it works best to use toys that make noise so they are easier to track down, and as your baby gets more advanced, you can turn down the lights and search with a flashlight!

Paper Tube Megaphone: One of the ways babies learn is through their sense of sound. Distorting and magnifying your voice can be an interesting experience for your little one. Make a paper tube megaphone out of empty paper towel rolls or toilet paper tubes. I put painters tape (the first kind of tape I found in the drawer) on both ends of ours because Emma tends to put the end in her mouth when she talks into it and I didn't want the paper to disintegrate if it gets wet. Sit on the floor, facing your baby and talk through the paper tubes. Let your little one hold and talk through their own paper tube.

Forest Sensory Basket: Discovery baskets, or sensory baskets, are a simple way to engage your little one in learning about the senses as well as language learning. When Emma was younger, we had a lot of fun with our ribbon sensory basket, but now that she is older and less apt to put things in her mouth, we are expanding our sensory experiences! In our forest sensory basket, we have a variety of stones, twigs, leaves, acorns, and pinecones. Let your child touch and explore each object, and try to use many different words to expose your child to language as you describe the texture or appearance of the objects as hard, crunchy, shiny, etc. Let your child move things around, and you can describe objects as they are over, under or beside each other, etc.

And, as always...

Read! Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma's current favorites are:

• Bread and Jam For Frances by Russell Hoban
• Numbers from Nature by PlayBac
• The Game of Finger Worms by Hervé Tullet

My 3 good things for today are: 

1. Emma and I had a lot of fun exploring the backyard for items to put in our forest sensory basket. 
2. I got to enjoy a long, hot shower this morning, while Emma babbled into her paper tube megaphone.
3. We are having apple pie for dessert tonight! 

A Family Date: Apple Picking

Apple picking at a local orchard is not only a wonderful way to support local farmers, and a great opportunity to get your hands on some fresh produce, but it really is family fun for all ages! In fact, it was one of our first big outings after Emma was born.

Last October, when Emma was about two months old, we took a family trip to Apple Holler, a sixty acre orchard in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. Emma enjoyed the sights and sounds, but wasn't able to take pleasure in any of the apples personally.


Due to some unusual weather patterns this year, the apple season is early, so we are heading out to our local orchard in September. This year, Emma was a lot more hands-on... from helping us pick the apples, to taking samples of the produce. We all appreciated the fresh, crisp air and exercise - which including carrying a few dozen apples back to the car. 

You may be thinking, "My family would never eat that many! What would I do with all those apples?" I'm so glad you asked! We split ours into three piles and made applesauce, apple butter, and apple pie! Now you may be thinking, "I have a family! When would I have time to make all that?" I'm so glad you asked! 

I'll let you in on my secret weapon: my crockpot! Without it, I would probably never make applesauce or apple butter, and would just have dozens of apples slowly rotting on my counter. Below is my applesauce and apple butter recipe. Don't let the laid-back nature of this recipe fool you - it's fantastic - it just also happens to be really, really easy.

Lazy Lady/Toddler Mom Applesauce & Apple Butter

 

Ingredients:

12 medium apples (I always say about a dozen, but it's really however many it takes to fill your crockpot) 

1-2 cups granulated sugar (to taste)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

enough water to cover the bottom of your crockpot

 

Directions:

1. Turn your crockpot on high and add just enough water to completely cover the bottom.
2. Chop and core your apples. I like big chunks. No need to peel them.
3. Dump your apples in the crockpot and cover. Let them simmer for about 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally. I've never had a problem with them burning, but the stirring helps to break up the apples more quickly. 
4. When the apples reach a consistency that you're pleased with, (generally the mixture is thickened and light brown) add one cup of sugar and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to the crockpot and stir thoroughly. 
5. Taste the applesauce. If you'd like it a little sweeter, add more sugar. Using a sweet variety of apple, such as Gala, results in a naturally sweet applesauce, so you'll probably add less sugar.
6. And...you're done. I like slightly chunky applesauce, so I end right there. If you'd like it to be a smoother consistency, you can run the mixture through a food mill or blender.
7.  Applesauce is great served warm! It can also be canned, or spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze.

To make Lazy Lady/Toddler Mom Apple Butter I use the same method, but instead of being done at Step 6, I use an immersion blender (or pour into a regular blender) to puree the apple mixture until perfectly smooth. Apple butter can be served immediately on breads or muffins, and can also be canned, or spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze. 

 

I'm afraid I don't have a secret weapon for homemade apple pie. Although if I did, it would probably store bought refrigerated pie dough. (Who has to know?) Unfortunately that kind of deliciousness requires actual effort, albeit very little.  

For my homemade apple pie, I thinly slice 6 medium apples. In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Add your apple slices and mix gently. Pour your apples into a prepared (or store bought) pie crust and top with a second crust. Press your crust edges together to seal. You can do a pretty fluted pattern if you want to. Cut slits in several places in top crust to let steam escape. Bake the pie in a preheated 425°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

My 3 good things for today are:

1. Applesauce!
2. Apple butter!
3. Apple pie!

What is your favorite apple recipe?