Cousins!

Spring Chickens

Hand print paper plate chicken

I hosted a "Spring Chicken" play date today. I made bird nest cookies and deviled eggs and set up this cute paper plate chicken craft. The craft was a little more than what Calan is into doing, but it is good for older toddlers with a little preparation. 

Supplies

Construction paper (yellow and orange)

Yellow paper plates

Feathers (and any other fun decorations)

Googley

Glue

Fasteners

Scissors 

Hole-punch

Directions

1. Cutout two legs and a beak from the orange construction paper. (I did this in advance, so the kids just had to glue them on the plate)
2. Trace child's hand on yellow construction paper and cutout 2 hands for wings. 
3. Hole punch paper plate and hands and fasten with a fastener. (I did this so the wings were movable)
4. Glue on eyes, beak, and legs to plate. 
5. Decorate chicken. (I had feathers, stickers, crayons, pipe cleaners, and sparkle-glue sticks set out for them.)

Bird nest cookies: Melted butterscotch morsels, chow mein noodles, and jelly beans

Monday Game Plan: Family Family Time!

Sorry I was so silent last week, but I needed a little break. Everyone was healthy and in great spirits and we spent as much time as we could out playing and having fun. Our only hiccup was discovering Miss Maisie is allergic to eggs, but I'll tell you more about that later.

As for this week, I get to spend time with my family. Right now, I am sitting on a couch with my mother and watching a movie with my nieces. My sister and her family are visiting from Boston and my mom is down for a few days from the UP.

We spend a lot of time with my husband's family because we live close to each other, but it is really nice to spend time with my family. I have not seen my sister and nieces since last June. Maisie wasn't even born yet. We spent all day together hanging out. I think they are pretty smitten with Calan and Maisie.

As for this week, here is what we have going on:

• Monday - We spent time with my family. We went out to lunch and out to dinner. We played. We laughed. And we had a great time! We visited my grandmother and my nieces spent the night. Great day!!!
• Tuesday - Spending the morning with my nieces and mom. And then I need to run errands to get ready for a Wednesday play date.
• Wednesday - Mom's Club play date at our house and then an afternoon recovering and organizing from our busy week so far.
• Thursday - Not exactly sure yet, but thinking maybe something with my sister and nieces. We shall see.
• Friday - Either park play date or spending time with my sister or both
• Saturday - Royal Oak Adopt-a-Park
• Sunday - Church and family dinner

And our meal plan is:

• Monday - Out to eat at Brighton's Yum Yum Tree
• Tuesday - slow cooked lemon chicken
• Wednesday - ravioli
• Thursday - Taco salad
• Friday - BBQ chicken
• Saturday - leftovers
• Sunday - family dinner

We made it through

Between sickness, horrible sleeping, late work hours, and the passing of 2 grandparents (my grandfather last Sunday and Bob's grandmother), I am not sad to see March go. I am however grateful that we made it through.

It wasn't easy. I was pretty sure that I was going to loose my mind, but I didn't. We made it though. We survived.

I joke about mommy milestones (each time I do something I didn't know I could or would do), and to me last month was another mommy milestone. Life wasn't easy and I was tired most of the time, but I didn't go crazy and I think I only had one meltdown (I think).

Despite everything going on, we still had some great moments like Maisie learning to crawl and Calan going to the driving range. We didn't just stop our lives because times were hard. We kept moving along.

I know that life isn't always rosy and that struggles will always exist, but last month was rough and I actually feel a little empowered having made it through. I feel a little more energized heading into this new month knowing we made it through last month. I am happy for spring and all the new things to do and explore.

March you were rough. April be nice!

How? When? And What Do I Need to Start Cloth Diapering?

Maisie's diaper stash before she was born. I now just use the colorful diapers (Katy-dids and Oh Katy's) on the right

We decided to cloth diaper Calan before he was born. I would love to say that we did it for the environment, but honestly it was for primarily financial reasons. (Though to be honest not sure how much money we really have saved.) Before being pregnant, I would have thought someone who cloth diapered was crazy, but knowing someone personally who cloth diapered made the idea less crazy and actually feasible back then.

There is a ton of information out there on how to cloth diaper and how to start, but reading it and actually doing it are two totally different things. I remember taking a how-to class and when it was done, Bob and I just stood there still overwhelmed by all the different options. While the class was priceless and beyond necessary, we still stood there clueless on what we actually needed and how to actually start. We knew we wanted to cloth diaper, but standing there overwhelmed made the idea seen crazier than we had already thought. 

So here is my tips on what you need to do to start cloth diapering:

• Signup for a how-to class at your local diaper store. If you are from Metro Detroit, check out Modern Natural Baby's classes. If you are from Ann Arbor area, Little Seedling is your go-to (Bob and I took their class).
• Before you buy any diapers visit a diaper store and actually touch different types of diapers. Cheaper diapers are cheaper for a reason, but the most expensive are not always best either. 
• After looking through diapers, Google search reviews on the diapers. There are hundreds of Mom-blogs that review cloth diapers. Find out the pros and cons, but remember no diaper is perfect and there is no perfect diaper for every baby.
• Decide if you are going to cloth diaper a newborn or wait till they are about 12 lbs. Newborn diapering requires a few extra purchases, but is absolutely feasible. Decide what you want to do for night-time diapering. As a newborn, a thick fitted works great, but it gets trickier as the baby gets older. We use disposables now, but we used fitteds at night for about 13 months before we went to disposables. 
• Now that you are filled with knowledge, REGISTER (if this is before your first baby). My friends and family really helped us get started.

What do you register for? (There are a ton of lists online, this is just what I would recommend to anyone)

1. Wetbags (2 medium)
2. Pail liners (2)
3. Diaper sprayer 
4. 24 prefolds (if cloth diapering a newborn)
5. Minimum of 3 small diaper covers  (if cloth diapering a newborn)
6. 3 cloth diaper snappies   (if cloth diapering a newborn)
7. Minimum of 20 one-size diapers (this is your main stash)
8. Variety of extra diapers (all-in-ones, pockets, etc.) 
9. 3 thick fitted diapers (for night-time diapers)
10. 3 hemp inserts (for night-time diapers)
11. 3 medium covers (for night-time diapers)
12. Minimum of 20 cloth wipes (easier than disposable wipes when you are cloth diapering, I think)
13. Cloth wipe solution
14. Cloth diaper safe detergent (I use Allen's Naturally)

You can register for a cloth-diaper safe diaper cream and a diaper pail too, but I would just buy a jar of coconut oil and a plastic tall trash can with a flip-lid. Just make sure that the trash can does not have step pedal. It ruins the pail liner.

Also, ask any questions. I don't know a single person who cloth diapers who doesn't like talking about it. Those that cloth diaper actually want to share their knowledge, so ask! Good Luck!

Typical photo shoot

One photo and .... 

One second later

April showers

It's time to kick off April with a little umbrella and rain craft. Surprising, my little guy has been a little into painting lately, so I have been rolling with it. I found the idea for this craft at All Kids Network.

Supplies

Paint (or crayons or anything to color umbrella)

Template of umbrella

Glue

White construction paper

Blue ink pad or blue BINGO marker

Directions

Color or paint or decorate umbrella however the toddler wants. Let dry. Cutout umbrella and glue onto construction. Let toddler press fingers into stamp pad and press finger tips all over construction paper for rain drops or if using a BINGO marker let toddler use that.

You can also add rain clouds with cotton balls, but I left that part out.

I am still trying to find crafts that have about 10 minutes of preparation and about 10 minutes of activity since that is all the time that Calan usually wants to do them. He liked the painting part, but all he wanted to do with the ink pad was put the lid on and off and then just squeeze the pad part. He did not really get the whole stamp your finger tips on to the paper, so I had to basically stamp his hand and then stamp it on the paper for him. But overall, pretty easy craft for any toddler to do.

Reboot and Bring on the Crock-Pot

Today I woke up feeling more like myself than I have in weeks. I also went to bed last night at 8 p.m. rather than 11:30 p.m. Pretty sure that had something to do with it. I have dinner cooking, laundry running, dishes done, and both kids are napping. I'd say this week is starting off FANTASTIC. I'm just praying it stays that way!

It has not been easy planning meals this past week. Without the ability to taste anything, the idea of cooking has made me feel nauseous. We unfortunately ate out A LOT last week. I just didn't have the energy. It is kind of a vicious cycle because you want to eat well in order to feel well, but because you feel sick, nothing healthy sounds or tastes good.

So with the forced help of my wonderful husband, we did plan meals for the week. And to make it easy on me and with the least amount of effort, we planned only three Crock-Pot meals. Leftovers will fill in the end of the week. So here it is:

Menu
Monday: Slow-Cooker Chicken and Rice
Tuesday: Mile-high Enchilada Pie
Wednesday: Slow-Cooker Stuffed Peppers
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: TBD
Sunday: Easter (not sure yet what we are doing family-wise)

Events
Monday: Clean and organize and play outside
Tuesday: Royal Oak story time
Wednesday: Play date with Brandi
Thursday: Clean and organize
Friday: Bob has the day off not sure yet what we are going to do. We are kind of waiting to see what the weather will be like.
Saturday: Grocery shop and dye and decorate Easter eggs
Sunday: Special Easter breakfast than church and maybe brunch or dinner with family

Slow-cooker Stuffed Peppers

Recipe from Rival Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipes

Ingredients
1 package (7 oz) Spanish rice mix
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup diced celery
1 egg
4 medium green peppers, halved lengthwise, corded, and seeded
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10.75 oz) condensed tomato soup
1 cup water

Directions
Set aside seasoning packet from rice. Combine beef, rice mix, celery, onion, and egg in large boowl, Divide meat mixture evenly among pepper halves. Pour tomatoes with juice into slow cooker. Arrange filled peppers on top of tomatoes. Combine tomato soup, water, and rice mix seasoning in medium bowl. Pour over peppers. Cover; cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours.

Slow Cooker Chicken & Rice

Recipe from Rival Crock-Pot Slow-cook Recipes

Ingredients
3 cans (10.75 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 cup water
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
salt
pepper
paprika
1/2 cup diced celery

Directions
Combine soup, rice, and water in slow-cooker. Add chicken and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika. Sprinkle celery over chicken. Cover. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.