Shamrock Onesie

Only 2 more days until a new month- March! Time just flies by. 

The other day I decided to make Weston a shamrock onesie so he can wear it a few times next month for Saint Patrick's Day. 

All you need is Steam a Seam 2 Fusible Web:

And the shamrock template: (print the size you would like, trace on the fusible web paper, iron on opposite side of fabric and cut out)

Peel off back of shamrock paper and iron on onesie!

Tada!

Then I realized that this shamrock looked really boring. So I sewed a few colored buttons on it. 

Weston loves his new shirt!! :)

Kisses from W!

Crockpot Pork Chops with Onion

I have been trying to use the crockpot more lately. It has helped out tremendously on the days that I have photography shoots. I get home and dinner is ready to go and the house smells so yummy!
Back when I did the Shoprite from Home pick-up, my personal shopper bought me a crazy amount of porkchops! We are down to the last half dozen now!! Here is a recipe I found online that Chad and I really enjoyed:
Crockpot Pork Chops with Onion

Chalk :)

Another beautiful day!!!

 

Weston's Room = Lots of Fun!

Yesterday was icky and rainy outside so after having a playdate at our house and naptime we decided to hang out in Weston's room. Change of scenery is always nice. Weston got to play with all of his toys that are upstairs while I practiced using my new camera lens. :) We both had lots of fun!

Signs of Spring

Yesterday felt like Spring time here in Maryland! It was beautiful outside. Weston and I spent a lot of time outdoors and we loved every minute of it! Of course the wagon had to come out of the garage and for about an hour I pulled him around the front and back yard. Oh and Monkey joined in on the fun too! As I was pulling him around, I was noticing all of the flowers already starting to break through the soil! My Yarrows, Carnations, Tulips, Daffodils, Black-Eyed Susans...

So Weston and I decided to collect some sticks to label the flowers. This was a great task for Weston and Monkey guarded the sticks in the wagon. 

Now most of the flowers are labeled. I am still trying to figure out the names of some of the plants?? I am so excited for Spring to come and ready for all of the beautiful colors this season brings!

$70 Grocery Shopping Challenge- Weeks 3-5

My $70 Grocery Shopping Challenge has been going really well! I cannot say that I have stuck to $70 every week, but I have been thinking long and hard before I put each grocery item in my cart. 

Week 3: $71.96

Week 4: $75.71

Week 5: $75.42

These prices are all from Wal-Mart. I also have to make a trip to Shoprite or Giant to get our lunch meats for the week (since Wal-Mart does not carry Boars Head) which adds to the price of the grocery bill. My sister insists that Shoprite has the best prices. So I will try grocery shopping at Shoprite next week. 

BEST grocery cart ever!!!! Weston loved driving around the store!

Bathroom Remodel- Weekend 5

There really is not much to post about the bathroom. It is slowly coming along. Last weekend Chad worked on the bathroom all day on Sunday and in the morning on Monday. He did accomplish a few tasks:
1. Prepared the walls for drywall
2. Completed the sub-floors
3. Got the plumbing pipes where they are supposed to be :) Not sure if I even make sense!?
At this point we were hoping to be finished the bathroom by now, but I am not sure if we are even half way there? After the dry wall is up, we will be able to start working on the fun stuff like tiling, installing the wainscoting, painting... all the pretty stuff! I cannot wait!!
Weston is enjoying the new bath tub! He splashes like crazy and even goes under the water! What a little fish! He LOVES the bubbles too. 

 Me... I have not enjoyed the bath tub just yet. I told Chad that once the bathroom is completely finished I want to have one night of pampering myself! I seriously want to lock myself in the bathroom and take a nice long bubble bath!!!!

Pasta with Chicken and Vegetables ... yum!

Here is another recipe that I will be making once a month! We LOVED it!

TIME OUT!

TIME OUT! Some of you may think time out for a child Weston's age (14 months) is too soon. I seriously think he knows when he does something wrong (hitting) and why he is in time out. The only time we have put him in time out is if he hits me or Chad.  I have researched about this topic and most people say 18 months is about the time they started putting their child in time out. As a former kindergarten teacher I made sure my students knew their expectations. We had tons of fun and acted silly all the time. I was a pretty cool teacher (I think), but my students knew that they could not get away with anything either. As a parent, I want to have high expectations for my children and I want them to know that it is unacceptable to disrespect.  I guess I feel that I need to start at an early age so it does not get out of control. 

Weston always gets a warning. So if he hits me in the face (that is usually what happens) I tell him no and that it hurts mommy. If he does it again, I put him in time out and tell him that he cannot hit me. Most of the time he will sit there with a frown on his face and sometimes he will try to crawl away with  a lil' snicker. What a stinker. Right now timeout lasts for about a minute (or less).  After time out I tell him why he was put there and then I give him a hug so he knows that I still love him! I think it works!!

Weston's time out spot.

Daddy Time and Baked Mac & Cheese with Broccoli

I am sitting here tearing up and smiling the biggest smile possible just listening to Chad read Weston books before bath time. “On the night you were born the moon smiled with such wonder…” then Chad adds “You probably do not remember the night you were born. You probably do not even remember yesterday.” Ha ha. At the end of the first page Weston gets a little wiggly and Chad says “And lets skip to the last page and wrap this book up.” I love this book so much, but Weston is not a big fan of it. 

Chad told him to put the book away and pick out a new one. Weston tottered over to the bookshelf and kept rotating the square book trying to find the shortest side to add to the stacked books.  I eventually helped him squeeze the book into the bookshelf and he found another book “Where is My Valentine” lift flap book and he made his way back to daddy. Chad continued to read to him. Three books later Weston and Chad headed for the bathroom- bathtime!

Today was such a great start of the week! Chad had off of work for Presidents Day. He worked until lunch time on the bathroom and then we spent the rest of the day together as a family. I tried a new recipe tonight: Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli. It is actually a Weight Watchers recipe too! I added cut up grilled chicken to it as well. Chad and I loved it, but Weston did not like it. He is doing such a great job using his fork, but after getting the macaroni in his mouth he would spit it back out. Not sure if it was the onion or cheese? Maybe broccoli? This recipe made enough for another whole meal! So I froze half of it for next month. Yum! 

Mommy's Little Helper

The ants invaded our house today thanks to all of the food crumbs left by my little man. So he decided it would be nice to help me vacuum. So sweet. :)

I had to put my camera on self timer and run back to the vacuum. ;)

What a big boy!

Growing up...

Weston is growing up so fast. He is now considered a toddler, but in my eyes he is still a baby! Everything about him is changing!

BOTTLES: The doctor wants me to start weaning him off the bottle by the time he is 18 months. Weston was getting 4 bottles a day up until  he was a year old. (1 morning, 1 before morning nap, 1 before afternoon nap, 1 bedtime). We are now down to 2 bottles a day. He gets one bottle when he wakes up and another bottle before bed. I do not rock and cradle him with a bottle anymore and I miss that SO much. In the morning he sits/lays in my lap and drinks his bottle while we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I lounge there enjoying every minute. That is my cuddle time with my lil' man and I do not want that to go away! I seriously lay there smelling his baby smells, patting his adorable little legs, and smooching him every few minutes. :) At night he gets dressed in his pjs and drinks his bottle. Then we head to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 

TEETH: Brushing W's teeth has been a challenge. At first we started with a mini toothbrush from -the First Aid kit we bought at the store. He loved it! The first few weeks he would even brush his teeth after we would brush it for him. Then, he started to refuse us to even touch his mouth with the toothbrush. I went to the store and bought a finger toothbrush and non-floride toothpaste. What a wonderful idea because now he LOVES to brush his teeth again! I think he likes to taste the toothpaste. :)

NAP TIME: Surprisingly nap time has been amazing. Weston goes straight down. No cuddling. No rocking. This is what I MISS!!! But he does not want to be rocked, he wants to go right into his crib with Elmo, Doggy, and Monkey. I cover him up, tell him sweep dreams, and walk out. What a difference compared to me rocking him to sleep with his bottle and sneaking out after putting him in his crib. Afternoon naps used to be so hard because he would cry himself to sleep. Not anymore. 

WALKING: Weston is finally walking. He still crawls here and there, but he is practicing walking everyday. I love looking at his little face as he walks to a certain toy. He is just so proud of himself. Priceless. 

Finally Walking

PLAYTIME: Playtime is so different too! I will catch Weston stacking blocks (today I looked over and he had 6 blocks stacked),  pick up a toy phone and say "hello",  pretend to eat a lemon from his kitchen set and make a funny sour face, color for 20 minutes (which is an enormous amount of time to be sitting in a high chair for W), and clean up a lot after he plays. He will find a toy that does not belong in a certain spot and will take it to the right basket! We love to stay organized around here!!!

Weston's art work! He loves to stick stickers on it when he is finished coloring. :)

 Weston's block tower!! Wahoo!

MEAL TIME- Mealtime has changed drastically in the past few months. No more pureed food for this kid. Veggies are really hard to get him to eat (he will eat cooked carrots and parsley potatoes) so I give him the squeezie pouches with the pureed veggies and fruits inside of them.  I think he really likes that he is able to feed it to himself. Weston still does not like anything with tomatoes. You would think he would love pizza, but nope. He loves hard boiled egg yolks, bananas (now he refuses to eat them cut up and has to eat them whole like daddy- "nanas"), cookies (of course- "cook"), waffles ("wa-was"), and crackers ("crack"). Somedays I feel like pulling out my hair trying to satisfy his cravings! He will be so picky one day and not want to eat anything and then be a pig the next day. Oh and I feel like I should keep a dust buster strapped to my belt because I pick up food off the floor ALL.DAY.LONG!

 

Eating a banana!

Sausage Egg & Cheese Casserole

The Sausage Egg & Cheese Casserole is definitely my "go to" recipe when I do not have time. I buy a pound of the Bob Evans Maple Sausage and brown it all. Then, I half the crumbled sausage and freeze one half for later when I make this casserole again and the other half will be used now! It is one of my favorites and Chad's too! I think even Weston likes it. :)  Breakfast for dinner is always yummy! Guess what we are having tonight for dinner.... :)

Bathroom Remodel- Weekend 4

This past weekend Chad had his hands full watching Weston on Saturday. I had a newborn session in the morning and by the time I was finished and back home it was about time for his afternoon nap. So bathroom remodeling was on hold until Sunday. I can tell this is going to take a while!

On Sunday, Chad wired all of the electricity to the right spot. We will be installing a light and bathroom fan on the ceiling and also lights on each side of the vanity. Looking at our calendar we are a few weeks BEHIND! Not a surprise since I work mainly on the weekends and we are also working around Weston's nap schedule. That's OK. It will get finished.

Not our bath!! I wish! Just like the lights on each side of the vanity. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It is hard to believe that last year Weston was this little...

And this year he is this big!

Today Weston wore a special onesie that I made for him for Valentine's Day! 

These appliques are SO easy to make! All you need is double sided fusible web (I used Steam-A-Seam2) and fabric! The directions on how to do it is right on the package. Seriously it is fast and easy. :) Click on the image below, save it to your computer, and print as a full page if you would like a copy of the truck template that I made. I have seen where the truck is holding a tree at Christmas time. Maybe a carrot or eggs would be cute on the back of the truck for Easter! ;)

truck template

Weston reading his favorite book: "Ghost Gets Dressed"

Ghost wears a coat.

Ghost wears a hat!