Lunchtime Rut

A few weeks ago, I ran into a real lunch rut.

It was after church one day, when Todd was complaining about how often I go to the grocery store for ham. "Are ham & cheese sandwiches the ONLY thing a little boy can eat for lunch every day?!!" he whines.

I said, "Yes, for now," and jumped on my blackberry while he was inside getting the goods. I started searching the interwebz for toddler-friendly lunch ideas.

That, my friends, is when I discovered the awe and wonder of wheat wraps.

 

Source: goodlifeeats.com via Molly on Pinterest

As much as I wish my son's lunch looked like that, it doesn't.  I tried to take a photo of his lunches, and sadly, it was kinda ugly.  Real ugly, actually.  As you can imagine, in the hands of a 16-month-old, a "wrap" doesn't stay "wrapped" really long.  But I know blog readers, and you'll all have a heart attack if you don't have a picture to break up long, written word.

Some of Saul's favorites include:

Wheat Wrap (cut in half)

Leftover Black Beans & Rice 

Turkey

Avacado

Wheat Wrap (cut in half)

Garlic Hummus

Blackforest Ham

Shredded Motzerella Cheese 

(I know I'm kinda mixing my cultures on that one, but he really likes it, so whatev)

Wheat Wrap (Cut in half)

A small amount of Cheddar Jack 

Boiled Chicken seasoned with Smoked Paprika 

Toasted until cheese melts for a Baby Quesadilla 

Wheat Wrap (Cut in half) 

1 egg - scrambled

1-2 leaves Fresh Basil 

A few hunks of cream cheese 

(In our house, this is called "Special Eggs" - for Saul, a baby breakfast burrito!)

And his all-time favorite 

Wheat Wrap (cut in half)

1/2 Creamy Peanut Butter

1/2 Nutella

1/2 Banana 

(Cut in half and wrapped length-ways in wrap) 

Since we aren't crazy about jumping on the pb&j train until we HAVE to, the last one is served as a snack if he's good ... aka If I need an excuse to eat Nutella. 

I hope this helps out some other toddler mommas that get stuck in the lunch rut.  It's a baaad place to be, y'all! Freshen it up for the little ones!

Swim Lessons

Maybe not, but this past Sunday, Saul and I took a drive down to my hometown to spend some time with some of my favorite people.

My childhood best friend, Haley, has been busy the past few months living in LA.  Um, yes.  My best friend is a movie star.

Anyway, she caught a plane back to the East Coast this weekend to surprise her mother, and we came down for some pool time.  I've spent SO MANY years at that exact pool in high school "studying" for exams, when really, we were just laying out.  So many good memories.

When we got there, we were totally surprised to see another friend! Kim, who is an amazing photographer with a passion for little ones. Check her out here.

She is SERIOUSLY amazing.  Hopefully, you'll be seeing some pictures of Saul by way of Kimberly pretty soon ...

Anyway, here's some photos of Saul getting loved on by a bunch of beautiful blonde women!!

He is just TOO cute. We had such a great time relaxing with my sweet friends. I can't wait to see them again!

And ... can Saul's eyelashes be any more beautiful?!?! I'm almost jealous. :) 

Pin-spiration Re-creation Interpretation

Whoa.  Did that blow your mind?!

Well, if you know what Pinterest is, I'm sure you're addicted.

I know I am ... only kinda.  But anyway, there's a million and one ideas that I would love for my own home, style, child, tummy, etc.

Well, I read on one of my fave blog - Amy over at A Good Life Blog - that she was putting some of that pin-spiration to work!  I decided to do the same and started very small.

I pinned this little idea from Brooke at Pure & Noble. 

 

Source: pureandnoble.blogspot.com via Molly on Pinterest

Too cute, right?  How earthy!  She used a tree branch for a curtain rod!

This morning, I had five minutes (!!!) to do something creative - and fast! I've been whining and complaining about putting up a curtain in our bedroom.  It's so open, you literally have to scrunch in the corner of the room if you want to change without all the neighbors seeing your goods.

So, I went to the backyard, got a stick, and VOILA!

 

Privacy AND style AND frugality! 

To show you how cheap I am, those curtains are made from a table cloth and some super-duper long piece of white fabric I found for .75 cents at the thrift store. 

Seriously, that "window treatment" cost me about ... $1.75. 

You just can't beat that with a stick. HA! 

Pun TOTALLY intended.

Keep Love Alive [Part 2]

Todd and I are planning on getting married pretty soon (who knows when, actually, because I'm so bad at wedding planning ... but that's a story for another day).

The pastor of our church has been coming over every Sunday evening to do some premarital counseling.

We are absolutely loving it.

Right now, we're focusing on communication and conflict.  Not because we have too much conflict, but because handling conflict constructively is essential to staying married.  The "title" or "motto" of the whole thing is to fighting FOR your marriage.

What I'm learning most right now is that so much conflict is a result of actually wanting to be more a part of your love's life.  That's odd, huh?  But it makes so much sense.

Talking to our pastor and working through this book has been so enriching to our life.  So today, in honor of my loving pseudo-husband, I'm going to post some random photos of us together over the past 3 years. Here we go!

First Photo of us snapped EVER.

First Wedding

About to board my first airplane

I think this is our first Christmas ... not sure, though.

In Puerto Rico in a Bear Grylls-style Beach Shack.

Dinner for his work - 18 weeks pregnant.

Now, for the mushy stuff...

To my sweet Bangel,

I am so thankful for you.  I am so happy to be by your side in this crazy life.  You are the most amazing pseudo-husband any woman could ask for.  I am in awe of what an amazing father you are.  You continually show your dedication to living a Godly life and staying close to Jesus.  I think you're right; I think that loving Him first does allow all the other areas of your life to fall together.  You're doing such a wonderful job in your role of man.  I am so proud to call you MY man.  You're the love of my life, and I wouldn't change a thing about our love!!

Have a good day, y'all.  Go love on your man! He's good to you!


PS!! My best friend, Marissa is giving away a BLOG MAKEOVER! She did mine, and I LOVE it! She was so easy to work with, insanely creative, and took care of it all super fast!  Go enter the giveaway here .  Read her blog, too.  She's SO FUNNY!!

It's about time!!

Seriously.  We're praisin' over here!

Last night, SAUL SAID HIS FIRST WORD.

Yes, you read that right.   Yes, he is 16 months old.  No, he's not talking.  It's all right. They say boys tend to take their time.

He says, "Uh-oh!" all.the.time and at the appropriate times, and "Ba-ba" for food,  but that's pretty much it.  On a lucky day, you might catch him say Dada when Todd pulls up from work, but barely any Mama to speak of.

But he's very chatty.  Just not in English.  He makes a million noises with his mouth and imitates animal sounds and all that fun stuff.  He communicates well, actually, just not with words. 

Well, like I said, this all changed last night!

HE SAID "HELLO."  How fitting, right? And let me just tell you, it's too adorable to handle.  You may or may not be able to make it out, but I can.  I'm the momma - translator of baby garble.

We don't let him play with cell phones (because we're old people) and so if he gets to handle a phone, it's the cordless (yes, we have one).  So basically, he picks up remotes and other large objects and puts them to his ear like it's a phone. 

HOW CUTE IS THAT??!! 

I'm so proud of him!

Note: The video is SO not about me, but I'll just apologize for still being in PJs with unwashed hair and no makeup.  Oh well. :) I wanted to catch his little words

Truth Bomb for Y'all.

Saul's room smells like poop. 

I'm not joking.  It's awful.  I need some momma-to-momma advice on this one.

I take the diaper pail out OFTEN.  I even wrap his poopy diapers in these tiny, orange, baby-powder-scented bags that tie up like grocery bags.  I put baking soda in the bottom of every fresh garbage bag. 

The poor little guy's room STAAANKS. 

We open the windows to air it out.  I'll even mop in there more frequently, and the poop smell isn't even covered by PineSol.

I need help on this one.  Seriously.  Do DiaperGenies really work?  Should I invest in one of those?  Can anyone really swear by those things?  Are diaper pails one of those things that you just have to keep buying each year?  Help!!

Love, M

Molly's Law

It's like Murphy's Law, but better.

I don't know much, but this much I know is true:

1. If I mop, then I subconsciously give myself license to drop bowls/cups full of sweet, sticky liquid all over the floor.  It happens every. single. time. without. fail.

2. If I clean the bathroom (the sink, especially), Todd will ALWAYS decide to trim his beard that night.  Again, every time.

3.  Anytime Saul comes up on a fun milestone, he gets sick.

• 4 Months - Eating.  He got a cold and had to postpone giving solids to him until he was well. 
• 6 Months - Crawling.  He got the mother of all colds, which turned into Bronchiolitis (or, something that sounded like it should be spelled that way). This turned him into a big ball of limp baby fever and coughing, and he quit crawling until he was better ... two weeks later. 
• 13 Months - Walking.  He got some WEIRD virus and rash. I had my blog then, so you know what a nightmare that was.  Before he got sick, he started trying to walk.  Once he got sick, he was too tired to try.  It took him until 14 months to walk because of that awful germ. 
• 16 Months - Talking.  Yep.  That's right now.  He's been trying SO HARD to communicate better for weeks now, and it's all shot to hell because of another cold.  CURSES! 

So basically, when it's time to potty training, I won't get my hopes up.  Little man WILL get sick before we master that skill.

Dream Dresses

I had to post this immediately.  I am so in love with these two dresses, I don't know what to do with myself.  I must find something comparable to either one of them immediately.

 This one might just be THE one, if I've ever seen one.  I mean just LOOK AT THE BACK OF THE DRESS!!

 

They're both SO me.  Too bad they're like a million dollars.  Okay.  Maybe not a million, but a lot. 

Summer Evenings

As promised, I caught a few photos from our daily (eveningly?? not a word) playtime in the front yard.

Saul's favorite game on the planet is to run full speed across the yard while we chase him.  He laughs SO hard.  I chase him while Todd and Colston play with the tennis ball.

 

I promise he has fun.  He doesn't always look terrified.  I just thought this was a cute picture, no?

 

Colston is a sweet pup.  He (sometimes) lets Saul steal his ball. 

 

 Then playtime resumes with a game of throw-Saul-into-the-air with Daddy.

 

Bad quality on that one.  My bad.  I thought I had edited it.  Too lazy to redo it. 

Anyway, there's a peek into our nightly routine.  I love this little family.

Tuesday = Monday

Since Todd is a hairdresser, Sunday is kinda' like Saturday and Monday is kinda' like Sunday, which means that the first post of the week is generally going to be on a Tuesday.  Hope that's okay.

We had a wonderful weekend.  I took lots of photos, much to Todd's dismay.

Saturday night, as I said, was spent at a neighborhood bbq.  We had so much fun.  I had no idea how many little ones there were in a quarter-mile radius.  And this was only 4 couples!! We had a wonderful evening watching the kids (8 of 'em!!) play.  There was wonderful food, even better homemade ice cream, yard games, and glow stick necklaces?



Saul has a girlfriend, y'all.  Her name is Soleil (So-lay - French for "Sun" So pretty).  She LOVES her some Saul, for real.  She kept trying to play with him and hug him and even once, she tried to carry him.  She is seriously darling.  She kept trying to get Saul to dance with her (!!!!) and kept grabbing his hands and saying, "Pwease!! Pwease!!"  He played hard to get.  Meh.

Sunday, we were 1 million miles an hour.  Cleaning, grocery shopping, and taming Saul meltdowns.  There are no pictures of said activities.

Yesterday, however, was so nice.  Todd got down in the kitchen making some down-home fried chicken.

I made angelfood cake/strawberry trifle.



Saul kept trying to get me to pick him up.   I've said it once, and I'll say it again: It's not easy to cook with a delicious little munchkin clinging to your legs.



I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!

Baby, you got it!

While I'm waiting for Todd to come home from work so we can go to our neighbor's for a bbq (when did I become such a grown-up???), I decided to post a few photos.  Photos, that happen to be the exact same stuff I always post - garden stuff and little man! What else is there to photograph??

Lazy Days of Summer.

After an unplanned and unexpected hiatus, I'm back.

I have great aspirations for blogging, and none of which will happen if I keep letting myself go weeks and months (eek!) without posting.  Here's a mid-year goal: post at least 3-4 times per week!

Here's a look at what's been going on around here.

Saul picks a LOT of vegetables.

 

He also EATS a lot of vegetables.  Here, he's enjoying a orange bell pepper - "Yummy Bell"

 

And sometimes he's just busy being absolutely gorgeous. 

Dad looking gorgeous

I manage to grab him occasionally to take a picture before he's off to get into something else.

Honestly, it's been a very lazy summer.  A lot of watering plants, sweet tea, trips to the river and splash-park, and just laying around on the leather couches to try to keep cool.  It gets so hot here, you can't even think about going outside between 12 noon and 6:30, so that leaves evening playtime in the front yard as the most exciting part of everyone's day.  I'll have to get some photos of that, too.

I'm sorry about the hiatus.  I'm fairly certain that I'm back.