Cereal Time

Alex has reached his time to start eating cereal. We are actually almost done with the rice cereal so it's almost time to go to the oatmeal. He is sooo messy. He has started teething, too... Alex is a Mr. Messy McDroolypants! He MUST wear a bib at all times, otherwise he goes through a shirt/outfit every hour!

 
It is fun and Andy like to try helping out with feeding his brother. He even tried the cereal... I told him he would not like it... Nope, he had to do it.

Yes, I had to ask him to make the face again so I could get a picture. It was too funny! I said it was for babies... Now when he sees me feeding Alex, he says, "Ew mama. baby." Yep, I told you, honey :)

Home Movies

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How a Toddler Watches a Movie

On the floor first

 Maybe I'll try the chair

 But this is the good part

 Oooh, Buzz and Woody are at Pizza Planet

 Now I will get in the chair

 My bus is in the way

Best seat in the house :)

The Simple Things

Yum! A delicious summer salad night :)

Chicken Spinach Salad with Mango and Nectarine - complete with a homemade honey-citrus vinaigrette. I made enough for Jason to take to work tomorrow, too!

Keeping a Toddler Entertained in Difficult Situations

Sometimes you just can't get a babysitter. Sometimes you just have to take the kids to your doc appointment, or make one sit through the other's appointment. Whatever the issue, there are plenty of time when I need Andy to sit quietly, be occupied, etc so I can finish filling out the 500 forms in the waiting room. Luckily, Cheerios are a lifesaver. The best ones for when we are out - Fruity Cheerios!! They are quite awesome :)

Another lifesaver in case of a meltdown...lollipops!

I've been a fan of Dumdums in the past, but the paper stick is so gross at the end. So these Airhead Lollipops are so much better in terms of the stick - it is plastic. 

Other things that are a good help:

Stickers!

Mini coloring books and crayons

Mini Thomas trains

Anything in the grocery cart that is ok for a toddler to hold in order to "help" Mama :) 

Gotta love being a mom! I remember my mom always saying that she felt like a Jack Russel Terrier - always digging in her "bag of tricks"  LOL I definitely understand now... ;)

The World Of Coca-Cola Picture Show

Apparently, my video I post on Day 3 did not load properly. Lame. Hope this works! Enjoy!

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Click HERE to see Day 1

Click HERE to see Day 2

Click HERE to see Day 3

Mini Trip - Day 3

A whole day - just Jason and me!!  YAY!! There are a TON of pictures!! First, we went to the World of Coca-Cola! And there were waaaay too many pics to post, so how about a movie of the pics with a super fun song?! YAY!

Song: "Open Happiness [Butch Walker Original Coke Mix]" 

This song was played all over the Coca-Cola place - different versions here and there. Very cool :)

Then, had a yummy lunch at Mellow Mushroom (it's a tradition of ours to go there when we travel lol).

How cool are those mushrooms?

Then, we FINALLY saw Harry Potter!! Great movie!!

We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and headed home to our little men. It was such a great day! :D

We headed home in the morning after breakfast. Now to get our Max from his visit with his buddy Tango!

Click HERE to see Day 1 if you missed it!

Click HERE to see Day 2 if you missed it!

Mini Trip - Day 2

Our second day was filled with pools, parks, and playing with the phone in our room and watching some tv :)

Getting ready to head out to the pool. Not sure what that face is that Alex is making! LOL

The best chubby cheeks!

Alex got cold, but we made up for it by snuggling in the sunshine :)

Completely wiped out by the pool. He fell asleep in his wet clothes while holding onto his hat! Funny guy!

I'm really sad that the pics of Andy I took didn't turn out. They were all blurry! UGH!! LAME!! But there are tons of just Andy pics, too, so it's ok :)

Swing, swing, swing on a summer day!! :D Andy's favorite thing to do outside! 

 Calling China...

Ah, tv - a wonderful distraction while I hide phone. LOL- Isn't he a little man watching his show?

Ok, more pictures coming up! 

Click HERE if you missed Day 1 :)

Mini Trip - Day 1

We headed out to Villa Rica, just outside of Atlanta, this past weekend for a mini trip to visit his parents. Andy and Alex played and played with their grandparents while Jason and I did a lot of thing together without the kids which was fantastic! It was nice to just be us two again for a bit :) I took about a million pictures, too. HA!

 Heading out with a car packed so strategically that I felt as if one thing moved out of place, the car would burst! LOL

Mr Alex enjoying the sky and his hands :)

Uh-oh... WALL-E is over. We are almost there, sir.

Well, he may have calmed down, but he is very upset with me not starting the movie over...

When we got there, our angry little men were fed and then went down for naps. Yep, no one wanted to sleep on the way... Anyway, Jason, his dad, and I went around the place we were staying at, Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Plantation, to check out what all there was to do and see. They had a nice lake where could rent boats and a super busy "beach" (I'm a Floridian at heart...if it is not a gulf or ocean, it's not a beach). We found the golf course, too. There were doing some maintenance to the greens, but we still decided to play. Especially since I was going to tear up the course trying to hit the ball play. LOL. Jason and Mark both said that I actually didn't do all that bad for my first time in a long time playing. I took lessons when I lived in Georgia, so I remembered some of the things. Then, I got Jason to go out with me teach me how to play when I first met him. So, I have played...I'm just horrible.

BUT, I DID BIRDIE A HOLE! (I don't even know if that is how you say that...I know that I shot one under on that hole...) So, maybe I am not that terrible! I really had fun playing with Jason! It was just like when we were dating again! We talked about playing golf together more often, too. Yay!

 My Super Hot Golfer :)

Good times, but it was a hot afternoon. Good thing we had a nice breeze. 

More pics to come...plenty more! :D

Wordless Wednesday

Love those chubby cheeks!

Wordless Wednesday

A super fun 2 days with my mom and youngest brother, William!

It's Goes In Your Tummy, Sir...

Mr. Andrew has decided to become Mr. Pickypants lately. Is this another fun part of that becoming a 2 year old stage? I'm not saying Terrible Two's...he's not terrible. But, it would be much appreciated if he would be my awesome eater again. We asked him to just eat one green bean. Just one. One yummy, very crunchy green bean (frozen ones or fresh ones are better than canned...thus the crunch). And, he pretends to eat it. Smiles a sneaky smile. And...drops it back onto his plate.

Um, no. That was not eating a green bean.

I told him that it goes in his tummy. Not on his plate. And what does Mr. Stinkerpants do? He lifts his shirt to stick it in his belly button. 

Hahahaha!! Jason and I lost the green bean war from there. We were laughing so hard!! Finally, I tried again and said, "Andrew, you eat the green bean. That's how it gets to your tummy." He just looked at us and started laughing.

I guess we will try the green beans again another night. I love my little stinker :D

The Simple Things

Yummy goodness: a batch of homemade whole wheat waffles for the freezer :) I have a happy hubby!

Winnie the Pooh!!!

This morning, I took Andrew to his first movie theater movie!! I tried once last summer to those free summer movies, but it didn't work out so well. So, it didn't count. :) Well, he had seen the commercials for the new Winnie the Pooh movie and looked interested. I asked if he wanted to go see that. LOL - He ran to get his shoes!! Sillypants! That was a week ago. Last night, I told him that after breakfast I was going to take him to go see the Pooh Bear movie. He was super excited and say, "OK!"

The morning finally came and he was pretty excited about it. I told him to eat his breakfast so we would get dressed. I don't think I've seen him eat breakfast that fast in a while!

I wish I had a picture of his face when we drove up to the Rave. It does look pretty cool :) He said, "Wooooow!!" and kicked those legs so fast! When we got up to the ticket booth, he waved at the guy. He's so friendly with everyone :) I gave him the ticket, but asked if I could take a picture of it when we got home. And, OUCH! It was 9:45 in the morning, people. My ticket was $7.50! Thank goodness he was free! Now, I remember why we quit going... Oh, well. I got Andrew some M&Ms (which he picked out - he said, "Mama, M's) and water and me a small coke. How much do you think that was? $14.50! WHAT!?! UGH! It's ok...this was Andrew's special movie day...and we don't do this that much, so whatever!

Well, Mr. Andy was sooooooo excited one we got closer to the movie. They had streamers and booster seats and coloring pages. WOW! I told him that it was like a really big TV. I don't know if he really knew exactly what I meant by huge until the previews to the previews started. Then his eyes were even bigger when the lights dimmed and the whole screen was lit. He whispered "wow" a few times. He is such a funny guy!

He really loved this movie, too! I loved it!! I was so happy that it was like the Pooh that I remember growing up. A true classic. Not one of these crazy movies that they re-do and it is horrible... It was so great!! And it was really funny!! I won't say too much since there are a few moms out there they may want to see it with their little ones. I definitely recommend taking the kids to this. It is so great to finally see a good movie with a positive message throughout the whole thing that is very clear! Little kids need that simplicity :)

How We Got Andy Ready to be a Big Brother

Welcome to Toddler Talk Thursday! This week it is all about bringing a new baby home with a toddler in the house. Luckily, I cam from a big family so I stole some ideas from my mom - thanks!! I am the oldest of 6 kids (and the ONLY girl!) and the youngest is starting 4th grade this coming year. Crazzyyy!! Anyhoo! Here's what Jason and I did to help Andy get ready to meet Alex!




Books, books, books! Lots of great picture books about being a big brother! Picture books about babies and what they do. Even my parenting magazines that had pictures of babies, I would show him. He'd kiss them all, too!!

Quiet time: We started having little bits of time in the mornings and afternoons during snack time to learn how to play quietly. This would typically be a mini nap for Alex. Andrew still plays at the kitchen table with his puzzles while eating Cheerios.

Helper Rewards: We really made a big deal whenever Andy helped get the baby toys out and cleaned up before Alex got here. We had him help put the new clothes away - which were mostly his. He even recognized some of them! He would pick up an item and say, "Me." I would always tell him how nice he was to share his baby clothes with his new brother. He smiled big at that! He always got stickers for helping out with anything having to do with Alex.

A fun thing for Andy was whenever we went to the store to get something we needed for Alex (before he arrived), I had him pick something out for his baby brother. He knew that item was for the baby and that he picked it out special for him.

Andy is a superstar big brother! Now, as the months go by, I see them becoming friends each day. Alex laughs at his brothers silly faces and Andy is so happy to see his little brother smile :)

Beyond Belief - My Apologies

Note: I am very upset of the poor portrayal of Catholics (and others that believe in Mary similar to us) on ABC's Primetime Nightline Beyond Belief episode. The show did have a few good and well-known stories, at least. I apologize in advance if I offend anyone in any way. However, I feel that when my faith is made out to be a joke, then something(s) do need to be said.

Yesterday, I wrote a post about ABC's Primetime Nightline Special on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Well, never again will ANYTHING be posted about ABC by me! There are a few things that I would like to point out.

Their first story was about the visitation at Caritas of Birmingham. I ran at the commercial break to see where this place was as I have never heard of it (and apparently is quite close to us). No story of it or anything. NOTHING. But I did find out 2 interesting facts about Caritas:

1) The Diocese of Birmingham has warned its members to STAY AWAY and THEY DO NOT SUPPORT Caritas. Mother Angelica of EWTN also warns to keep away.



2.) A Bigger Issue: There is NO ecclesiastical evidence!! Mass has even been forbidden to be celebrated there.

Despite that upset, there were some wonderful stories of inspiration and miracles that were sprinkled in here and there. But, it was ruined it by making us Catholics (and other believers in Mary) out to be completely crazy. That is how I felt after watching this show. I was so very excited that something was airing about Mary. I will only say this about Bill Weir - how he got a career in journalism is beyond me. I was embarrassed for him as he asked one woman towards the end of the show if Mary tells jokes when she appears to her. Really, Bill? MARY IS THE MOTHER OF GOD. I am pretty sure she has much more important things on her plate than becoming the next host of SNL.

Finally, a few words on Mary: Please go here for a simpler version of the Catholic teachings of Mary. We do NOT worship her. I have heard that just one too many times and that seriously needs to be corrected. We pray to her. We hold her in high respects because she is the Mother of God. And, we do believe in the Holy Immaculate Conception. Yes, she was born without sin because God made it so. Those that really are against that belief... I'm sorry, I thought that God can do anything. If He wants to have His Son's mother be absolutely perfect in every way, then that's how it was to be. Ugh, I really dislike getting into these religious discussions, but when you attack my faith then it becomes necessary.

Exlore the Shore - Nick Jr. July Lesson Plan

We have started up again with Nick Jr's Lesson Plans. We had a break due to Alex being born and getting him situated with a routine that is more in sync with Andy's. Now that everyone is on the same "clock" around here, we can get back to doing some "homework." Luckily, he hasn't forgotten anything that he has learned from before! He knows half of the alphabet, just not in any order. He knows their sounds for most of those. So, yay! And he has become such a fan of Super Why! on PBS, too. So that has really been a big help with learning letters and their sounds when I wasn't able to get on that with him like I wanted to do.

But anyhoo! This month we are "Exploring the Shore" with the fabulous Moose and Zee! Andy has been learning all about animals that live in or near the water. We have been coloring page after page of sea creatures, matching the puzzle pieces to the pictures in books, and learning the animal names. So far, he likes the whale. LOL! He grabs the whale and say, "Wwwhhhhhaaaaalllleeee!" I got him the Melissa and Doug puzzles for this month - the Fish Colors and the Chunky Sea Creatures. He loves them!! I really love the Fish Colors one. The pieces are all the same size and shape so you can make the fish all different colors or match them up. Plus, underneath each piece is the word to go with the color. He was surprised with that. He saw some of the letters he knew and said, "Mama! O! E!"

I hope to make us some sea creature sugar cookies this weekend to go with our theme for this month. I am sure to have some little hands helping me out, too. :) We might even have a fish fry! That would be kinda odd though, huh? Learn about these cute fish and then eat it. But it is SOOOO good!!

We are also learning about the beach. I'm still deciding on whether or not I want to get him a sand box... Maybe if the summer stuff is on sale, then it will be an end of the month thing. I don't know. But, I am thinking that this weekend we will head out to Oak Mountain to play at the "beach" since we cant get down to Florida any time soon. Gosh, I miss living there. I WAS 20 minutes from the beach...now, sadly, I am 4 1/2 hours. UGH! LAME!! One day we will get back. I know it! Luckily, I do have some seashells. I think we will do some little crafty thing. Hmmm.... We will see.

If you are interested in the Nick Jr. Lesson Plans, click here for this month's activities! In the meantime, check out our fun we have had with puzzles and books!

My little guy cheesin' it up!

Pointing out the different sea creatures. 

He mixed up all the fish. Then said, "Uh-oh, Mama." LOL

Matching them together again :)

Our book we are reading this week (among a lot more - he loves books!).

Matching up the pieces to pictures in the book. "Whhhhhaaaalllle!!!!"

Wordless Wednesday

A gorgeous sunset over the weekend!

Homemade Bread

I am in love with the bread you get at Macaroni Grill, so I attempted to make it over the weekend. And, you know what? I think mine it better ;) Mine is maybe a bit healthier, too. Ready for the recipe?

3 cups AP flour (or whole wheat flour for an extra health kick)
1 tbsp Splenda w/fiber (or regular sugar/splenda is fine)
1 tsp salt
1 package quick active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups hot water
2 tbsp shortening
2 tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp mined onion flakes
1 tsp Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb Seasoning
1 tsp tarragon


1. In large bowl, mix 2 cups flour, Splenda, salt and yeast. Add hot water, shortening, and herbs/seasonings. Beat on lowest speed for about a minute, making sure to scrape sides. If you are using a stand mixer, the bread hook is the best one to use. Mix in remaining flour until smooth. Then mix on medium speed for another minute.

2. Flour up your hands and or workspace to form dough into a large ball. Place in a bowl that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover with a clean dish towel and let it rise for about 40 minutes. Random tip: If you happen to be doing laundry, go put this on top of the dryer. It will help speed up the rising due to the heat. That was a trick from my mom - a super chef in my opinion!

3. Once the dough is ready, preheat oven to 375.

4. Place dough on a cookie sheet that is either non-stick or has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cut a medium-sized "x" on the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Primetime Nightline Special: Miraculous Mysteries

Note: I cannot take credit for this information. My mom told me that this was going to be on. Thanks, Mom!!

Tomorrow night, you will have to tune into to ABC's Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief Series for a special on visitation and miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It will air at 9 pm CST.

Video courtesy of ABC News

I'm linking up with Holly at A life-Size Catholic Blog for this week's Pay it Forward :)

Vote for Andrew & Alex!

Hey, everyone! I tried not to post anything today, but I finally got the email from Gerber that Andrew and Alex's pictures were posted to the contest. So, could you please take a moment (Facebook users) and vote for our boys? Thanks!!

  Click here to vote for Andrew!

Click here to vote for Alex!