Never Buy Play Dough Again!

I still remember peering up to the stove while my mom stirred together a hot ball of sticky play dough in whatever color I chose. I loved that warm, soft, fresh play dough! I can't believe my daughter is over 2 and I am just now making it for her! 

This took my maybe 5 minutes! Less time than going to the store for it or even going to the right isle for it! I definitely will never buy play dough again now that I really know how easy it is :) 

Here is my recipe! I really want to play around with some of the recipes that don't use heat or cream of tartar but this classic recipe is foul-proof! 

Let your little one help stir and drop the food coloring in, I love this adorable new skill that Juliana has where every time she sees me working on anything she runs and grabs her little chair (or drum set........cause that's the same thing right? LOL) and brings it to stand right next to me and help. Sadly even on her chair she still can't see the counter -- though she can unbolt the deadlock on the door.....yep -- so she usually needs some help. I enjoyed making this with her this morning! And we are still playing with it now.

½ cup salt

1 cup plain flour

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon oil

Food coloring

1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium sized saucepan.

2. Stir over heat until dough is pliable.

3. Allow to cool and store in a well sealed plastic bag or container.

(saying "cheese!")

This makes enough for 2 kiddos to have a good sized lump to play with.

Happy Play dough Play!!!

Curious George Party

Last weekend we celebrated our firstborn turning 2!!! My gosh :( How fast time goes. She is in love with Curious George...in LOVE. 

It was a SUPER fun party theme. I love all the fun details and crafts when hosting a party, this one gave me plenty of ideas :) 

How cute is she in her George Skirt?

My dad is awesome and dressed up as The Man in the Yellow Hat

Fun food table

10 am is a good time for a 2 year old's party since it's pre-nap and morning is usually little kiddos best time of day. We did lots of morning food like bagels and cream cheese, pb&j's, cheese sticks, cherrio necklaces, apples and yogurt, fruit, etc :) 

Apples and Yogurt that I put a few drops of yellow food coloring in and suddenly......"banana" dip!

We gave each child a banana with a balloon attached for their "party favor". This acts as cute decor as well!

Baby love <3 p="">

Cake cones! These were fun! I poured cake batter into ice cream cones, then frosted. super cute. I wanted to use mini cones but seriously could NOT find them anywhere. Also if you make these leave the OUT overnight, don't wrap up or the cone will get soggy. Thankfully she's 2 and could care less :) 

For the banners I just cut triangles out of cereal boxes and glued on paper, done!

Such a fun party!!!!!!

Birth Story Finally!

Our precious son was born 4 weeks ago and I am just now able tor sit down and write out the wonderful story of how he came into the world!

I am not sure where the past 4 weeks have gone...not to sleep that's for sure! But we are loving EVERY minute with this boy. It is so much more fun the second time around -- is that ok to say? The first time you have so much stress about becoming a parent, what having a baby will be like, how your life will change, etc etc. But we both feel like the second time those things have already all happened, so you are just EXCITED! I have been able to enjoy these first few weeks so much more this time around since I know he's fine...he's not going to die if I don't check his breathing every 30 minutes :)

My first baby came fairly quickly so this time around since we knew we had an hour drive to the hospital we wanted to leave as SOON as I had contractions and just hang out, get dinner, go for a walk if needed to but I did NOT want to be in labor in the car. I am so unbelievably thankful that everything went so well. Praise God! I was more nervous about this labor actually because I did know the pain that was coming!

(fuzzy "Go Time!" picture)

I started having some contractions around 5 pm on July 24th, very sporadic and not painful at all. I knew this pre-labor could last a long time but I also had the feeling that once active labor started, it would go very quickly and I wasn't sure when that was going to happen! We were having a BBQ at my parents and swimming and stuff but about an hour later I told Jeremy to eat some dinner cause I thought we should go home and pack stuff up. We got to the hospital around 8 pm and they told me I was at 3 cm....and I was only having mild contractions. We decided to go for a walk, get some starbucks and come back later. We did this twice---- lots of walking and Jeremy reminding me things would start to happen soon. It was actually a really special time of walking outside, watching the moon, stopping to pray and I love remembering those feelings of excitement, anticipation, nerves and peace :) By midnight I was still at a 3 and was only having contractions if I walked.........ug what!?!?

I love my midwife and that hospital SO much. They were just so amazing the whole time. Instead of discrediting what I had told her about my first labor she agreed that once things actually started it would probably move quickly. They said we could stay in a postpartum room and sleep. She said we could stay the whole night if we wanted......so sweet. I don't know any hospital that would let you just sleep there all night even if nothing happened progress wise.

Jeremy promptly fell asleep :) Love him.
 But I could not get comfortable so I decided to go for a walk in the serenity garden. I had 4 intense contractions while I was out there (and of course texting -- haha shout out Whitney and Heather :) so at 1 AM  I came back and said, "Ok I think I should at least get checked out." I started shaking pretty badly, also another clue things were moving along!



When I got checked I was at a 7 ! Yea! I was shocked I went from a 3 to a 7 in an hour, yea! Things moved so quickly from there on out. They knew I wanted to labor and deliver in the tub so they made such a nice area with candles and music. So funny that after all those Bradly Classes my hubby and I took (and all his handouts he had in his pocket to remember........he's cute :) things again moved so quickly we didn't use much of them! But the information was definitely there in my mind! I kept doing what my instructor had said and with each contraction envisioned the baby's head moving down.............and............yes by the end all Bradley went out the door and I was screaming again like last time.
 Oh well!  

It's hard work.



Seconds Old!





(ahhhh all done!)

Jeremy was such an amazing coach. I love that we did those classes together, it made our teamwork a lot more fluid. He did such a good job encouraging me, putting cloths on my head and so much more!

My mom and sister got there in time but my other 2 sisters arrived 10 minutes after he was born!



 I felt so bad after they drove so far at 3 in the morning. This labor was so different from my first in so many ways! It was VERY different not having my water break till the end this time, I prefer it breaking in the beginning!!!! Also this boy's head and shoulders were much larger.............................enough said.
Ouch.
I did not enjoy pushing the head out,,,,,,,,,,,,,then pushing the shoulders out.

William was born at 3:09 am weighing 7 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long, head 14 inches. 





I am SO thankful for how this birth went! That moment when you grab your baby is unlike anything I have ever experienced. There are so many emotions (and JOY from knowing you are done with that pain!).
It was so amazing to have him Thursday morning and be eating dinner at home Thursday night.



I love this boy! 

Newborn Pics!

Here's our precious new son!

William 

I have been taking a little break from blogging to hang out with this boy! Also get some much needed rest :) 

I promise the birth story next!

So much chub

hahaha I love this picture :) She is in heaven holding him and he is NOT

We are in Love :) 

He is HERE!!!!!!!!!

Yea!! So happy to say our baby boy is HERE!

 I will post the whole birth story and everything else later this week but for now my hands are full with him and my toddler and husband back at work :) Unfortunately I'm also dealing with a nasty infection I picked up at the hospital so I will post pictures soon!

We are in love!!!!

38 weeks!!!!!!! Fullllllll term :)

Well I am 38 weeks today :)

 I am deciding not to dwell on the fact that today is the day (gestationally) that my 1st was born but this little one seems more than happy to continue to chub up in there. He will come when he's ready I guess! That's the bummer about being early the 1st time, you almost expect it the following times!!! So I am drinking some coffee, eating my second chocolate chip cookie (after I just had an ice cream sandwich :) And enjoying the time I have left with just one kiddo! While part of me really wishes I could know the day he was coming so I didn't have to clean my house every night because "surely tonight my water will break like last time!" the other part of me loves that it is a complete mystery and surprise.......few things in life are like that! 

haha notice the boppy and carseat ready to go?!

How far along - 38 weeks, full term baby! 

Weight Gain - 23........Thankfully stayed the same for 4 weeks! 

Morning sickness/nausea -NONE!

Physical changes - Lots of Braxton Hicks this week, noticeable dropping, pressure.......ya know all the good ol' pre labor stuff!

Pain - BACK! Mainly from carrying around my nearly 2 year old but whatcha gonna do

Sleep - Not great but better than it will be in the coming weeks this I know! :) 

Stretchmarks - 1 on my belly :( A leftover from Jules!

Maternity clothes - I think I live in workout clothes.........

Food cravings/aversions - Snow cones? Anything cold

Boy or Girl - My sweet boy with no name yet still  :) 

Lowlights of the week - Nothing! A fever bug is going around my family and I am praying it stays away from our house, I want a healthy house for baby!

Highlights of the week - Got to see the midwife that delivered Juliana yesterday and it was so great! I finally after 2 years got to see her again and thank her for being so amazing at my last birth! I SO hope she is on call when I have this baby!!! 

37 week maternity pictures!

We finally got some maternity pictures done! I wasn't planning on waiting to 37 weeks to do them but hey! 

I love love love them!!!!!!!! 

Of course it was nearly impossible to get my not even 2 year old to smile and cooperate but they still turned out cute! 

I am SO anxious for this boy to come! 

I love these pictures!!! So glad we have them to always remember this special time :)