homeour storymy baglink loveContact me

✍ All sorts of new and exciting things coming up for the cast of L to the Third so stay tuned!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Spring has sprung




{Spring has officially arrived here in El Paso; my friend's apricot tree was just bursting with beautiful blooms and the bees were out in full force harvesting nectar.  It's quite nice seeing everything in bloom, especially after several months of barren brown, even if it means dealing with my seasonal allergies for a bit longer.}


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A small milestone


Generally speaking, Sammy's a pretty risk-adverse toddler.  While other parents lament their child's latest attempts at scaling the bookshelf or jumping off of the dining room chairs, I just sit back and thank my lucky stars that Sammy has shown no interest in the slightest in attempting any of those things (knock on wood).  Unfortunately, this trait also means that Sammy is usually a big ol' stick in the mud whenever we go to the playground--he doesn't climb with abandon and the prospect of going down the slide is usually met by screams of protest.  However, this stage may be coming to a pass--at yesterday's play date, not only did Sammy climb the ladder all by himself, he also did it without any pleading or cajoling on my part.  And then the best part happened--he actually sat down, scooted up to the edge of the slide, and went for it.  Sammy stuck the landing, stood up and proudly said, "I did it!" and then proceeded to do it another twenty or so times.  Looks like someone is going to be having a lot more fun at the playground from here on out.

Monday, February 27, 2012

A recipe recap


I've been slacking off to the extreme in regards to meal making around here; food has just not been doing it for me lately.  But that doesn't stop me from perusing some of my favorite web sites in the hopes that something, anything, will actually entice me.  And then I saw it--a beef stew chock full of yummy veggies and egg noodles.  I looked the recipe over and it seemed pretty straight forward, so Sammy and I headed off to the grocery store to get all of the needed supplies.  I made it for dinner last night and it turned out pretty well, although I may try making it again with some slight modifications so that the stew turns out a little thicker (I bet it's going to be even better as leftovers for lunch).  Sammy's favorite part was the noodles and potatoes--he's a kid after my own heart.


I decided to strike while the iron was hot and picked up the necessary ingredients to make a few smoothie recipes that I've had my eye on for a while now, too.  Sammy and I taste-tested a blueberry-cucumber smoothie yesterday (I know, I know, it sounds gross, but it was actually pretty good) and we've also got all of the ingredients to make a peach, berry and spinach smoothie, so that's going to be on the menu at some point today.  I've been trying to find a way to get more greens into our diet, so I'm hoping that this unusual smoothie will be a winner--especially since Captain Husband can't stand spinach on its own.  Have you tried any new recipes in the kitchen lately?

and
 then, she {snapped}


Oh, and before I forget, if you have a moment please go on over to Ramblings and Photos where you can vote for Sandy Cat's love letter to Kitty Paw--she's listed as number 10. Sandy Cat and I thank you!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Foto Friday: Emotion


A certain someone is very happy sleeping in his big boy bed.  And another certain someone (me) is very happy that he's taken to the transition so well.  It took Sammy about two nights (and two minor falls) to get the hang of it and he's been sleeping through the night without incident ever since.  The only downside so far is that Sammy is now consistently getting up for the morning at about 6:45 am...a full hour and a half earlier than he used to when he was confined to his crib.  While Sammy may be a morning person, I most certainly am not.  But I have to admit that I'm slowly beginning to appreciate the extra hour or so that I now have to get things done around the house.  However if anyone has any ideas on how to get Sammy back to sleeping in again like he used to, let me know!

P.S. A few of you wanted to know where my mom found the adorable bedding set for Sammy--surprise, surprise, it's from Target!

Photobucket

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Twenty-month update


It's official--someone needs to find a way to slow things down around here because this year is just flying by.  Before I know it, I'm going to have a two-year old AND a new baby in the house...oh man.  Deep breaths.   Today Sammy turns twenty-months old and honestly, the month of February has not been too kind to him; he's currently suffering through some nasty seasonal allergies, and to add insult to injury, he appears to be working on his two-year-old molars.  But aside from being rather snotty and at times inconsolable, Sammy's been excelling at what he does best--growing and learning something new every day.  While I don't think his weight has really changed in the past month, I can't help but think that he's grown slightly taller as nearly all of his 24-month pants have turned into high-waters, so he's pretty much exclusively in 2T tops and pants--although I wonder how long those will last.


New words:
Puppy, putting "a" in front of singular nouns like "a ball" and "a kitty", etc., peas, "p" for airplane, the phrase, "I did it", duck, bee, butterfly, goat, cup, fork, smooth, soft, glasses, on, and my all-time personal favorite, mommy. Yes, that's right. It's taken my child nearly two years to identify me with any particular word (he had "daddy" down pat at eleven months old)...better late than never, right?  Captain Husband also estimates that Sammy can identify approximately a third of the alphabet right now as well as a few numbers--his favorite number appears to be 8 as he is always finding it and pointing it out.


New tricks:
saying please and thank you without (too much) prompting, walking up and down stairs while holding someone's hand, making the ASL sign for "Blue's Clues," bringing me the remote control and then requesting a specific show, climbing up into his high chair at meal time, and taking all of his naps and sleeping through the night in his new big-boy bed.  Sammy's also starting to string two or three words together, although more often than not his sentences sound something like this: "Mommy blabbity boppity keys gobbedly gibbedly bye-bye?", which roughly translates to something like, "Hey mommy, I see you have the car keys in your hand.  Are we're going out?"  Sammy also likes to sit and page through his books, "reading" them out loud to himself; for example, he'll page through Bear Snores On and will say "Aaaaa-choooo" when he reaches the page where Bear wakes up with a sneeze.

The Daily Wyatt

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: The terrible two-year-old molars


{This is one of the rare moments from yesterday when Sammy wasn't a. crying, b. sobbing, c. whining, d. clinging to me, and/or e. throwing a monster tantrum.  I'm hoping that his recent shift in behavior, coupled with his flaming red cheeks, drooling and gnawing on just about everything he can shove in his mouth--two sippy cup straws have been chewed to pieces in the last few days--is being caused by his two-year-old molars making their existence known.  I hope those things pop through soon, because holy crap, teething sucks.}

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A loaded question


A few weeks ago my best friend, who is pregnant with her first child, wrote me an email regarding the transition from working full-time to being a full-time stay-at-home-mom and asked me if I ever planned to return to work.  This is a topic that is never far from my mind...adjusting from being a full-time member of the work force to being the slave of a tiny tyrant (I may be exaggerating slightly) is one that I still struggle with.  A lot.  I actually had a dream a few weeks ago about being back at work in the antiques gallery and helping to identify an unknown DC cabinetmaker...exciting stuff, I know.  

Would I like to go back to work?  Most definitely.  However, the sad fact remains that most military spouses face an uphill battle in the quest for employment regardless if children are in the picture or not.  There's not much call for someone with a masters degree in American Decorative Arts where most military posts are located, unless we happen to find ourselves back in northern Virginia, which is possible, but unlikely.  And now with number two on the way...well, that pushes the timeline for my possible re-entry into the workforce back a couple more years.

Ever since I made the difficult decision to not return to work there have been many times where I've felt as though I've lost just about everything by which I used to define myself.  This feeling has only intensified in the months since our move to El Paso; I think it's a direct result of the fact that no one down here knows the version of me that existed in my life before kids and that makes me feel very isolated and lonely sometimes.  Don't get me wrong--I love Sammy and our family and I've been privileged to make some very awesome friends since moving here--I know that I'm incredibly lucky that we can afford for me to stay home and raise our son.  I often get down on myself because I don't feel completely fulfilled by motherhood alone; I know many people who would give their right arm for the chance to be home full-time with their children and that makes me feel even more guilty.

I hope that I'm not the only out there that feels this way, so now the question is how should I go about dealing with these feelings; I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Breaking in the big-boy bed


Captain Husband and I had been toying around with the idea of getting Sammy a toddler bed for a while now; I was of the mindset that the sooner the better, whereas CH wanted to wait a bit longer.  My mom felt the same way that I did and offered to pay for the bed in order to get CH on our side (she actually bought and sent us a toddler bedding set ahead of time to further sweeten the deal--thanks mom!); so on Saturday, the three of us headed over to our local Target where we purchased a new toddler bed and mattress.


We set up the new bed in Sammy's room after he had awakened from his afternoon nap and it didn't take long for him to claim it as his own (although Sandy Cat had already tried to lay claim to it).  He immediately climbed in and started pointing out all of the owls and hearts and other shapes on his new blanket.


We left the crib up in Sammy's room on the off chance that he wouldn't want to give his new bed a try, but it's beginning to appear that we had nothing to worry about.  Sammy wanted to sleep in his new bed the very first night and went down without a single issue--no jumping out of bed and running around his room, no crying, nothing.  Well, at least until midnight, when he fell out and woke us with his cries.  CH went down to check on him and found a sleep-addled Sammy trying his hardest to climb back into bed; we decided to put him in his crib for the rest of the night just to play it safe.


When nap time rolled around yesterday, I asked Sammy where he wanted to sleep and he pointed to his new bed, so I put him down and covered him in his favorite monkey blanket and waited for the inevitable pitter patter of his not-so-little feet following me down the hall, but it never happened.  He feel right asleep and took a full two-hour nap without incident.  I have to admit that both CH and I are pleasantly surprised at how well Sammy's been handling this transition--he really is becoming a big boy.

and
 then, she {snapped}

Friday, February 17, 2012

Foto Friday: Edited (and editing myself)


This is one of my favorite outtakes from the so-called Valentine photo session that I attempted with Sammy earlier in the week; I discovered that the only way to get him to look up from playing in the dirt was to count to three...once I hit "three," Sammy would quickly look my way and flash a goofy grin.
                                                                      *   *   *   *   *   *
So I know I promised a post in which actual brain power was used, but I just don't see that happening today.  I don't know what my deal is lately, but I've just been feeling really uninspired--like it's a chore to pick up the camera or to come up with something fun and exciting for Sammy and me to do with our days.  More and more I feel like the most boring person on earth and I often imagine that my readers would rather watch paint dry than read one more story or see one more photo of how Sammy and I spent our day in the backyard or how the highlight of my week was finishing up a round of antibiotics for a kidney infection (which coupled with the whole pregnancy thing may explain my general feelings of malaise this month).

What do you guys think--do you ever go through periods where you just feel totally uninspired?  If so, how do you get out of your funk?  I enjoy using my blog as a creative outlet for both my photography and writing (I'm convinced that without the blog I'd probably have forgotten how to write a grammatically-accurate sentence by now), but it's a lot easier for me to write about the things that I/my family do rather than how I'm feeling.  Maybe that's something I should work on...after all, it's so easy to choose the most flattering/pleasant aspects of my life to showcase on this blog but perhaps it's time to live life a little more unedited.

Photobucket

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Texture Thursday: Mister Clean


Presented without commentary because I am simply too tuckered out to type anything that makes even the slightest lick of sense.  I'll try and muster up some brain power tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm just going to sit on the couch and watch some Blue's Clues with my bubble boy.

The Daily Wyatt

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Sandy Cat's letter


{You know how I was belly-aching yesterday about the woes of trying to get a toddler to pose for photographs?  Well, it turns out trying to get a cat to pose is almost as difficult, but at least Sandy Cat was willing to sacrifice her dignity in exchange for copious amounts of kitty treats.  Be sure to check out the other awesome love letters to Kitty Paw by clicking below!}


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!


Happy Valentine's day everyone! After the success of last year's holiday-themed photo of Sammy (click here if you need a chuckle), I had high hopes of taking some Valentine photos that would be at least half as awesome as that one.  Well...have you ever tried to direct a toddler to do something?  You'd think I'd have learned this lesson at some point during the last nineteen and a half months.


I had a few props, like foam hearts and a giant rose scored from the Target dollar bins, that I had hoped would hold Sammy's interest for at least a few minutes while I snapped some photos, but I had forgotten to take into account the siren call that's irresistible to my kid--e.g. dirt.


It wasn't long before he had tossed the props aside and plopped himself down on the ground and started digging in the dirt.  I pleaded and cajoled.  I even went so far as to try and bribe him with a cup full of apple juice, but Sammy wasn't going for it.  At least I managed to get a couple of cute shots before we decided to call it a day and went inside to watch some Blue's Clues; it was the least I could do for my funny little valentine who had put up with my photography requests quite graciously (well, for a toddler at least).


Do you have any fun plans for Valentine's Day?

Monday, February 13, 2012

Celebrating with the birthday boy


Sammy and I were invited to his friend, Julian's, fourth birthday party this weekend.  The celebration took place at a pretty cool place in El Paso called Jungle Jaks, a large indoor complex filled with some pretty cool stuff, like indoor bumper boats and bumper cars.  We had never been there before, but after this weekend's visit, we may find ourselves becoming regular visitors.


While Sammy was a little too young to be permitted to operate any kind of motor vehicle, regardless of their intended "bumping" purpose, there was a lot to keep him busy and happily occupied.  His favorite part was the foam factory, which included a large, two-story padded climbing structure with all sorts of slides and other obstacles.  He even went down the big slide with me a couple of times, which I definitely enjoyed (hey-- I'm just a big kid at heart).


Before we knew it, it was time to enjoy some delicious cake, cupcakes and ice cream with the birthday boy.  All of the kids  dug in with gusto; they needed to refuel before heading back out to play some more.  I'm willing to bet money that all of the kids in attendance slept well that night--I know I did!




and
 then, she {snapped}
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...