Pjs and a Peanut

So our little Peanut has given up her regular naptime – yes, I am very well aware that we are fortunate that she has kept napping up until this point in time.  About 2 months ago, I began to realize that she didn’t really need the nap and began to slowly implement the idea we used with Hudson.  Rest time and quiet play time.

(I know, look at those pigtails, right?!?!  She loves her short hair, but loves the fact she can put it in pigtails again!)

She goes to her room and I set her “pacifier” (she calls it that for some reason – it is her noise maker ;o) for 30 minutes.  For those 30 minutes she stays in her bed and rests quietly.  About 2x a week she will still fall asleep for about an hour; other times she sings or talks to her stuffed animals.  After the waterfall stops, she comes to me and I tell her what time her clock will say after she has playtime in her room for 30 minutes.  It has worked beautifully, and gives this expecting mama a few minutes to rest in the afternoons as well.

We set up a chart for her that she gets a sticker for each 30 minute increment and she finished her first chart.  She chose to have a  PJ Party and watch a movie. 

We had lunch together on our beautiful 73 degree day, complete with hot dogs, kiwi and cheese curls.  (Which was apparently a hit, as one friend exclaimed, “You have kiwi, grapes, and cheese curls?  Anna, this is the best party ever!”)

Then the girls cuddled into their sleeping bags to watch the new release, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2.  They were beyond excited and it was fun to hear them laughing and cheering on the characters.

 

(modeling like Mermaids)

Anna had such a blast that it was no problem getting her to go down for her rest time because she wanted to start her next sticker chart – and she fell asleep for an hour and a half.

Easter Candy with grandmom!

Spending a few days in OCMD with grandmom....and making some Easter candy.  I must admit, there is probably more pickup.g of the chocolate than chocolate actually making it into candies!

YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Yeah – I’m sharing a picture of soup.  Yes, it was DELISH!  No, it is not because I have crazy hormones running through my veins right now (although the fact that my mouth waters looking at that picture may suggest as such).  My family loved this recipe too – so when we come across a fantastically mouth-watering recipe for soups (or stoups as I often make them into – we like them hearty), I’ve got to share!

Panera Bread Knock-off Broccoli Cheese Soup   (reduced fat from original version)

The original recipe can be found here.  I’ve made a few changes to make it reduced fat and added a TON more veggies to make it thicker…my changes are in italics.

I’m guessing this makes about 5 servings.  My husband had three bowls and the rest of us about 1.5….with a serving leftover.

1 T of butter

1/2 a medium onion

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup of flour

2 cups fat free half and half

3 cups chicken stock (low fat/no fat)

3 huge heads of broccoli

1 cup of chopped carrots (I made have added more)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

10 oz reduced fat 2% sharp cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

1.  Saute onion in 1 T. butter.  Set aside.

2.  Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half & half.

3.  Add the chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4.  Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.

5.  Add salt and pepper .Used my immersion blender to smooth it out – still kept large chunks, though!   Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.

Serve with crusty bread and strawberry applesauce jello (well, that’s what we did!)

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And these pictures are just for your viewing pleasure – Dr. Anna was taking care of patient Hudson today after he conked his head on a table downstairs.

Prepping with sterile gloves……

Assessing the patient; stethoscope and sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff for you commoners).

Making sure Hudson is still alive…..carefully moving the ouchy sock to take important measurements.

19 weeks

The votes of the Smith and Clifford kids are in -

3 girl votes to 2 boy votes….who will win?  You won’t know until July!   We like surprises ‘round this Smith house.

Introducing our 3rd Smith lovebug

Watch out world – there is another lovebug on the way!  A cuddly, loveable, sweet baby Smith is coming to our home in mid July!   We are excited to announce the expected arrival and ask for your prayers for the safe arrival of a healthy baby!  Here is a pictorial chronicle of our “growing” thus far….

12 weeks

13 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks

18 weeks – self portrait on the beach

all you need is ……

Love…and well, this year, lots of activities that are inside, not too rambunctious and things that are entertaining.

My kiddos have been hit hard by a bug, and it’s not a lovebug.  Some nasty virus that turned into a bacterial infection for 2 of the 3 of us.  So we’ve been crafting, loving, watching movies, cuddling and creating for a week.  Yes, a week.  Anna’s fever has been here for 8 days.  It’s on the way out – she goes to bed with a slight fever and wakes up everyday with a normal temp…phew!  Hudson’s body seems to have fought differently and he seems to be on the mend as well…in a shorter amount of time.

Want to keep a record of some of the fun things we managed to do this year, despite the yuckies.  The LOVE banner above is a take on all of those fancy-shmancy cloth buntings people make.  Ours is out of cardstock, tissue paper, glue and contact paper.  Yup, that easy.  You can do it!

I cut the letters out of cardstock with an x-acto knife and then gave the kids free reign with colored tissue paper, glue paint and paint brushes….

(and yes, that is our tree in the background – our VALENTINE’S TREE!)

When those dried, I laid them in the contact paper, strung them on ribbon and voila!

Another fun project is paint printing.  Cover a piece of construction paper with foamy stickers and then paint over it.   While it is still wet, lay a white sheet of paper over the foam paint paper and press down.

See her excitement?  Seriously – this is a fun project to watch     their faces when they see the print.

Anna and I played a fun roll-em, draw-em lovebug game.  It works on number recognition and she got to draw a lovebug!

 

 

 

 

Hudson worked hard on making a multi-level home for some of our Duplo Lego family – it was sooo cool!

May you and yours be filled with lovebugs, not yucky bugs!  Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!!

you may live in the country if….

You may live in the country if you look out your window and you see this going up your street….

and for some reason it doesn’t seem all that odd.  Unique, yes.  But not all that shocking.

IN other news….here’s a fun art project for all you “praw-jekt” luvin’ mamas.  And all you need is glue, qtips, wax paper and glitter!  (Seriously).

First, lay out wax paper and help your little design a snowflake…or if they big enough (like Hugs), then let them design their own.  Cut the qtips if they want – but not necessary.

Once designed, put huge dollops of glue at the tips where each comes to a convergence.  (Yes, I just used a big word there.  Look it up if you need too.)  You can use white school glue, or Tacky Glue would be superb as well.

Then sprinkle the snowflakes with a “goodly” amount – that’s my PA Dutch roots coming through – of glitter.  This Mama likes to do glitter in an old cake pan or pizza box, as it catches the excess and can be funneled back into the jar.

Let them dry overnight and…  VOILA!  A snowflake light catcher!  I attached string and hung them in our entrance hall, because we rock homemade crafts on our walls.