Choo Choo! Will turns TWO!!!!

Our little boy is celebrating his SECOND birthday! We had a little party for him on Saturday and it was so much fun! From homemade pizza to a 3-D train cake to the present of his "own guitar" the party was a huge success.

Today is the actual day of his birth. I still remember the feeling that came when he was placed in my arms for the first time!

He has grown so much in the past two years...everyone comments on how sweet and loving he is.

He still loves "ool time." Already, he knows his "A-B-C's", can count (almost!) to 10 (we usually skip 3 and 4!), and is working on learning his colors.

He adores his "baby sister" and loves to bounce her in her little Jumperoo (of course, playing in the jumperoo was one of his favorite past times as a baby!).

His all-time favorite past time is playing out side. He has finally learned how to ride his tricycle and will stay out on the carport for an hour or more at a time just riding around and around.

He is doing so good with his potty-training, too! Other than wearing a Pull-Up at night and the occasional nap-time accident, he happily wears his "big boy underwear" and takes great pride in keeping them "clean and dry, Mama!" I started out rewarding him with M&Ms but I quickly discovered that he is much happier when I reward him with an olive :-)

He loves to "help mama" or "help dada." He has learned to put his plate and spoon in the dishwasher after each meal and enjoys "helping" fold cloths. During the day, he is very happy playing with Allison and I but as soon as Jason gets home, he becomes daddy's little shadow! Together they feed the chickens, gather the eggs, build fence, and go fishing.

Last night we put rails on his "big boy bed" and he slept there all night. Speaking of sleeping, I need to hurry and get his Birthday Breakfast ready because he'll be waking up soon. Have I ever mentioned how much I love this little boy?!?!

Getting Back to Routine

We have had a busy couple of weeks! Two of Jason's uncles passed away within a couple of days. The first one, his Uncle Raymond, was 90 years old and while his passing was sudden it wasn't completely unexpected.

Two days later, we were shaken to learn that his Uncle Brent had also passed away suddenly in his sleep. He was only 43 and he and Jason were more like brothers than uncle/nephew. Needless to say, it has been a difficult week. Uncle Brent will be sorely missed!

After the craziness of the last two weeks I am looking forward to getting back onto our normal routine in the morning. This will be our 10th week of Will's homeschool Nursery School and we are enjoying it so much!

Meal Planning

The last several days have been spent putting together my Monthly Menu for October as well as the Master Shopping list to go with it. We started using a monthly menu and doing a once-a-month shop in January of 2009 and we love it! Even though we spend more upfront doing it this way we definitely save in the long run.

To begin with, I mapped out a theme for each night of the week:
Sunday- Easy, Cheesy Casserole: Any kind of casserole or one-dish meal such as lasagna, poppyseed chicken and rice, chicken spaghetti, Mexican, etc. Since we have church every Sunday night, it works best for us to have a casserole (prepared ahead of time) to pop in the oven just before heading to church. Then, when we come home, all I have to do is throw together a salad and toast some bread and our meal's complete!

Monday- Quick Chick: Any dish calling for boneless, skinless chicken or chicken tenders.

Tuesday - Big Family Meal: Any of the "fancy" suppers when we have "all the trimmings" (mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, etc). This could be Roast chicken,Roast turkey breast, roast beef, Chicken Cordon Blue...I think you get the point!

Wednesday - For us this is always "open" because we eat at church on Wednesday nights. I try to get a list of the menu ahead of time so I can make sure we're not already having a similar dish at home.

Thursday - Simply Salad: Grilled chicken, shrimp, tostadas, Mexican Mountains, and (our very favorite!) Ultimate Salad (a combo of left over smoked turkey breast, grilled chicken, and roast beef). As winter comes, this will probably progress into "Simply Soup" :-)

Friday - Totally Turkey: Any recipe calling for lean, ground turkey.

Saturday - Fabulous Fish: Any of our many seafood favorites! We have several shrimp recipes we enjoy as well as fried and baked fish. This month we are adding a new recipe to the menu - Blackened Salmon Fillets. I'm excited!

After planning out the theme, I worked on putting together a Master List of all of our family favorites. This way I don't start with a totally blank page each month. Now, during the last week of each month I pull out my Master List, grab my calender, and start adding the meals. Jason is a true "meat and potatoes" man so, with the exception of Sundays, I try to have a meat, two veggies, and a whole grain with each meal.

After the menu is complete, I go through each recipe and make sure that I have all of the ingredients on hand. Those that aren't already in the kitchen end up on my Monthly Grocery Shopping List. I have a Master Stock List saved on my computer. This lists all of the things we buy throughout the year, along with the price we paid. I try to keep the prices updated. That way, as I plan my menu and shopping list I can keep a running figure in my head and (hopefully!) stay within the budget. This also lets me see at a glance if a sale price is really a good deal.

When it's time to do our shop, Will normally stays with his Mam-Maw and Jason and I have a quiet evening to ourselves. (Well, almost to ourselves...Allison is joining us now!) We do most of our buying at Sam's and Wal-Mart, although we watch the ads and pick up specials at Kroger or one of the local grocery stores.

We do shop for milk and fresh produce weekly but other than that everything we need for a month's worth of meals is in our car when we come back home!

I know it wouldn't work for everyone, but it's what works for us and I LOVE it!!!

Time for Two

When I found out we were expecting Allison (an hour before Will's first Birthday Party!) a few people commented that it would be hard to divide my time between two babies so close in age. Now that Allison is almost ten weeks old, I have to say that the time-factor has worked out well! Currently, our day looks something like this:

5:00 - I get up, get dressed, do my devotions and weight-training

6:30 - Allison wakes up to eat. I nurse her, take her to the potty, and then we enjoy some one-on-one time together

7:00 - I start breakfast and get Will up and dressed

7:15 - Breakfast

7:30 - Walk (both babies in double jogging stroller). Jason's cousin and her little girl usually join us for our walk. "Walk with Naomi" has quickly become Will's favorite part of the day!

8:45 - I take a quick shower while Will watches one of his little Leap Frog DVDs ("Letter Factory" or "Math Circus") and Allison sits in her bouncer

9:00 - I give Allison her bath and then nurse her while Will finishes his video

9:30 - Sibling "play time" for Will and Allison. Will loves playing with baby sister!

10:00 - I put Allison down for her nap and then we start Will's nursery school. He loves it!

10:45 - Free playtime for Will while I take care of house work

11:00 - This used to be a continuation of free playtime but we have recently added a new activity to our day - "church time." During this time Will and I sit on the couch and "practice" being quiet "just like church." Will looks through a little stack of books and maybe plays with a few quiet toys. I'm hoping that all the practice pays off!

11:30 - Lunch time for Will while I finish any house work that needs done

12:00 - Story time for both while I nurse Allison

12:15 - I put Will down for his nap and Allison has "tummy time" while I eat my lunch

12:30 - This is when I get to spend special one-on-one time with Allison!

1:30 - Allison goes down for her nap and I spend some time working on special projects. If I am seeing patients, this when they come

2:30 - Will gets up form his nap and we get to spend some one-on-one time together. Sometimes he just wants to cuddle, but usually he's wide awake and ready to play with mommy outside :-)

3:30 - Nurse Allison while Will has "blanket time" (more on that coming in a seperate post!)

4:00 - Free playtime for both babies - Will usally enjoys joining Allison on her little floor gym or else we may walk around outside

4:30 - Jason is usually getting home about this time so Will often joins him outside while Allison sits in her Bumbo seat and watches me start supper

5:30 - I nurse Allison while the guys continue to busy themselves outside

6:00 - I put the finishing touches on supper while Allison sits in her bouncer and Will plays in the den

6:30 - Supper time!

7:00 - I clean up the kitchen while Will has independent playtime and Jason entertains Allison

7:30 - Sometimes Allison is napping at this point. If she's not, Jason continues to play with her while I give Will his bath

7:45 - Story time for Will

8:00 - Bedtime for Will and feeding time for Allison. There are still occasions when we have company that Will may stay up a little later but that's the rare exception!

8:20 or so - Put Allison down for a nap. I will wake her up somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 for one final nursing. After that, she'll sleep through the night!

So yes, my day is full, but I am loving every minute of it!

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

Allison is almost ten weeks old and is getting bigger every day! She is such a sweet, contented baby. Her wake times are getting longer and she is really starting to pay attention to everything that goes on around her. Her little Bumbo Seat is fast becoming her favorite place to be since she can be upright and watching what's going on around her.

A is for....

Part of the A Beka nursery school is learning letters and the sounds that each letter makes. They suggest to focus on one letter per week so this week we've been working on the letter "A." Monday we learned all about apples - the shapes, colors, and parts. Tuesday we were supposed to learn all about ants and we did...just not in the way I had planned! Since Jason was off, Will was enjoying spending his morning following daddy around the yard. He was so cute because he kept insisting he was "helpin' da-da." At some point, though, he managed to step in a large fire ant bed. That poor little guy was stung all over! Today we learned about astronauts and how they were people who dressed up in special clothes and rode in a rocket to get through outer space and even walk on the moon. Since I still had Will's snowsuit from last year hanging in the closet I dressed him up in that and we made "rockets" by blowing up a balloon and letting it go. He had a blast!

Allison's Room!

Since I posted pictures of Will's room last week, I thought I should show off "Baby Sister's Room" too :-)Enjoy!

School Days

A week into our A Beka preschool and Will and I are both loving it! He is continuing to learn colors, can count to ten pretty much on his own, say most of his alphabet with prompting, and recite Luke 18:16.

While our mornings are spent in constructive playtime (aka school time), Allison hangs out with us in her bouncer or lounges in the stuffed bear chair. Of course, Will and I take plenty of little breaks just to smile at her and tell her how much we love her.

Baking Day!

Saturday has always been my "Deep-Clean-the-House Day" when I dust, vacuum, mop, etc. It's always nice to have everything spic-and-span for Sunday morning! Today, I began a new tradition...spending Sunday afternoons baking for the week to come.

Since we always try to get a good walk in early in the day, it's often hard to get a good breakfast in, too. Especially with Will's little pre-school time our mornings can get quit busy! Today, I decided to take some steps to simplify our morning routine. After making up a batch of Blender Batter Pancake batter (http://www.suegregg.com/recipes/breakfasts/blenderbatterwaffles/blenderbatterwaffles.htm) I made some "Sausage Pancake Rolls" using turkey sausage links and my new Corn Dog Maker. The idea is very similar to the store-bought Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick except they're made with whole grains and I didn't put them on a stick.

Another thing I made were pancake/fried egg sandwiches. This idea came from the McDonalds Egg Griddles that I love so much. After pouring some batter on a hot griddle, I placed a fried egg in the middle and topped it with more pancake batter. They didn't turn out quite as nicely as I was hoping (the edges didn't seal) but they're still delicious! To make the eggs, I used an egg-poaching pan that Jason bought for me a couple of weeks ago. It made some beautiful, light-colored fried eggs just the right size and shape for sandwiches.

Since we have our own chickens and get an abundant supply of fresh eggs, I'm going to try another new recipe...Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches. (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Make-Ahead-Breakfast-Sandwiches-120416) Instead of canned biscuits, I'll use my whole-wheat Yeast Biscuits...I can't wait to see how they turn out!

All of today's baking will be individually wrapped and put in the freezer to keep fresh. On busy mornings, all we'll have to do is grab what we want, pop in the microwave, and presto! a nice hot breakfast to go.

Will's Big Boy Room

As we were getting ready for Allison's birth, we wanted to make sure that Will felt special and included, too. That's why we made such a big deal about him moving from the "Baby Room" to a "Big Boy Room." Those first several weeks, he was so excited that everyone who came by had to go see the "Big Boy Room." As he'd head through the kitchen and across the living room his little feet would get faster and faster until he was practically trotting. Bursting into the room, he'd let out a huge squeal.

He still loves his "new" room, although the squealing has stopped...I hate we never did catch it on video...

Baby Love

Will is napping right now and I'm relaxing in the den with the sweetest little girl cuddled up asleep on my chest. Any doubts about my ability to love another baby as much as I love my first-born disappeared the moment my little girl was placed in my arms. She started smiling at us last week and nothing can bring such joy to this mother's heart.

As I did with Will, I started implementing the Baby Wise method of scheduling. Of course, I've modified it slightly to fit our family's goals. With Will, I modified it a little TOO much and got in the habit of holding him until he fell asleep...and he often spent his entire nap time right in my arms! Although it provided many good memories, it also hurt us in the long-run because to this day, at 22-months, he still expects us to hold him until he slips off to sleep.

When Allison was born, I was determined not to make the same mistake and so, for the most part, my little girl has learned to put herself to sleep in her crib. Thanks to tips we discovered in The Baby Whisperer naptimes for Allison are usually cry-free: we just swaddle (key!) and the tuck into bed. Still, there are times like today when I just get the urge to cuddle with my baby and so today I did just that...sit and cuddle with this sweet little girl and I am enjoying it immensely! Somehow, this special time relaxed me more than anything else in the world...maybe that's why when Will woke up asking for ice cream instead of saying "After supper" I said, "let's go get some!"

Pre-School!

Today was Will's first day of home-school pre-school! We are using A Beka's 2-year-old nursery program. I'm really impressed with it! Today, we are learning counting and colors using M&M's. Will thinks that is great fun!

I know he's still young so we're trying to take a laid-back approach. More like "instructive playtime" than actual "school time." Since the color of the day is "yellow" he'll be eating lots of bananas, hard-boiled eggs, and maybe even some squash. Does anyone have any other ideas for a yellow-themed day?

Little Allison is co-operating well, eating and sleeping right on schedule. She is such a GOOD baby! I can hardly believe she's already 6 wks old. It seems like just yesterday that Will was her age.

Bringing everyone up to date...

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post. Facebook took the place of my blog for many months but my goal is to slowly ease out of facebook and back into blogging.

"Little" Will is now 21 months old and growing fast! He is talking up a storm and loves to mimic everything we say and do. Right now, he is completely enthralled with his new "Baby Sister."

Yes, there is a new baby in the house! Little Allison Leigh Thigpen joined our family on June 26th at 10:17am. She weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces. Today, at six weeks, she is 8 pounds and 6 ounces.

Over the next several days I'll try to post pictures and more "in-depth" updates but for now, welcome back!