Memorial Day Weekend

This was our first Memorial Day in South Orange and it was HOT!!!!  Our weekend was spent BBQ'ing and attending the 14th Annual Rubber Duck Races in Maplewood.

We actually missed the parade before the duck races (and we thought we were doing good to have everyone showered and out of the house by 9:30) so we walked into Maplewood and grabbed a bagel.

Then, off to the races, but not before rolling down the hill a few times.

A few of the older kids were rolling and Bea just had to join.  She hasn't quite mastered it, but that hasn't stopped her from trying!

And here's little Charlie bug enjoying the races!

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend!

Heather

Six Months

Our little Charlie bug turned six months this weekend.  I can't believe how time is flying by with him.  Everyday is something new and we're seeing more and more of his personality develop.  Some of his recent milestones include:

rolling over on April 4th
his first tooth on April 28th
reaching out for mama to pick him up
starting solids at the beginning of April

He loves his big sister more than anyone in the world (except maybe mama when it's time to eat!) and will giggle and giggle as loudly as he can when she pays attention to him.  He also loves music.  I've been taking him to music class with Bea on Fridays and he can't get enough of the egg shakers and the scarves.  And anytime someone sings to him he's in heaven.

He has the sweetest personality and is such a good baby.  He naps in the afternoon at the same time Bea does (thank you God!) and goes to bed quickly in the evenings.  He usually sleeps most nights, waking up between 4am and 6am (if at all) to eat before going back to sleep for a few hours.  Usually if it's closer to 6am he'll get to sleep with mama in bed and he loves snuggling under the covers.

And what an eater!  This little boy loves his food.  So far we've tried sweet potatoes, bananas, prunes, green beans, plums, cherries, blueberries, peas, butternut squash, and apples and he's yet to refuse one of them.

I can't wait to see what's next!

Heather

Uh Oh Spaghetti O

Here's yet another idea that I found while reading Play At Home Mom.

Basically I cooked up a pound of spaghetti (adding a little canola oil so that it wouldn't stick), drained and cooled it, then separated it into three portions.  I took each portion and put it in a plastic food storage bag with a few drops of food coloring and viola, colored spaghetti.

I put out some of Bea's cookware and plates/bowls as well as scissors and measuring cups.

Bea had never used the scissors before (at least that I can remember) so we spent awhile learning how to cut and then she was onto measuring.  She spent a good 30-45 minutes measuring out the spaghetti and putting it into pots, pans, tea kettles, etc.  Here's the aftermath

She asked to play with her "macaroni" for the next few days until we finally had to throw it out.  Super easy and well worth it!

Heather

Recent Finds

I, like a lot of people out there, love going to flea markets and thrift stores.  Before having Bea and Charlie I was obsessed with collecting vintage dishes.  In fact, I have boxes and boxes of them stored in our basement (with hopes of someday having the space/furniture to display them).

Since having kids, in addition to searching for dishes, I now search for toys, books, basically anything that I think they (or, let's be honest, I) might like.  But between moving to the suburbs and having Charlie I haven't gotten the chance to check out our local markets and stores.  And somehow I think with two small ones I won't be going as often as I would like.  However, I have found a great resource in our local Mothers & More group.  The things I've found aren't vintage but are usually very gently used (pretty much everything I've gotten looks as if it hasn't been touched) and I've found some great toys at a fraction of the price.  Yesterday we went to pick up these

  
The Eeboo matching game is for Bea.  Right now it's a little old for her (it's 3+) but we've been playing a modified version, which she loves.  The snail and cars I picked out for Charlie, but Bea has already claimed them as her own.  I guess that's part of being the second born!

The cars are what actually caught my eye initially.  I'm thinking of doing something like this for Charlie's room

via Ohdeedoh

I have a long way to go but I think this idea is such a cute one.

Heather

What We Wore Wednesday

This was one of those rare days where both kids are dressed, happy, and with nothing on them yet.  And it managed to stay that way most of the day!!!!

On Bea:  Dress by 77kids, leggings from Old Navy, socks from Target (Abby Cadabby socks found in the dollar spot that we HAD TO HAVE), shoes from Target

On Charlie:  Polo style onesie from Gap, plaid pants from the Gap, socks from Target

Heather

Breakfast for Bea

I just finished reading Bringing Up Bebe and the chapter on feeding babies and toddlers really struck a cord with me.  I feel like when we first started Bea on solids we did a really good job.  Of course, everything was new and exciting and she would pretty much eat anything we gave her.  Fast forward to around her first birthday and our foodie tot began to slowly become a picky eater.  It didn't happen overnight, which is why I think we started giving in on certain things.  And before I knew it we were having pb&j for every lunch because that's "all she would eat".

I refuse to raise a child that is only content to eat chicken nuggets and pizza.  But I'm also not going to keep these things away from her entirely, I feel like there has to be a happy medium.

I've been linking up with Lauren from with two cats for her Mini Meals series.  This has been a great way for me to gather ideas from other moms and has also given me an extra little push to try new things.  So, here's our latest "new" breakfast, oatmeal.

I chose to use rolled oats and then added a little bit of honey and vanilla.  I topped this with bananas and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  To my amazement, this is what was left

Looks like we have a winner!!!!

Heather

Water + Food Coloring = One Happy Toddler

Last week was unbelievably warm, I think it was 92 on Monday, so we spent a ton of time outdoors.  Bea loves her new tricycle (more on that in another post) but I also wanted to find some activities for her to do in our backyard.  We hope to have a sandbox in the next few months and eventually a swing set so up until now our backyard playtime has involved a lot of shovels and buckets, which she loves, but I thought it might be fun to add another element.

I can't remember if I read about this particular idea on a post over at Play at Home Mom or if I'm taking several posts and combining them into one, but I know I came up with the general idea through reading about their outdoor play.

I basically used several glass and plastic containers that we had and filled each one with different amounts of water and food coloring.

I also had a few empty containers, a big bowl, and a spray bottle filled with water.  Bea loves to pour and dump anything from one vessel to another so I knew this would be a big hit.

It didn't take long for her to pour everything together so the water was a deep purple/black for most of the time but she loved it.  She must have poured and scooped for over an hour, only stopping every so often to spray the water bottle.

And not to be left out, here's a picture of Charlie enjoying the sun.

Heather