Even though we woke up to snow on the ground yesterday morning, Spring has arrived!! I am so excited. I love this time of year when everything is in bloom, lots of green and no more yucky brown. Elijah and I went for a walk on Pearl St. yesterday and it was gorgeous!
Last week Elijah and I traveled to Virginia to visit our good friends Dave, Kristi and Alexis (a.k.a Peanut). Elijah and Alexis have known each other since Elijah was born (Elijah is 3 months younger) and we were very sad when they moved away to Virginia last October. Dave was out of town all week, so Elijah and I kept Kristi and Alexis company.
This was the longest flight Elijah has been on so far. Despite the 6 hour trip and layover, he actually did pretty well. Thank goodness for Elmo on the portable dvd player!
Elijah met his Auntie Kate for the first time too and I can't believe I didn't get a picture!! I didn't get my camera out nearly enough the whole trip, but here are a few.
This is Alexis. Can't believe she will be 2 in June!
This was so cute! Little buddies hugging. :)
One day we walked around a little town called Occoquan and had lunch. It was such a beautiful day.
Me and the little ones.
and Kristi with them.
Elijah enjoying his lunch.
Love all the color.
The cherry blossoms were amazing.
You can see Elijah spilled his juice all over himself.
As a photographer, it is always weird being on the other side of the camera. So when I contacted Stone Crandall and his wife Shelby to take some headshots for me to use for my business I was a little nervous. They were both so much fun and made the whole adventure so much easier. It was a great experience and now I know exactly how my clients feel. Here are a couple of shots Stone got during our session, but check out his blog to see some more! www.stonecrandall.com/blog
(my makeup was done by the super talented Sara Duffey)
A few days ago I was browsing the aisles at Target with Elijah and came across the dollar bin section. I found some bunny ears and stuck them on Elijah's head for a good laugh, but little did I know the kid wouldn't want to take them off! All through the store he insisted on wearing them and every time they fell off he would beg me to fix them. In the car on the way home I couldn't stop laughing because all I could see in my rear view mirror were these little bunny ears peaking up from my sons head. Still he insists on wearing these silly things every day. I love my kid.
Oh, and on a side note, This kid hates wearing clothes!
Nate makes fun of me all the time because I call Elijah so many different names. I just can't help it. It just comes out.
Here are a few...
Boo Boo
Boo-Boo-kins
Buddy or Little Buddy
Bubba
Baby Boy
Little Man
Little Guy
Sweetheart
Sweetie Pie
Honey Bunny
and my favorite and most commonly used: Pumpkin Doodle.
I don't know where I come up with this stuff, but I guess it could be hereditary. My dad always had funny names for my brother, sister and I. I remember he used to call me Pooter Bear. I wasn't too fond of that name especially when I was about 12 years old and he used that name to call out to me across a grocery store. It was loud and in stereo for everyone to hear. I was mortified!! I guess I will try to loose my little names for Elijah as he gets older, but for now, I think I'll keep them. :)
My little Pumpkin Doodle
Our little boy is growing up so fast! We can't believe he is a year and a half TODAY!! I tried to snap some quick pictures of him this morning, and man is it tough trying to get a picture of this little guy these days!
He hides behind the couch...
and sticks his foot in the camera...
Sometimes I get lucky and he actually looks at the camera...
but most of the time, this is what I get...
Mommy and Daddy love you Elijah!
Valentine's Day has never really been a big deal in our house and this year really wasn't much different. I did find the time to bake some cookies.
I even made Nathan and Elijah heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes with rasberries this morning. (It's a good thing Nathan likes things a little burnt!)
I can't believe what a difference a year makes!
This was last year...
And this is this year...
My little boy is growing up too fast!
1. My breakfast...cottage cheese and berries.
2. Good Night Moon. This is one of Elijah's favorite books. He wants us to read it to him multiple times every night before he goes to bed.
3. Aren't Elijah's little bear slippers super cute? :)
4. Love these magnets I got from Anthropologie. One of my favorite stores.
5. Elijah baking with Mommy. Love my Kitchen Aid mixer.
6. Mmmm....Nutella. If you haven't tried it, you are missing out!
7. Chai from Panera Bread. I consider myself a chai connoisseur. :) Their chai is much better than Starbucks.
8. Love snow days! It has been snowing all day and I love to just cuddle up on the couch with a good book and watch the snow fall. It is much better when it snows so much that Nathan gets to stay home from work! :)
One of my all time favorite movies is My Big Fat Greek Wedding (no joke, I have watched it 3 times in a row before) and this quote by Aunt Voula is very fitting for this post.
Mr. Elijah has decided meat will not be a part of his daily intake of nutrition. I can't get this kid to eat meat for anything, that is until I discovered this easy little recipe. He is a HUGE fan of Mac and Cheese, so I knew this recipe would be a hit. To say it is a hit is actually an understatement. My little monster ate a bigger bowl than I did! If you have a little one who is boycotting meat too, you might want to give this a try.
The recipe comes from this cookbook, which I absolutely adore. Thanks Dad!
Cheesy Chili Mac
Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. (I used a 10 inch because my 12 inch doesn't have a lid, but I don't recommend this. I made a mess!)
Heat oil until shimmering. Add 1 medium onion, minced, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring often, until softened.
Stir in 3 medium garlic cloves, minced and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add 1 pound 90% lean ground beef and cook, breaking apart the meat, until lightly browned and no longer pink, 3-5 minutes.
Stir in 2 cups of water and 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce.
Then add 8 ounces (about 2 cups) of elbow macaroni. I used this multi-grain pasta so it would be a little healthier and it came out great!
Cover, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, until the pasta is tender, 9-12 minutes.
Off the heat, stir in 1 cup of Mexican cheese blend and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle another cup of the cheese over the top, cover and let stand off the heat until the cheese melts, 2-4 minutes.
Serve and watch your little one chow down!
I'd have to say one of the hardest parts of being a parent is watching your child in pain.
A few days ago I noticed Elijah felt a little warm to me. I didn't think anything of it because he had just woken up from a nap and he has a tendency to get really warm when he sleeps. That comes in handy sometimes, mostly on cold days when we snuggle and he becomes my little personal heater. I tried to feed him some lunch and he refused to eat. I really didn't think much of that either because he isn't much of an eater. We have an ongoing battle getting him to eat. So I dismissed that too.
As the day progressed I noticed he was still really warm. I took his temperature and it was 102.5...YIKES! How could this be? He didn't seem sick. He was running around dancing to music, making a mess with all his toys and getting into everything like he always does. I called his pediatrician and she asked me a ton of questions and she couldn't come up with anything either. She said if his fever didn't go down by tomorrow and if he still didn't have any other symptoms to call back.
The next day was worse. He still wouldn't eat which was now concerning me because usually he will eat a little, but he was eating NOTHING, nadda, zip. He wouldn't even drink milk. He was very fussy, would run in circles, throw himself on the floor, run up and hug me, run away again and throw himself back on the floor. I knew he must be in so much pain!
I took him to see his pediatrician and she did all the checks and the last one was checking his his throat. Yep! There it was. She said, "take a look". I looked inside his throat and it was all white and infected. YUCK! My poor baby! I immediately said, "Okay great, now that we know what it is can you give him some medicine to get rid of it?" She told me there was nothing to give him, just children's Motrin to help him with the discomfort and fever. She said it should go away in 3-5 days. 3-5 DAYS?!?! I didn't want to see him suffer for one more minute! I wish I could just take it away and give it to myself.
He feels so horrible that yesterday I was doing dishes and I happened to look over and found him like this...
He must of felt so awful that he just fell asleep on the floor. He has never done this before. He is still feeling pretty bad and I hope he feels better soon. It breaks my heart, but I guess I better get used to it because I am sure this is only the beginning. :(
