its friday, friday

Hope you have a very fancy holiday weekend. :)

It's what's for dinner..

Ivy's on a big noodle-kick these days, which is nice because I'm on a big quick-and-easy-dinners-that-require-minimal-preparation-and-clean-up-kick. This peanut sesame noodle dish is one of my favorites lately; for one because it's really good, and for two-- because Ivy gobbles it up like there is no tomorrow. (Making something she approves of is like striking gold around here!) This dish is the perfect blend of spicy and peanut-buttery sweet. (Although Sriracha sauce tastes good on everything and this is certainly no exception.) I'd highly recommend this to anyone ages 2+ looking for a quick easy meal. My only recipe change would be to put your chicken in the slow cooker in the AM for even easier dinner-time prep.

afternoon snapshots.

I've never been a fan of too much chaos, that's why I love that our days are (just barely!) starting to resemble a consistent schedule again--well, almost anyway. Not only do I love that Lola is starting to get into more of a regular sleeping/eating routine, but I love that I can now trust Ivy alone in the same room as Lo for like, 5 seconds. (Hey I'll take it-- you can get a lot done in 5 seconds!) Hooray for being able to clean the house, make dinner, or even get to the gym like a normal person! It's the little victories around here.

Torreon // Day 2

Pictured: Ivy giving Lola-palooza her morning time snuggles // Skateboarding session with Dad

Aside from an unfortunate and messy case of car sickness, several cases of cousin-bullying (sorry cousins!), and a few level 10 tantrums (Not pictured), I loved every minute of this trip. Can't wait for next year!

Torreon // Day 1

Every Summer we head up to the White Mountains with Geoffs family to get out of the heat, play games, ride go-karts, and get some good ole' quality time in together. The trip always ends the same way for me; I'm always sad to say goodbye to the cozy cabin and rainy skies, I always come home in a sugar coma, and I always leave feeling extremely lucky to have such wonderful in-laws. Thank you Langs for such a fun weekend, as always!

cheesy mommy-daughter photos.

I was having mixed feelings the other day as Lo has officially outgrown newborn diapers as well as most of her newborn clothes, so naturally I began to reminisce about "newborn Lo" by looking at these pics. We had a cheesy little impromptu mommy-daughter photo shoot a day or so after coming home from the hospital, compliments of Geoff. (Please don't mind that unruly top-knot that is most likely secured strictly by equal parts grease & equal parts spit up...) She has changed and grown so much already I can't believe it, but then again I guess you're bound to grow a lot when you literally do nothing but sleep, eat, and occasionally smile all day long. ;) As much as I'm always missing the newborn stage, I know what's ahead and also can't wait for those cheeks to get even smooch-ier, those thighs to get even roll-ier, and those smiles to turn into hysterical chuckles. We love having you here, Lola James. 

PS- Apparently "Lola week" comes right after "Shark week", because I can't seem to stop yakkin' about her first week of life on here. After this post I'll be just about caught up with all her pictures so far, so I guess I'll try to calm it down (Eh.. I won't make any promises. You know what they say, live every week like it's Lola week...).

Another G-Rated Birth Video.

Even though Geoff made sure to get some video footage of the day Lola was born, I decided I wasn't going to take the time to make a birth video this time around. And then today during nap time I was all, "Seriously!? It takes less than an hour and it's way more fun than laundry. Why wouldn't I? " So then I sat down with some kettle corn, threw all the clips together, added some sappy music, and considered the 2 minute video good enough. I'm glad I got around to it too, after all-- one of Ivys favorite things to do to this day is watch her own birth video, so it was time well spent. My only regrets about the video (besides not having footage of all of Lolas visitors, when will we ever learn?!) is that it doesn't show Lola meeting her big Sister for the first time. You see, Ivy got a bad case of pink-eye while I was in labor so we were a little paranoid about her getting too cozy with Lo. The paranoia very quickly went out the window though once we got home and realized there was only so much we could do to keep them apart. Our plan the first night was to try to keep them separated in different rooms and have them meet the next day, when Ivy had at least 24 hours of antibiotics in her system. Well, the second Ivy heard a baby cry from our bedroom there was no fooling her, and that's what you'll see at the end of this video (as well as a ton of Cafe Rio on her face). As you can tell she was very excited, and there was no talking her into meeting Lola the next day-- there was a 'baby seetah" somewhere in her house and she was determined to find her, dangit! She was so antsy I thought she was going to kick our bedroom door down, it was hilarious. When the two of them did meet it was painfully adorable, Ivy cried and cried every time Geoff took her away from Lo for bath time or bed time or whatever, it definitely went way better than I expected. (and Lo managed to avoid getting pink eye even with some serious Ivy-contact!). Anyway, heres a quick little video that shows the few random clips we were able to get that day, and most importantly our first few hours of life together. (Warning: a good portion of this video is a very sweaty version of myself rocking a very new baby. In my defense, I wasn't able to hold Ivy for longer than a minute or so after having her, as she was rushed off to the NICU shortly after delivery for the rest of our hospital stay, so I was seriously soaking in those first few moments together with Lo, just us three, in our own room, alone! It was so nice. :)

07.09.2012

I somehow just got around to looking at these photos that were snapped the day little Lo was born. Even though I look completely worked over in these pictures, I can't help but love them for obvious reasons-- they bring back a flood of happy memories from that wonderful day in July. I figured over a month later was as good of time as any to post some up on here. Lola girl-- thanks for making the 9th of July such a special holiday for us!

Over the weekend and through the woods.

This last weekend definitely had its ups and downs, as all weekends do. The ups included a fun date to Liberty Market on Friday night, a spur of the moment shopping trip where we each found a fun little something, a lot of family naps and cuddles, a desperate cookie butter run, and lastly, just being able to watch Los cheeks grow like jumbo marshmallows in the microwave. She hasn't been to the doctor in a couple weeks, but I'm guessing her cheeks are around the 97th percentile by now. The downs included Ivy staying up from midnight to six am Friday night and in turn being particularly whiny the next day, a grocery store run on Friday day that went comedically wrong--I'm talking a screaming, kicking toddler, an opened jar of pesto, a dozen peaches rolling down the parking lot, and all while carrying a carseat and watermelon mind you-- I have just now stopped sweating so I am almost able to laugh about it, (I've learned that the main difference between having one and two kids is the amount of pity looks you recieve at the checkout line...) and of course the biggest downer of all, the weekend coming to an end. 

 

First (family of 4!) weekender.

We literally jump with joy whenever we're given the chance to crash at the Barneys ranch. Ivys always happy causing ruckus with her cousin Wes, and we're always happy relaxing in the beautiful weather, eating yummy food, and playing games once all the kids hit the hay. It's so nice to be able to get all that fresh air and vitamin D at such an amazing place. As always, thank you Shelly and Bryan! 

hello-lo.

I constantly feel guilty for not snapping near as many pictures of Lo as I did with Ivy. I guess that comes with the territory of being second child around here. I don't know if it was impressive or overkill that we were able to capture things like Ivys first smile or her first go on a gondola, but Lolas 15-20 pictures on my iPhone aren't cutting it. I need to step up my game before this girl forms a complex ;). That being said, I realized that today she is one month old! (Oh crap, does that mean I need to start cooking and cleaning again?) A little about Lo girl in her first month:

-She is sweet as pie.
-She is quick to smile.
-She is the worlds best snuggler.
-She sleeps best if someones spooning her.
-She is extra patient with her big Sis. (Who knew kisses and hugs could be so rough?)

We love this little girl a lot, she's a keeper for sure.

fish out of water.

Not being able to swim (or really be outside in general) this last month has been pretty brutal to say the least. What else is there to do in 118 degree heat? So far we've only been able to come up with the following: watch movies, join a dance class (which I think I enjoyed even more than Ivy, can you say Dance Mom?), play with the hose, raid the library, color, frequent pet stores and indoor playgrounds, and read 200 books a day. To say we are going stir crazy is a complete understatement, holy cow. Good thing we're booking it to cooler temperatures this weekend or I'd be done for. Any ideas on what to do to beat this heat with a toddler and newborn in tow? 

One of her latest souvenirs from Petsmart. She named her 3 fishies Buzz, Dora, and Wes, after one of her favorite cousins.