Day in the Life: Two Years Old

Wow, so I realized the last time I did a day in the life post Molly was 8 months old. Geez! Its safe to say a lot has changed since then. I always love these posts that share a glimpse into the daily routine of other people and kids. Hopefully ours is somewhat entertaining.

Something wakes me up but when I wake there is silence. Nope. I hear it. A moaning, slowly waking child. Quick glance at my phone, its 7:25am - decent wake up time today. I pry myself out of the bed so I can brush my teeth and let the dog out before the moaning turns into crying.

Good morning! The good night of sleep paid off, someone is in a good mood and full of energy! We jump around in bed for a few minutes and then we head into the living room where Molly eats a banana and watches some Bubble Guppies while I make coffee and turn on the house.

8:30am // Breakfast. A typical breakfast is scrambled eggs, strawberries, turkey sausage and toast with butter. She gobbles pretty much everything up.

While she is eating I realize that I was supposed to make cupcakes for her Mother's Day Out class for her birthday...I have, down to the minute, just enough time to pull this off!

Between baking last minute cupcakes, making her lunch, packing up her backpack, getting her dressed with shoes ON, the next 40 minutes are a huge blur. No matter how early we get up its always a rush to get out the door to school on time.

9:30am // School Drop Off. Molly goes to MDO two days a week from 9:30am - 2:30pm. She loves it. She has made great friends at school and learns so much! She always jumps out of my arms to go play with her friends. After I drop her off I make a special trip to Starbucks to get a latte (in a RED holiday cup!) and a breakfast sandwich. I take a breath and eat my sandwhich in Starbucks while I read through my emails.

10:00am-2:00pm // WORK! I work from home so these days where Molly is at school are precious. I feverishly make my way down my to-do list bouncing from project to project trying to make the most of my toddler free time. I get quite a bit accomplished today so I am feeling pretty good.

2:30pm // Pick up the kiddo from school. She has had a great day and the entire class enjoyed her last minute birthday cupcakes. A win for Mom!

We swing through Sonic for our Wed afternoon treat - a vanilla coke zero for me and some tator tots for her. Then we are back home where I get back to work and Molly terrorizes the house! You'll notice she has on a different outfit at home...she insists on changing at least twice day!

5:30pm // I sign off of work, play with Molly for a little bit and then its time to start making dinner. On tonights menu - tacos! For some reason Molly wants to get in her high chair so I put her in and she watches me cook.

Around 6:15 Dad is home! Molly is super excited and immediately requests a dance party! She has become obsessed with the "What Does a Fox Say?" song and insists on a minimum of 2 dance parties a day. Chase and Molly dance around the living room while I put the finishing touches on dinner.

Dinner is served once the dance party is over and we sit together, chat about our days and enjoy the tacos. Then Molly has an improtu raid of my closet for my heels and jewelry. She loves wearing my heels around the house.

7:30pm // Night time routine begins. Chase gives Molly a bath while I clean up the kitchen and pick up her play area. I can hear lots of giggles and screams coming from the bathroom - she loves bath time! After the bath she gets the usual treatment of lotion, diaper, pjs, teeth brushing and she is ready for bed.

8:15pm // Chase reads Molly a book and she drinks her night time milk (she gets milk in the morning and at bed time). After the book is finished she gets hugs and kisses from Dad and then I sing to her and rock her for a few minutes with the lights out. Then its off to bed!

8:30pm // Relaxation time! Chase and I generally cuddle up on the couch and talk while we watch some of our TV shows. Ocassionally I will head back to the computer to finish up some work, write a blog post, or take care of other business that I need to get done. 

11:00pm // Lights out!

And then we wake up and do it all over again.

Molly: 22 Months

38 days. In 38 short days my tiny little baby will turn 2. Unbelievable. I have no idea how that happened. I look back at pregnancy pics, newborn moments, her 1 year birthday and it all feels like it was yesterday. The days never feel long anymore. They are moving at lightning speed. And it takes everything I have to just stop. Stop for a small second and make sure that I take a mental picture of right now. Because right now is going by way too fast for me. In 38 days Molly will be 2.

In almost every way Molly is every bit already a 2 year old. In all the good ways - and all the bad challenging ways. But I must say, these last few months have been by far the absolute best. We have had so much fun together this summer. For every frustrating moment there have been a thousand amazing moments. I know I will never forget this summer. Me and my little sidekick. Having a blast.

So what is Molly up to at 22 months. Well, a lot. All at once. Girl does. not. slow. down.

• Puts her hand on my face and gently pulls me to look at her, just to make sure she has my undivided attention.
  
• Jumps. Loves to jump. All around the house. Off of things. On to things. Jumping all the time.
  
• Has started to play "mom." She likes to pat her baby dolls, check for poop and then change their diapers, put them down for naps. Its so cute!
  
• Loves watching us play kickball. She goes to most of our games and cheers us on. Plus she also loves to run the bases after the games.
  
• Homegirl loves to sing and dance. Some of her favorites right now are Row Your Boat, London Bridge is Falling Down and Wheels on the Bus and Old McDonald. She knows most of the words to each and their accompanying dance moves.
  
• Language has exploded. She repeats, in clear understandable words, everything you say. And I mean everything! We have to watch ourselves. She is very good at asking for things in complete sentences, telling stories about what she did at school, singing her songs and being sweet. She can also count to 5 (sometimes 10) and say part of the ABCs. She is also very polite, using Please and Thank You correctly.
  
• Really enjoys playing with friends. Its so fun to watch them actually play together. It can get quite roudy though!
  
• Can be quite the little love bug when she wants to be - giving out lots of hugs and kisses. XO

I can't believe I am about to be a Mom of a 2 year old. It happened so fast. We love you Molly to the end of the earth and back. We couldn't imagine our lives without you in it. XO

Stats:

 Weight-Around 25lbs
 Height- 32.5"

In mostly 24mo or 2T clothes.

Likes:
Playing on/in Daddy's truck
Being a Mommy to her baby dolls
Coloring in her coloring books
Making art at school
Cupcakes!

Dislikes:
"No" of any kind
Having to sit in the highchair at restaurants
Not being allowed to climb UP slides

Firsts/New Things:
Has learned all of the colors really well and can identify them easily
Counts to 5 and sometimes 10 (skips 3 every now and then)
Playing in the toddler pool

Words/Talking:
Constant talking and picking up of new words. Expresses her wants really well. Tells us stories. Repeats absolutely everything!

Eating:
Going strong. Not too picky.

Sleeping:
No changes here, going strong. Has slept through the night since she was about 8 weeks old with little regression. She is getting very good now at letting us know when she is ready for her naps and bedtime and goes down easily. Still a bit of a crankster when she first wakes up.

Teeth:
14 teeth, 4 top/6 bottom/4 molars.

I WUV YOUUU!!

Why have I not blogged in forever you ask? Well I had a little computer mishap. My hard drive crashed and I hadn't backed up in months so I lost all of my pictures. All of my pictures to inspire and populate blog posts. I have several posts waiting in the wings and I should get all my pics back this weekend. So stay with me.

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In the early months of Molly's life when I was bouncing all day long, struggling to figure her out and doing the best I could to make sure she was getting everything she needed I remember thinking, "I can't wait until she can tell me she loves me back." Well folks, the day has come!

A couple weeks ago Molly started saying I love You. And it is SO sweet. 

"I wuv youuu Daddy!"

"I wuv youuu Mommy!"

Gives me warm fuzzies every single time. 

This kid is going to be hard to say No to when she smiles and says those three words.

Before I leave you all for the weekend, congratulations to KC Strohbehn! Congrats KC, you are the winner of my Wienervention Applegate Farms giveaway! I will contact you to arrange the shipment of your organic all natural hot dogs. Thanks for entering! Visit Applegate.com for more information on the company's story and their products if you missed the giveaway. Great stuff!

Time for Two

Once your first child, or most recent child, hits the age of one the questions start in..."When are you going to have baby number 2?" "How far apart do you want your kids?" "How many kids do you want to have?" "You didn't take a drink of that beer, ARE YOU PREGNANT?!"

Please people...let me breathe! But I get it, I do it too.

So here we sit with our first born at 21 months. Woah! How did that happen? 2 going on 12. And so the wanting is starting to set in. First, its a desire to be pregnant because I loved it so much last time. Seriously, loved it. It didn't hurt that I had the best pregnancy ever with little to no "side effects." I am very aware that every pregnancy is different, BUT that is what I remember. Second, new little babies are making me gush. And they are everywhere it seems. So what is our plan? When is number two? 

Well... #2 will be arriving in February! 

 I kid, I kid. haha Did I fool you? Probably not.

But we do have a plan, so I thought I would share some of it (not all, gotta keep the mystery of it alive).

Spacing
My brother and I are 3 years and 8 months a part. I think its the perfect gap. Not too close that you are cramping each others needs and not too far apart that you can't relate. In terms of having a newborn and a 3 1/2 year old - I think its the perfect age for Molly to be. She will be potty trained, in "school," somewhat able to do things like dress herself, brush her teeth, get a snack and old enough where she will want to help (in her own way).

Timing
I don't want to be big and pregnant in the summer, in Texas. Sounds miserable. I don't want a baby born around the Christmas holiday. I don't want both of my children's birthdays in the same month. I know, I am getting pretty picky but last time around we didn't get to be choosy AT ALL so I am determined to take some factors into my own hands this time. And not being huge in 108 degree August is a must!

Finances
Chase is still in chiropractic school which means I am the sole breadwinner for our family right now. Which also means we don't have a lot of extra cash floating around that we can save up and use for the expenses of a new baby. Chase will be graduating soon and, cross your fingers, become gainfully employed. This means we can start to set some money aside and better prepare our family finances so we can comfortably handle a second child. I don't want to put money pressure on us when its not necessary. I also don't want to put pressure on Chase as soon as he graduates to start supporting 4 people. The planner in me will definitely have our budget lined out so we don't have to worry and can focus on enjoying our family.

Health
As mentioned above, I had a very easy pregnancy. No complications, no problems. I also had a very good labor and delivery and healed up quick with no issues. So while health during pregnancy and delivery is not a big concern I do want to be fit and in shape. Since we had just gotten married a mere 3 months before getting pregnant with Molly I was still in "fit into your dress" shape. Well this time around my life is a little more hectic and I have a little less time to hit the gym. I have some personal health goals that I must meet before I am comfortable with getting pregnant.

So as you can see, a plan is in place. Number 2 is in the not-so-distant future but he/she also isn't right around the corner. As long as I can stave off my baby fever! I have enlisted friends who will slap me and remind me of what it was really like in those early days so I won't get ahead of myself.

Now, back to enjoying number one. 

What a goof!

Its a Wienervention!

Hot dogs are a summer staple in our household. We love to get together with friends, hang out in the backyard chatting and playing games and fire up the grill to roast some hot dogs. Good fun and delicious summer food.

I never really worried about what was actually in a hot dog, I knew it wasn't great stuff but it tasted good and that was enough for me. Then we had Molly and when she started eating real food I was definitely weary of giving her hot dogs. Too many fillers and mystery ingredients. It just didn't sit well with me as a good food item for her. But of course she loved them...

So it was time for a Wienervention!

Courtesy of Applegate hot dogs! Cue the hallelujahs! And put hot dogs back on the summer menu.

Applegate was kind enough to send us a package full of delicious, healthy, organic, no filler hot dogs. I wasn't the only one that was excited when we opened up the box.



Applegate generously sent us a variety of dogs to try, both organic and natural.



I knew from the research I had done into Applegate's products and the ingridients listed on the packaging that these were definitely the best possible hot dogs you can eat. No guilty feeling for gobbling these up or giving them to Molly. I think this little quote from the CEO sums it up nicely,

"So…What if you weren’t afraid to read the ingredients on a hot dog package? Like me, you’d feel better about eating them, and serving them to your family. That simple idea has always been, and will continue to be, what drives Applegate."

But the true test would come when we tasted them. They have to taste good to make their way on our menu. So we grilled em up.



And served them to our prestigious taste testers...





Approved! These two tots practically licked their plates. That is a win for me! Us adults enjoyed them too. We slapped in some buns with mustard, ketchup, cheese, relish and avocado and devoured them. Our self proclaimed hot dog guru friend also gave them the seal of approval.

And it gets better! One of my hot dog lovin readers will get to experience this Wienervention first hand! The great people at Applegate have offered to send the same package full of dogs to one reader. 

Giveaway Details:

To win, simply comment on my post (be sure to include your email) with the words "Wienervention" and tell me what your favorite thing to throw on the grill is.

Giveaway closes Friday August  9th at 12pm CST.

Check out the Applegate Wienervention Facebook page for coupons and recipes. And visit Applegate.com for more information on the company's story and their products. They make lots of great stuff besides hot dogs.

And in the meantime, don't be afraid to spread the word about the Wienervention happening!!

Sprouts Snacks + a Giveaway

Getting Molly to eat healthy nutritious foods is sometimes a challenge. She eats her fair share of tomatoes and avocado with the occasional green bean or two thrown in but thats about it. She doesn't eat bad by any  stretch but getting those greens in can sometimes be a problem. I often go to smoothies to sneak in some kale and spinach but those aren't great options for when we are on the go. I might have found a solution though! New toddler snacks from Sprout Organic Foods!

When I heard about these I knew that Molly would most likely devour them and I love all the great healthy ingredients. 

The Fruit & Veggie Crispy Chews are my favorite because they look like fruit snacks but they pack of punch of good stuff! With combinations like Orange Fruit & Carrot and Red Berry & Beet I can sneak fruits and veggies into Molly's diet without have to beg her to eat something. Win!

The real test came when Sprout Organic Foods sent us some to try out.



When Molly woke up from her nap I set these out for part of her snack. She went right for them, even bypassing the teddy grahams and her favorite - goldfish!



Toddler approved!



We went through the samples that Sprout Organic Foods sent us in two days! I then ran out and grabbed a couple boxes to keep on hand. They are now a permanent fixture in our snack rotation and I love that I can feel good about what I am giving her to munch on.

Their snacks are made with certified organic ingredients and contain no preservatives, artificial colors, flavors or other additives. I love that! You can find more information on their website about all the great  essential vitamins and other health facts that are part of their foods. Plus you know they will taste good because they come straight from Chef Tyler Florence's kitchen!

"Sprout’s mission is to create delicious and nutritious foods using the finest organic ingredients. Our baby food stages grow with your child to provide a balance of wholesome and organic vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and proteins. Our unique recipes will nourish your child’s growth and encourage a love of healthy foods right from the start."

Doesn't get much better than that. Oh wait it does...

For a couple lucky readers -- you will get to snack away on these healthy treats too! The team at Sprout Organic Foods generously offered to send a pack of the new Toddler Snacks to one of my readers!


Giveaway Details:

To win, simply comment on my post (be sure to include your email) with the words "Eat Clean" and tell me what your favorite go-to snack for your kiddo is.

Giveaway closes Wed July 3rd at 12pm CST.

Good luck!

To learn more about the product you can visit the website and follow them on Twitter @SproutFoods

Lately Recap

Happy Monday all! Instead of doing a weekend recap (it wasn't all that exciting) I thought I would do a lately recap. We have been busy and on the go a lot lately but no one thing is really worthy of a post by itself, so lets combine!

With Summer officially here we are outside a lot! Between zoo trips, park trips, local market trips and the good ol' backyard its hard to find us inside. But thats how we like it!

Last weekend we hit up the local farmers market down the road. Its a small market but it has great vendors, plus food trucks!





And delicious popsicles! Molly, aka The Joker, thought they were pretty yummy.





Our haul. Not much but its quality not quantity.

We also went to our annual Texas Rangers game a few weeks back. We like to try and go before the summer heat really sets in.



Lets see, what else? Oh! We started up a kickball team with a bunch of friends and its a blast! We play on Tuesday nights and if the games are early enough the kiddos get to come and watch. Go One Kick Wonders!!



Chase and I got dressed up for his high school reunion and had a blast! Plus Molly got her first ice cream truck experience and devoured a Bomb Pop. Yum!





Summer chores have also started. Got to put them to work early right. Its about time she pulls her weight around here.



And our first child got her summer cut. It must be getting hot!



And finally, to this past weekend. We enjoyed a beautiful evening at the Dallas Arts District block party. There were about 30 food trucks lining the streets, a nice cool(ish) breeze and gorgeous views of the skyline. And lots of space for Molly to run run run.



And for my two goofballs to hang out.



So here we are. All caught up. I must say, life is pretty good lately.

Have a great week!