AHHHH SUCCESS!!!

I am SO excited.  I have finally found a whole milk that Makena can drink!  It's lactose free whole milk.  I found it for the first time when I went grocery shopping last time.  Why didn't anybody tell me that this existed?  It's so amazing.  She isn't runny in the least bit (in her diaper anyway).  I'm sure she would love me posting this for the world to see.  Luckily she too little to know or care.  So, a little relief of the checking account now that we're done with formula!

Monday Monday!

We have had a good day so far!  Makena was good during my doctor's appointment today so I got her a little toy at Target.  She got a magnetic draw on board, one of those that come with magnetic shapes.  I bought it for a car toy but she insisted that it was for indoor use today, haha.  I did let her bring it in, but I'll be bringing it back out to the car next time we leave.  I don't want her to get sick of it.  We've gone on day 4 of skipping the morning nap, and it seems to be getting easier on her.  She did go down for her afternoon nap a half hour after lunch though . . .

We don't have much of a plan for the rest of the afternoon or week though . . . I may need some ideas.  I REALLY want the sun to come back out.

A big day outdoors!

Makena and I had a action packed, chore filled day.  We started off nice and early by dropping off our utililty bill, then heading to Menards for some grass seed and fertilizer.  We followed that up by returning some things to Target, then going to the garden center for some flowers for Grandpa Larry.  After a quick stop at the pet store for dog food we finally came home.  This was all done in 1 hour!   Once we got home Makena was wore out so she went down for a nap.  I seized this opportunity to get a workout and shower in.

Once she woke up we had lunch and then went outside for "dandelion hunting". After I weeded the yard I spread seed while Makena "mowed" with her bubble mower.  She then wanted to take ANOTHER nap, 2 hours after waking from the first one . . . so I brought her in and she slept.  Once she woke up we had snack time out on the deck and then enjoyed the sun and just played in the backyard.

She had an overall good day, and so did I!  I'm sure it sounds boring to most of you, but it was a nice change to our normal routine.  Tomorrow we're going to be going to Grandpa Larry's for the night and hopefully all goes well.

Oh how the rain makes me tired!

We had some fun today.  Makena's cousins came over for a couple of hours while 1 of them had an eye doctor appointment and she loved it!  We went to the park, played in the backyard, and played with toys.  It was nice having someone else entertain her for a bit.  I did forget how a 6 year old has questions for everything, and usually the same question over and over and over because they aren't listening.  It was truly a test of my patience.  DownFALL of the day, I fell down the stairs while holding Makena.  I was able to stay upright and safe ALMOST the whole way.  I ended up turing to the side and letting Makena go so she would be safer than if she fell forward, which was about to happen.  She did hit her head on the wall, but I figure that's better than the bottom of the stairwell with me on top of her.  My big toe got bent a little funny, but otherwise we're both fine and dandy and you'd never know anything happened!

So, to the rain.  Once it started raining it was like a switch went off in my head and I wanted to sleep.  It was terrible!  Makena was napping so I figured I should too.  I must not have really needed a nap since I only slept for 15 minutes, but laying on the couch being a bum felt pretty good.  I'm back in a sitting position now, so that's a start to the whole getting back and at 'em process.  haha  I'm going to blame Makena's growth spurt (long naps and good eating) on my laziness today.

In two more days we will be going up to Princeton for the day for a birthday party, I'm sure Makena will have a blast.  The only thing I'm not so sure of is how well she'll sleep.  She gets so wound up there that she stays awake until we get in the car.  We usually have to leave early just so she goes to sleep.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Saturday brings.  It will be nice to have something to do while Jared is studying.  I always dread lounging around the house when I know he's here working his butt off.  I feel like I should be doing something too, I guess I AM watching the baby, right?  Anyway, I'm starting to ramble, I'm off to do something with my afternoon.  If the rain stays away I foresee a bike ride in our future (if Makena ever wakes up)!

Amazed

Makena jumped today!  She has no idea that she did it, but she did. She was watcing Clifford and they all started lauging and cheering and jumping.  She then started to mimic them and jumped off the ground!  I was so proud of her.

This weekend was pretty good too.  Friday we wen to Princeton to play with her cousin Brooke and then "Auntie" Katie came over on Saturday and we played at the park, Makena took a long nap, and Katie and I got a nice sunburn while playing board games outside.  It was wonderful.  Sunday was beautiful outside as well so we played outside a bit, went to the baby expo at the Convention Center (I like free stuff), and she took another really good nap.  We topped off the day with a supper of Spaghetti and ALL of us turning in at 8pm.  Yep, that's right, ALL 3 of us.  We were all so tired.  Jared has been studying non-stop, Makena wore me out (and perhaps the sun a bit), and Makena just normally goes to bed at that time.

I was going to dust off the bikes and bike trailer and fill up the tires today, but when we went to Walgreens, the wind is CRAZY out there, so that is going to wait for another day.  It's hard enough biking against the wind, let alone adding a trailer to the mix.  So instead we are playing "dow-wees" and watching the neighbors build something in their backyard (a gazebo perhaps?).  Soon we will be having a tasty lunch of . . . something and playing the rest of the day.  I hope it rains since it's too cold/windy to enjoy the outdoors.

I'm thinking some time this week Makena and I will head to either Deerwood or Paynesville for a night to give Jared another night of solid studying.  It will also be good for her to have a change of scenery.  Saturday we have a birthday party to go to in Princeton, so at least we have that day taken care of!

Sleepy day

Makena and I were both big on the naps today.  We both slept for 5 hours today.  She wanted to sleep more, but wasn't able to fall asleep.  We didn't even get to spend too much time outside.  When we went out, it started to rain 10 minutes later.  :(  She didn't seem to mind that we had to go in though, thankfully.  I wish we would have gotten more rain, but it was more like a big sprinkle.  I brought all the Little People back out of the closet.  She had tons of fun with them today.  Hopefully she likes them again tomorrow so I didn't go through all the work of bringing them out for nothing.

Yesterday we had fun playing with bubbles and her new sidewalk chalk.  She REALLY liked the chalk.  I really was hoping for the rain today to wash away our drawings.

The driveway is FILLED with a big welcome home message to Jared.  I feel kind of silly right now, it was just meant to be a welcome home from work message and the neighbors probably think he was gone for a month or something.

Easter Fun!

We stayed at home with Jared this weekend, since he booked an online seminar for work for this weekend, so Makena and I went to my Aunt's house for an Easter celebration.  We spent 6 hours there.  It would have been less, but Makena went down for a nap and I had to wait for her to wake up before I left.  She had fun with all the cousins.  She played with all the toys, did an Easter egg hunt, and ate some delicious food.  We didn't get to spend the weekend with Jared's family, but we do get to see them more throughout the year, so we'll make up for it.  Here is a cute picture of the day:

During the intro to this morning's Sesame Street, she said "cookie" "bubble" and "flower" when they came on the screen.  I'm starting to be impressed with her associations!  She also did about a half hour of coloring this morning.  Her attention span is getting bigger!  We are going to try out some sidewalk chalk and a new golf club set later today.

Nummy

So I made some scrum-didily-umptious hamburger stroganoff for supper.  It was SO good.  Of course I LOVE the stuff, so I'm a little biased.  I even made it healthier than my original by swapping out the sour cream for plain yogurt.  Worked like a charm.  I was a little worried, but all was good.

GROUND BEEF STROGANOFF

1 pound ground beef, lean 1 small onion, chopped 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 10 3/4 ounces cream of mushroom soup, condensed 2 ounces mushroom stems and pieces, drained (1/2 a small can) 3/4 cup sour cream, or plain yogurt In medium skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain excess fat. Stir in garlic salt, pepper, soup and mushrooms. Simmer covered, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in yogurt; heat through, but do not boil.

Makena has made some new friends!  They live right behind us.  They've been living with their Grandma and Grandpa for the last year and we didn't even know.  Paige and Avery are 5 and 2 and they like Makena's play house, so we have toys to entice them over!!  Their mom has Thursdays off, so yesterday we all met at the park and had a ton of fun sliding, swinging, and just running around.  It was a good day.

Today Makena and I went to Herberger's to exchange some jammies for a bigger size and then I bought myself my birthday present.  I haven't decided if it's from Grandma or Jared yet.  I got a new pair of jeans (size 8 and they're still a little big, YES) and a couple of cute new shirts (size medium, WAHOO), all from Express.  I then headed back to Herberger's and got a cute new pair of shoes.  SO fun.  Here is a pic:



I may be returning the shoes though, there were some cute ones at DSW the other day and they were a little cheaper, it may be a birthday present, but I still want to get as much bang for my buck as possible.  The DSW ones didn't have a buckle and zipped instead, so they were a little easier to get on, which is crucial when you have a 16 month old.