Nap/Rest Time Adventures

Now Nugget is mostly potty trained during the day. For her nap/rest time, we no longer use a diaper and she just calls us if she has to go. Today I heard her calling and went to get her. I open the door to see her wearing her shirt and a pair of tights instead of the jeans she had been in. The room also smelled strongly of Lysol. She said she had to go potty so away we went. She is also wearing a different pair of panties and they are on backward.

 While in the bathroom, I asked her what happened to her jeans? Nugget says, "They got wet." From what, I ask? "From my potty. I cleaned it," she says. With what? "The spray." Where is it? "Behind my shoes." Where are your jeans? "In my closet," this is where we keep their dirty clothes. Then when she finishes going, we go back in her room. She shows me where she cleaned the floor with "the spray" and laid a diaper liner over it "cuz it's still wet." Sure enough she has stashed the Lysol from the top of the closet (which she climbed the shelves of) behind her basket of shoes.

The whole time I just nod and keep calm. I can't reprimand her because I'm trying so hard not to laugh, my eyes water from the effort. She was quite pleased with herself for fixing her problem. It doesn't even occur to her that she should never have had the Lysol, isn't supposed to be in her closet or drawers (despite being given explicit instructions at the onset of rest time) or that she should have let me clean the mess. I can't imagine where she gets her independence!

Santa

Cute dresses from our friend Joy. 

We told the girls on Friday that Saturday we would be taking them to see Santa Claus. Nothing special, just a Santa at the local Fred Meyer. Nugget woke up bright and early so excited to see Santa. She kept asking, "Are we going to see Santa now?" When we got to the store she practically ran down the aisles dragging Ralph with her. She got all the way up to where he was (wonderfully, there was no line!) and promptly hid her face in my side. She wouldn't go anywhere near him. It was very funny. Zita sat up on his lap briefly and then broke down. Oh, well, maybe next year. They thought it was way more fun to walk us around and show us toys than to sit with Santa and tell him what they wanted.

Christmas Baking

The Christmas baking around here started with us letting the girls decorate some sugar cookies. It was messy and tons of fun. The girls had so much fun and did I mention made a terrible mess? In a future post I'll tell you about how I made the page above. It's from My Memories Suite. It's such a fun program, looking forward to sharing it with you.

Then tonight I made a batch of these Red Velvet Peppermint Crinkle Cookies. However, you know I can't make any recipe using a mix. This recipe called for a cake mix so I switched it up a bit. It just so happens that  Pioneer Woman has our favorite Red Velvet Cake recipe in her book. I decided to use that recipe for the "mix" part and move forward. It took a bit of tweaking on the liquid side of things but I figured it out. They are super yummy and I definitely recommend making these sooner rather than later. I'm not sure why but I always think of crinkle cookies as "Christmas cookies." I think I remember Mom making chocolate crinkle cookies most often around Christmas time. I think these will be part of our regular Christmas tradition. 

What have you been baking lately?

Bug-A-Boo's First Picture

Can't wait to meet this little peanut!

Nugget's Third Birthday Party

Such a fun day! We had our Life Group family (both some past and present) over for a family style birthday party. Unfortunately, I did not get as many pics as I was planning on but we had a good day. Thankfully, every one was very gracious as I was not quite as prepared in the set up department as I had been hoping for. It was fun to have everyone pitch in to help, though.

The birthday girl was so excited to have everyone there. You could tell she really got it this year as opposed to her 1st or 2nd birthday parties. It was fun and sad to see her growing up all at the same time. Do you see the picture of her feeding the baby? I almost can't believe she's not the baby anymore! We put her hair up in rags for the first time last night. The curls were really pretty in the beginning but they faded fast. I may try hair spray next time.

Pinterest gets all the credit for my inspiration. This pin was my original inspiration.  I found it by accident when looking through the online mag that it's in. Someone had pinned something else in the magazine, etc, etc. Then this pin was the inspiration for a lot of the food ideas. Ralph even drilled holes in a log for me like they did! So fun. We made this Best Chocolate Cake for Thanksgiving and decided it deserved a repeat performance at the birthday party. A word to the wise, if using a spring form pan, line it with parchment paper first. We did not do this at Thanksgiving and it was a problem. A big problem.

Thanks to my husband, Ian and Matt for getting our table outside so I could have the set up I was envisioning in my head. And then Ralph and Ian for putting it all back again. Erinn and Joyce helped me finish off the food prep. It truly was a community effort. Such a fun day to celebrate a very fun little girl.

P.S. I forgot to add the link for Nugget's outfit inspiration or for the AWESOME chili recipe Ralph found that is now on my Pinterest.

Nugget's Third Birthday

Nugget's day in pictures with an interview at the end.

Our favorite cinnamon rolls made by Ralph.

Her "present baby" she named Susie. Took me 2 years to make but she's done! Check out this original post.

Waking up to balloons.

Birthday Breakfast

Playing with our presents.

Flower blueberry lemon cupcakes per Nugget's request.

1. What is your favorite color? purple

2. What is your favorite toy? Scout

3. What is your favorite fruit? Banana (pronounced "panana')

4. What is your favorite tv show? Yo Gaba Gaba

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Honey and biscuits (what she had for lunch today)

6. What is your favorite outfit? my polka dot dress (currently wearing)

7. What is your favorite game? Muppets

8. What is your favorite snack? Gold fish

9. What is your favorite animal? dog

10. What is your favorite song? ABC Song

11. What is your favorite book? Amelia Bedelia

12. Who is your best friend? Auntie Amanda

13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Bike (just got a tricycle for her birthday)

15. What is your favorite drink? water

16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Scout, the baby (she got for her birthday), blankie, Nuk

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Yogurt (plain Greek with fruit and honey)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? burritos

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A baby in my tummy (I am pregnant)

She is such a funny, smart and beautiful girl. I am so proud to be her mama. She can say her ABC's, recognize many of the letters, and count to 20. She loves to laugh and play and love on her sister. I love her smile and infectious laugh. She is stubborn and strong willed.  She is fearless until the lights go out. She cuddles more now than she ever did as a baby or toddler. Such a precious girl. 

Nugget's Birthday!

Meet Susie. She arrived just in time for Nugget's third birthday. Nugget named her herself. More pics to come.