Thursday, July 26, 2012

Tootsie Love

My sister-in-law gave me a great gift for my birthday- a pedicure! Who doesn't love that, especially in the summer when it's all flip-flops and bare feet?!? This momma certainly doesn't spoil herself either, so having someone else rub my feet and paint my nails is heaven :)

When Emma heard me talking about appointments, she went into fight mode. You see, we've been discussing the fact that she had a four year well-child visit coming up which means the big, nasty s-word. Shots! She's been concerned about this since attending all of E-man's visits when he gets poked on an average of four times each.

I calmed her hysterics and explained what we were going to do. I offered to let her indulge in a little piggy paint as well, but assumed she would not take me up on the offer. I tried to plan a mommy-daughter pedi date back before Easton was born and she shot me down. I thought it could be one last special thing for us to do together before the baby came (okay, who am I kidding, I wanted someone to make my toesies pretty since I could no longer reach them!)

Needless to say, she decided that she would like to have her toes painted. She made it clear that she did not want to soak her feet, have them rubbed, or have her nails clipped while we were there though. Her mind was already made up on a color and she picked out her outfit the night before to color coordinate with the purple she intended to choose.

Let's just say my little lady loves getting her toes painted as much as her mommy!
 She even convinced the manicurist to paint her nails.
And really, who could say no to this face?!?!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Book #3

I just finished My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade; I had never heard of this author, but the cover and description persuaded me to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised and plan to keep my eye out for her future titles. This book made me laugh, it made me cry and I fell in love with the characters along the way.

Kate is a women in her early thirties who has given up on love. She takes a trip with her grandmother to restore a family home that has been around for many generations. Enter handsome, wounded Matt who has been hired to help with the renovation process. He's a former hockey player who keeps to himself. Kate realizes that he is hurting and tries to befriend him, whether he's interested in her friendship or not.

Through out the story Kate has to lean on God and listen to him when He speaks to her. She may not agree with His plan, nor understand it, but she obeys. I love her feisty character and the way she interacts with others. The author truly bring her characters to life. It was a nice change up from historical romance that you so often see.
Thanks to Bethany House publishers who sent me a free copy of My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade. It is not required that I give a positive review, but to express my own opinions of this book

Friday, July 13, 2012

Five Months

I can hardly believe my little man is 5 months already! You're still so little, yet I look back at pics from the first few weeks and see how much you've changed. It's exciting, yet tugs at my heart. I want you to stay my baby for a while- cuddly, loves your mama and can't talk back like your big sis :)

No doctor appointment so far this month, so I don't have any accurate stats, but I'm guessing you weighs in at 14.5-15 pounds. At this point your diapers are still on the first size setting, but I have a feeling we'll need to adjust the rise on them soon. You're still wearing mostly 3 month clothes, with the occasional 3-6 month outfit thrown in. Although who am I kidding, with the temps in Michigan lately you've only been sporting diapers!

I think you take after the Burtraw side of my family and feel sleep is over-rated. You don't have much of a schedule, even though this momma sure has tried. At least you finally will nap in a bed and go to sleep on your own with very few tears. When you get sleepy you curl your toes up tight and sometimes rub your noggin (only on the right side). So precious! You love your little taggie Auntie Val made you and never go to sleep without it. The bassinet has finally been packed away since your head and feet touch the ends, but you haven't made the move to your room yet. Mommy's not ready to get up with you AND your sister 6-8 times a night!

You continue to grow more interactive by the day. I have yet to catch it on camera, but you have mastered the pouty face. Where do kids get that from anyways?!? Overall, you are a happy guy and don't hesitate to offer a smile. I caught this video of you and your sister playing together this week- she loves to be goofy and apparently you appreciate it as well.

You were able to roll over last month, but I feel as though you are now working on perfecting those skills. I'm afraid my days with you staying in one place are numbered! I also feel like you must be cutting teeth soon because the drool and your chewing habits are out of control. You also have this habit of rubbing your little feet together when your upset which is causing you to wear the skin right off your toes. If it weren't so darn hot outside I'd have sock on you all the time!

We love you so much handsome boy and can't wait to see the changes this next month bring for you!




Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Super Simple Indoor Activity

As you know, I've been trying to find easy things to entertain Emma with stuff I have on hand around the house. I saw this idea over at Life of a Modern Mom and figured we'd give it a shot. I simply printed a picture of Emma's choosing out and taped it to the window. I then placed a blank piece over top and showed her how to trace the picture. 


It worked for a little bit, but I got busy with something else and she got impatient following the lines. We ended up having a mass of scribbles with a hint of a picture underneath.


We'll have to try this again later when she's a little older, but for a quick activity it was perfect!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Salt Dough Fun

We've seen salt dough creations all over Pintrest now, so we decided to give it a shot. Obviously we did this a while ago based on Emma's attire in these pics- we haven't broken out long sleeves around her for over a month now.

I must say, nothing we did turned out quite as nice as the picture, but Emma loves messy, hands on activities so this was perfect for her!

My little helper and all our supplies.

You will need:
-2 cups flour
-1 cup of salt
-cold water
Mix the dry ingredients together and then add water until it has the consistency of play dough. Once your ready, bake at 250 for 2 hours. Once it's cool you can paint it as well.
Getting right to work.

I used a toothpick to make holes in the hearts and stars. I figured these would be great Christmas ornaments for the grandparents next year (normally I don't think that far in advance, but we needed something to do on a day we were stuck inside and come Christmas time Easton will require a bit more entertainment :)
Our handiwork prior to baking.
The aftermath left behind. Yes, that is a itty-bitty sock lying on the counter. I tried really hard to do both of the kiddos hand prints, but Easton was not on board for this project so I though doing his foot might be easier. Not so much.
The only thing that really did not turn out well was Emma's hand. It took several tries to get a good impression which meant folding the dough over and re flattening it several times. We must have missed an air bubble :( The hubs came home and thought these were cookies. He pushed on the hand print to see if they were done and broke right through it. He then proceeded to quiz me about why I would make such rock hard cookies....

For the most part this was a relatively easy project using items we had on hand. I may have to try another batch to see if we can achieve better results next time. I plan on using some of the hearts for ornaments or key chains and we are using the stars to create a mobile for the kids room. I'll try and post a picture later once Emma's finished painting her masterpiece.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Heat Wave Desperation

Who says you need a fancy outdoor pool?!?

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Happy Fourth!

We spent the afternoon trying to stay cool in the lake at Sandy Pines, followed by dinner with Jason's family and some friends. On the way home we grabbed some ice cream that melted faster than we could consume it.

Our little neighborhood has an awesome fireworks display that we go to every year. It's put on by some local companies in a backyard about a 1/2 mile away. We loaded up the wagon and headed out for a sweaty evening of food, fireworks and fun.



 Easton wasn't sure what to think of the fireworks. He didn't make a peep, just stared at all the bright lights.
About 10 minutes into it he was out- my son, the one who deosn't sleep!!! He slept for the remainder of the show (at least another 20 minutes). We're thinking of investing in a drum set so his sister can lull him to sleep from now on :)

Hope everyone had a wonderul day to celebrate and spend time with their family!