Veggie Enchiladas

yummy, I was so impressed with this recipie! I made it last night.

good one, trust me.
I did not take my own picture, mine pretty much looked just like hers.
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/03/cheesy-zucchini-enchiladas.html

Applique

 So, I have neve appliqued before, but thought I would like to try. I found this cute cupcake design on the internet and gave it a whirl. Not too bad for my 1st applique project, eh?

Shirt is from Target and I used some leftover scrap pieces of fabric I had hanging around.

In general I'd say I'm a "B" sewer, like to try new things, they look good from 3 feet away, but I don't have the patience to be a perfectionist about things....and let's put it in perspective, this shirt will probably have ice cream dripping down the front of it and stains the 1st time Wigwam wears it anyway.

Future applique patterns to try:

Anyone else applique? Have any tips to share?

Easter weekend

Our Easter was pretty laid back, just us 3 and a beautiful day. I'll let the photos do the talking, SOOC.

baby ducks!

her 1st M&Ms

Strawberry Fields Forever

We went strawberry pickin on Saturday! Just Wigwam and myself. She couldn't pull hard enough to get them off the vine, so she settled for just eating them.

I carry mommy. okay big girl.

Good Ideas

when I was little I used to say "mommy, how'd you get so smart" and she would alsways say "because I went to college." ALWAYS...not matter how simple the task, brainwashing from a young age is effective.

so since I went to college, thought I'd share some of my "smart" ideas around the house!

Learning your colors:
Pick up these free color paint sample cards and tie them together to help teach your little one her colors.

Dripping bibs:
We installed two hooks on the side of our cabinet to hang bibs to dry after being risnsed out. They were missing the sink and I was tired of wiping the counter so I moved a plant here and now he gets watered every so often.

Finger Painting:
Noah made this awesome cover for Wigwams sand/water table to keep the leaves and bugs out. I squirted a bunch of paint right on the lid and let Wigwam paint outside.....just spray with the hose to clean up (and strip the clothes off your kid before letting back inside).

Adding fruits and veggies anywhere you can:

-I like to make the Martha White ($0.90 bag) muffins in the mornings, add a banana to the mix, easy and adds real nutrients.

-Add veggies to sphagetti sauce (carrots & peppers & mushrooms).

-Add zuchini to pancakes (shredded).

-I would like to do this idea, but I don't have a juicer.....make you own veggie juice and keep it on hand in a milk jug in the fridge, add it to everything you cook, even a little bit will is good. Think pizza sauce, soups and casseroles.

-Add fresh veggies to a frozen cheese pizza, sneak em in wherever you can!

Acts of Kindness

This month two kind acts have really touched me.
Mostly because they were so unexpected, but also because it's wasn't a holiday/birthday/etc.

The first is was dinner and drinks down in Charleston. I was enjoying the evening with some lovely ladies that I barely knew. One of the girls mom & dad showed up to hang out too and they were really fun parents! They ended up paying for everyone's dinner & drinks. It was such a nice and unexpected gesture from people I had only known for an hour or so. I think this young lady has some really wonderful parents that want to hang out and get to know her friends- you are blessed! Thanks for showering me with some of those blessings a few weeks ago. I hope that I can become such a fun parent.

The second was when I got home last night to a package on the front door step. I knew it was from Dad, but wasn't sure what was inside. I opened the box to find a full set of kitchen knives, steak knives, scissors and butcher block! I'll just say that you had no idea how happy some knives made me! To shortly recap our house was down to 1 steak knife, 1 parring knife and 1 chopper. After Noah & I trading the steak knife back and forth at dinner we were thinking that it was getting a bit silly. Talk about perfect timing and a joyful heart.

Happy April!

two!

Wigwam is turning two!!
I'm so happy for her and how much easier she has gotten for me/us.

I don't believe in over the top birthday parties for a few reasons. 1) It's expensive 2) she has no friends of her own yet 3) her birthday is not the next family reunion.

So for now, we are doing "fun" experiences for her birthdays. Last year we took a trip on the ferry out to Ocracoke. This year.......we're headed to the zoo!

We have invited some cousins, one friend, and the grandparents to join us if they want.

To not be a total boring mom, I am trying to do a few things fun:

cute animal invitations

zoo animal cupcakes

zoo animal sunvisors for the kiddos

zoo animal stickers

I think thats enought to celebrate and still be deemed a fun mom. The one I'm nervous about it the cupcakes...yikes! anyone want to help? advise?

Curtain Help

I do not have a natural knack for decorating. I'm pretty good at stealing ideas, but otherwise it's all a bit overwhelming to me.

Wanna help?

For example this is the shape of the window in Wigwam's room:

 love the shape, but very confused about how (and where) to hang curtains. And what style of curtains?

Thoughts?

Websites that get me through

Today I'm sharing the websites that help make life a little easier!
I live in a town of about 30K people so access to nice stores is very limited and we have to do a lot of online shopping.

Harris Teeter - online shopping, every working mom's perk

Zulily - great prices on special occasion clothing

VistaPrint - birthday party invitations

Oriental Trading - cheap craft project for the little one

Pandora - how i love thee for reading my mind and setting my mood right

Crazy8 & Gymboree - clothes with $5 flat rate shipping

Kobo - online book buying

Etsy - for great gifts that I wish I had time to make myself

Running Map - map any distance route for a jog

I guess I should also mention a few things I have not had luck with buying online:
shoes - don't do it
some of the high end childrens clothing is vanity sized....to big! will be fine for next year, but do we really need vanity sizing in childrens clothing (um, no)

A Baby Changes Everything

I've been thinking about this post for awhile as unsolicited advice for my internet friends that don't have kids yet.....consider this your warning!

I always heard that "kids are a lot of work, but they are worth it."
I don't think anyone was ever totally honest with me about how much work there would be and how they would change your life.

So here's your warning-- make sure you are REALLY READY to have kids. Beyond ready ladies.

How much work?
The work isn't hard but it is CONSTANT, 100% of the time all the time.
We can all fix a bottle, change a diaper, get up during the night but ladies....there is no break, there is no off duty. You will always need to have your eye on what that little baby is doing even when they are doing nothing to make sure they don't get into something!

Another misconception of our feminist culture, I thought that parenting would be 60% mom 40% dad - HELLO again, let's try 95% mom 5% dad. And Noah is a good dad. Especially if you breastfeed, this baby is attached to you all the time and prefers mom over dad any day of the week (I cave).

How they change your life?
My life, what life? I had a life and it has been gone for a solid 2 years. Most everything you used to do you will have trouble doing now, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, running into target, running into the pharmacy, planting flowers and all very tiring and hard to get done, even if you want to do these things.

For a dose of reality, I had 45 min of "mommy time" last night to go for a walk, prior to that I was able to go out 2 weeks ago with some ladies in Charleston for 4 hours, prior to that I went out of town last August by myself.

Here's another example, Wigwam was born mid-May and I remember having a conversation mid-July with a girlfriend and saying that I had had 3 hours total by myself since she was born---and these free hours included the luxury of going to the grocery store by myself. Think I'm kidding??? um no.
All this being said we have uninvolved grandparents and we're fairly new to to town ourselves (2 years) so we don't have a huge network of friends to help out.

To end on a positive note....this baby will make you feel more special than anyone ever can.

If you have a question about the shock factor and want it straight, send a question and I'll tell ya!

Sewing Skirts

my next project is to sew some skirts, one for me and one for Wigwag with these fabrics I fell in love with.

Amy Butler's Daisy Chain for me:           

Oliver & S's City Weekend for Wigwam:

I found the Lazy Days Skirt pattern free on the Oliver & S website. this will work for Wigwam but thinking of something less elastic-y for mom. 

Easter

....is my Favorite holiday!! No pressure with the gift thing or getting together with crazy family.
Just us. Just US.

And what's not to like about pastel easter egg trees, starburst jelly beans, church outside on the waterfront, new dresses, hair bows, and shoes?

We got the eggs out early and decided to have some practice hunts around the house this weekend to make sure Wigwam knows what to do come the big day!

Noah and I already bought (and split) a bag of Starburst jelly beans...which is actually quite an accomplishment in our house considering that we have to sneak away and eat them or else Wigwam thinks she wants some.

Our church usually holds church outside at the park overlooking the water for Easter. Assuming the weather is nice, it's awesome!! Thousands of people singing, little kids running around and swinging on the playground, so refreshing.

I bought Wigwam's Easter dress on Zulily this year, a white smocked gown with light pink flowers. It's so pretty. Her first smocked dress (dad despises).

Charleston

ahhh, can you just say PERFECT! great weather, great food, great get-away.

we started with dinner here:

good hippie atmosphere, good food, beer and open windows

 cheese!

and then a walk around town....

 SOOTC (straight out of the camer), nice one, huh?

Later that night I met up with some ladies....Rooftop Bar at sunset sipping Firefly & lemonade, and Southend Brewery for dinner. oh to be young again!

Grandparents

I'd like to steal a quote from one of my coworkers regarding grandparents, "you can't tell them shit, they know everything."

Well, it's true. These people who used to be our parents seem to be confused that they make the decisions regarding your child as well. My advice - stop this thought pattern/assumption early on or you will fight it for the rest of your existence.

I often repeat a quote that my friend (and experience mom) told me right after Wigwam was born...."You are her mother and you know what's best."  EVEN IF YOU HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE!

I had this (skewed) image of how wonderful grandparents were going to be:
-came to visit and brought wonderful gifts
-babysat while mom & dad went on a date or vacation
-came over to your house to help out because they understand how hard it is to balance a little one and work and a house.....this may include cooking, dusting, vacuuming, ironing and laundry...just because they want to help.

So now comes reality....none of the (three sets) grandparents do all three of these things. And they rarely do any of these things.

To say i'm bitter about this would be accurate. But why shouldn't i expect these people who are supposed to love us more than anyone else in the world, them to want to help? I think that grandparents are not entitled to all the fun without pitching in.

For those who do have these types of grandparents, please let this be a reminder that they are a blessing and not everyone has this!

As for me, I'm posting signs for some adoptive grandparents!