Reading

About a week and a half ago I decided that I would start reading children's chapter books to Bean and I am so so so glad that I did. We started with Holes by Louis Sachar.

 It was one of my favorite books when I was younger, still is one of my favorite book-to-film adaptations, and was the only children's chapter book I had on hand. lol! Every day before naptime and before bedtime Bean would crawl up into my lap, put her head on my shoulder, and I would read for 20-40 mins - until she started dozing or until I started getting too tongue tied. If you knew Bean in real life you'd know that she is a very active, always moving, talking, doing kind of toddler. I could tell she really enjoyed our time reading because she'd sit on my lap and just listen. (Sure, there are moments of fidgeting, because she's 2.5, but she'd put her head back down as soon as I asked her to. It was never a struggle to get her to listen.) We finished that book in 6 days and on day 7 we took a trip to Barnes and Nobel to pick a new book; we picked Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

An awesome plus to Charlotte's Web, that I seem to have forgotten from when I read it as a child, is the fact that every 2-3 pages there is an illustration about what's going on at that point in the story. I decided to spend the extra dollar and buy the full color edition instead of the one with the black and white drawings and am glad I did. She is really loving this story! She loves the silly voices I read the different characters in, she loves seeing the photos, she loves that it's about animals - and I love that while it's a children's book, it uses "grown up" words. And not just the words that Charlotte spins in her web (terrific, radiant!), but Fern's parents talk to their children like adults, the animals use a wide vocabulary when talking to each other, etc. There have been a couple words that she'll pick her head up from my chest and ask, "What's that word mean?" and I try my best to explain it to her in a way she'll understand, but I don't mind - she's truly a little sponge and remembers what we teach her and she uses pretty big words when she's talking to us once she learns what they mean. We've only had the book for 4 days and we're 3/4 done. I'd say we have about 40 pages left, so it looks like we'll be hitting up the bookstore again this weekend. (I'll need to hurry up and start perusing the children's chapter books at thrift stores, or else at this rate we'll go broke buying books! haha I'm kidding... sort of.)

I love that Bean has my love of reading - it's truly an escape for me, and I've loved reading for as long as I can remember - which I attribute to my mom being an avid reader and reading to me a lot when I was young. I love that I've started this new tradition with her and she's enjoying it so much. If she didn't, I wouldn't push it on her but it'd break my heart a little bit. I love that it's something easy and inexpensive that we can - and will - continue to do together once her little brother is born. I love getting that slow-down and snuggle time with her twice a day, and I look forward to being able to reconnect with her on a daily basis with our reading once the baby comes. For a while it may only happen once a day, at bedtime, when I have Jeff home to help with the baby while she and I snuggle in the chair... but once our little man gets bigger and more self sufficient I'll be able to pick back up with it at naptime as well. Then, when the blessed day comes that they're both on the same nap/quite-time schedule I'll bring him in during our story time ritual. Or maybe I won't, maybe I'll read him his own stories in his room. I guess I'll have to decide that when the time comes, but I have no intention of stopping this new, favorite, routine with my sweet girl once her brother comes.

For good measure, here is a picture taken from her 30 month (aka 2.5 year) bday shoot. I can't believe my baby is 2.5!! I swear, I just had her a few months ago. Double the amount of time she's been in our lives and she'll be 5 years old and in Kindergarten.... that's too wild for me to wrap my mind around. *sigh*

We're having a....

We're very excited to be having a boy! I'll admit that I feel, a bit, like we're jumping into the unknown seeing as how I know what to expect with girl parts, but I know that we'll be just fine and we'll figure out our sweet boy's ins and outs as they come. I've always wanted a boy, but I think once we had Bean I just assumed we'd be a house of daughters. That's what I get for assuming, right?

♥

Oh hai....

It's been 3 months since I last posted. Whoops! Life got crazy, really crazy, really fast and I just couldn't keep up. But, here we are in a new year and things have settled down so I'm going to try really hard to be better about posting regularly again. This is what you've missed in the last three months:

We went to Las Vegas for Jeff's grandparent's 60th anniversary celebration the first week in October, but sadly, his Gramps passed away the morning after we arrived. While we were there we also got word that we officially bought a house, and that the closing date was set for 3 weeks later. And, as if those weren't enough to deal with, I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 a few days after we arrived, and after his Gramps passed. Needless to say, that week long "vacation" was far from a vacation, instead it was full of mixed emotions and overwhelming stress. Jeff's grandpa was a veteran and the family wanted him laid to rest at the Veteran's Memorial cemetery. There was a bit of a traffic jam there, and they were unable to set a funeral date before we had to get back to Colorado for Jeff to get back to work.

We got back home and began packing the apartment as fast as we could. The funeral date was set fairly quickly, quicker than we expected, so we were home less than a week before we headed back to Las Vegas for the funeral. This trip we drove, instead of flying, to save money. The funeral service was beautiful. We wished that we had more time to spend in Vegas with his mom and Grandma, but we had to be back on a Thursday in order to close on the house early on a Friday morning.

Unexpectedly, and unfortunately, my "morning" sickness hit as soon as we got back home. With Bean I felt great until 9.5weeks along. This time it hit at 6 weeks, like a Mack truck. And I put "morning" in quotes because it doesn't last only through the morning, I felt like garbage all day every day. Thankfully I wasn't vomiting, but I was incredibly nauseous. Nothing helped to relieve it. I just felt like I had a stomach flu day in and day out. I did my best to get us moved over into the new house (with my family's help) and out of the apartment before I totally succumbed to the yuck and just laid down.

Moving is stressful and exhausting enough without feeling like total crap. It was a good day if I unpacked one box all day long. Bean was SUCH a trooper, she happily played puppets, coloring, reading books, practicing her flashcards, etc while laying with me in bed or on the couch or on the living room floor. The less time I spent vertical, the better. Jeff was also really helpful and understanding that I just couldn't unpack as fast as he'd/I'd like. We got it (mostly) done relatively quickly, and were able to sit down and enjoy our new house before Thanksgiving.

Thankfully my "morning" sickness started to let up just before Christmas. I was still nauseous every day, but not ALL DAY every day anymore. Which was a real blessing so that I could enjoy my family over my favorite holiday. Thanks to an amazing group of friends who all chipped in we had our very first real Christmas tree, in our very first house. Christmas was fantastic, Bean got spoiled of course, my mom came and spent the day with us which was really nice, all in all it was a really wonderful holiday.

Jeff had a four day weekend for Christmas and another one for New Years, but now he's getting back into the swing of things so I figure I should too. It's a new year, in our new house, I'm working hard at growing a new member of our family, and I'm doing my best to enjoy our life and our family as it is right now. We have about 5 more months as a family of 3, and as panicked as it makes me sometimes to think about how much our lives are going to change SOON when the new baby comes, I'm just trying to soak in my sweet Bean girl while she's still my one and only, and I know that she'll be an amazing big sister when the time comes.

Phew. That was a big update... I'm sure I forgot things, but it is what it is. Like I said, I'm going to try to get back into my normal routine... which sure will make updating my blog a lot easier if I don't have to do a 3 month update every time I log in. LOL!

Pip-Pip-Cheerio!!

Busy bee

I've been busy busy busy bustling around trying to get ready for our roadtrip back to Vegas for Jeff's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary (it's a big deal!) and - as a bonus - a chance for me to see and hug all my friends that I miss so much. Many of my friends have new babies or are pregnant ready to pop and I'm sort of notorious for making handmade gifts so I've been very busy finishing those up. Of course, in true me fashion, I wait until the last minute to get it all done and then have heaps to do at once. Rest assured, all the gift making has been completed thanks to an extremely cooperative Bean who has been content to sit next to me while I sew and play picnics with her baby dolls. I busted out two new sock monsters in a day and a half, and I love how they turned out!

They're so cute, and I had so much fun posing them and taking pictures. (Picture me, in my pajamas, hair a mess - since crafting takes precedence over how I look - squatting down low in the grass, laughing to myself, while cars drive by the apartment, drivers no doubt wondering what the crazy lady was doing with the toys in the grass. hahaha!) Perhaps I'm partial, but I totally think my monsters have tons of personality. Just look at them! They have quirky attitude and are unapologetic about it. Love them!

When I haven't been crafting I've been baking - because it's fall. That means my house needs to smell nice and I have to have carby sweets on hand at all times. Duh. Or cleaning, like spring-cleaning style cleaning... but I guess I'll call this fall-cleaning, even though no one else does it. I play by my own rules, ok? If you walked into my house right now you'd call me liar. Tell me that I haven't been cleaning like a mad man because it's still cluttered as fuh, but I assure you. I've been dusting (my most loathed chore), I've been wiping toilet bases (they get incredibly dusty... who woulda thunk?!), and cleaning out window tracks. My house is ALWAYS cluttered. Always. We have way too much stuff for this little apartment and a 23lb tornado toddler who doesn't like anything to be put away for more than about 4.68 seconds. But, I like to think that I keep a clean house. It's usually not all clean at once, but I make sure to clean the bathroom, vacuum, mop, do laundry, clean the kitchen weekly - even if they're all done on different days of the week, they still get done weekly. But, I'm a bit grossed out at my findings with the deep cleaning.

The glass sliding door, for example. Since we moved into the apartment the track of the glass sliding door has always been dirty. The seal on that window is so ridic, it's not even CLOSE to being air tight. In the winter if you're sitting at the computer (which is next to the sliding door) it's a good 10*-15* colder than the rest of the living room. It'd make sense, then, that dust and dirt would blow in from the outside on the many drafts a day. Every time I vacuum I run the hose over the track and it sucks up some of the dirt, but never all of it. And I was always too lazy scatter brained to remember to do get down on my hands and knees and scrub it. But, I did just that on Monday. I didn't take a before picture, but I took a half way through the process picture, and then an after picture. In the first one, just pretend that both halves are equally dirty, k? Also... don't judge me by my filthy sliding glass door track.  I had JUST vacuumed it before busting out the vinegar, paper towels, and took this picture. It was vacuumed 4 mins before this picture was taken! :-/

Ahhhh! I'm so embarrassed that I put that out into the internets!! That dirt and grime was stuck on there! On Pinterest I found a link that had tips on deep cleaning your windows and their tracks, and it prompted me to look down at the sliding door track to see if mine needed a deep cleaning. I was (obviously) appalled and wrote "clean window tracks!!!" on my to-do list for stuff I wanted to tackle before going on vacation. In the blog with the window cleaning tips she suggests cleaning them out with q-tips, but I just didn't have the patience for all that. So, instead, I carefully and slowly poured a small amount of vinegar along the entire length of both sides of the track and then used about a jillion paper towels to sop it up while wiping and swiping up all the gross dirt and gunk. I did the track when the door was closed, and then I opened it all the way and did the opposite side. It's amazing how much easier the door glides open and closed now! I had always assumed that those stains were there for good since they held on even after vacuuming, but they were definitely just stuck on dirt and with a ton of vinegar and little bit of elbow grease my window tracks are no longer embarrassing. I'll be sure to add that on my twice-yearly deep-cleaning list.

Ok, now that I bared my soul - and dirty tracks - I've got to get off the computer and get back to packing. Everything is done except for the suitcases being packed. Thankfully, it shouldn't take long since Vegas is still having hot summer temperatures and we're not wearing summer clothes here anymore so what I need to pack should be readily available. :)

I don't think I'll be posting while we're out of town, but I might surprise you!

Tune in Tuesdays

The Backson!!!

Bean loves Winnie the Pooh, and since it was her very first movie in the theater (and only movie in the theater) it definitely holds a soft spot in my heart. I was surprised at how many little jokes were sprinkled throughout the movie for the adults who were watching to chuckle at. One of my favorite lines is delivered by Kanga when Owl asks the others to give examples what bad things a Backson does:

"They wake up babies at 1:00 and 3:00!"

Ooooohhh!!! So all those sleepless nights from when Bean was a newbie can be blamed on the Backson?! Good to know!! lol!

Here is the song-clip from the movie where it is explained what a Backson is and what he does. (If you haven't seen the movie, it's really just a funny misunderstanding, but I don't want to spoil it. If your kids want to watch this movie, let them and sit with them and enjoy- it really is a super cute movie!)

<div align="center"> <a href="http://jeffnicolefamily.blogspot.com/" title="Nic + Bean"><img src="http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt315/nicsingleton411/TuneInTuesdays.jpg" alt="Nic + Bean" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Cloud Dough

Back in July my friend Ashley posted about making Cloud Dough for her boys to play with and I filed it in the back of mind for something I wanted to do... One day. In July I had no reason to make cloud dough since Bean has a sandbox of her very own at her Mimi's house, and we go to the park in the summer as much as possible. But it's not July anymore and it's definitely feeling like fall outside.

Yesterday was the perfect day to make Cloud Dough. It rained all night and was chilly and overcast all day. Bean was getting antsy being couped up inside and when I asked her if she wanted to get dressed and go for a walk she informed me that it was cold outside... which I took as a 'no'.

Cloud Dough
8 cups of flour
1 cup of baby oil

Mix both ingredients with your hands in a storage bin until it's well incorporated and the 'sand' is moldable.
It took about 5 mins of mixing to be rid of the clumps of oil.

Be sure to let your kiddo(s) loose either outside or on sweepable flooring - like bathroom linoleum which is where Bean got to play.

This Cloud Dough is amazing, so silky soft, super moldable, it smells nice, it cleans up easy - and it held my girl's attention for OVER an HOUR!!! In toddler-ville an hour of quite play is almost unheard of. The fact that it's a legit sensory activity - read: good for her motor skills development- makes it an even better rainy day activity.

When she finally decided she was done playing I scooped up the Cloud Dough and put it into a gallon ziplock freezer bag. It filled it up about half way, and will be able to be stored in the craft closet until she wants to play with it again.

Picture proof that she loved it:

This was the perfect amount for my one Bean. 

I'd make this recipe x the number of kids you have. 2 kids? Double it. 3 kids? Triple it. etc.

Tune in Tuesdays!!

Ok so it's Wednesday. Sorry about it, this morning I thought it was Friday... once I realized it wasn't Friday I thought it was Tuesday. I sat down to post my Tune in Tuesday post and then looked at my phone where I discovered it was Wednesday already. Sheesh. I'm a mess.

Sorry it's late. I don't even know if anyone cares about my Tune in Tuesdays posts since they get the lowest view count of any of my posts, and rarely get a comment, but I enjoy searching through and finding fun songs on YouTube and posting them.

This weeks is by Todrick Hall. He's a YouTube sensation who is internet-famous for doing suuuuuuuuuuper awesome flashmobs. He is a great singer and performer. When my friend "Sissa" introduced me to him I spent 2 hours clicking through all his videos.

This one is called CinderFella. lol. Bean and I watched Cinderella for the first time yesterday so I thought it was appropriate - and hilarious. (Disclaimer: it is a bit of a PSA for legalizing gay marriage, which I unapologeticly support. If you don't, you may not enjoy the message at the end of the video.)



If this was a bit much for you - it IS quite the production full of celebrity cameos - here, I'll give you a link to my favorite flashmob that he has done too. See? I forgot the day of the week, so you get a double feature today! :) You're welcome!



If you didn't enjoy that you're dead inside. ;)

Happy hump day, ya'll!!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://jeffnicolefamily.blogspot.com/" title="Nic + Bean"><img src="http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt315/nicsingleton411/TuneInTuesdays.jpg" alt="Nic + Bean" style="border:none;" /></a></div>