7 Quick Takes Friday (Volume 4)

It's been a fun week around here!  Jane and Walt became roomies on Wednesday night, and they've done great with it.  Keep praying for their continued success!  I went through their closets and moved things around to make room for Baby in the nursery.  Baby will be here before we know it!

This week, I'm dedicating my 7 Quick Takes to pictures of the kids monkeying around.  Here are my 7 Quick Takes from this week:

-1-

We celebrated Walt's 2nd birthday last month.  Philip and I made the mistake of leaving the leftover cake in the cake box on the dining room buffet where we thought it would be out of reach.  Our little monkeys helped themselves while I was in the shower one morning.  I snapped these pictures as soon as I exited the bathroom when I heard Jane yell, "Mom!  Mom!  Look what we found!  CAAAAAAAAAKE!"

They're quite the tag team these days.

 

-2-

 Another morning, we made the mistake of leaving some fruit on the dining room table that I was going to make into a fruit salad.  When I got out of the shower that morning, I heard Jane yell, "Mom!  Mom!  Look what we found!  FRUIT!!!"  Jane, being the thoughtful 3-year-old and big sister that she is, helped herself to the strawberries (her favorite) and pushed the monster grapes (Walt's favorite fruit and choking hazard before I slice 'em) over to Walt to enjoy.

-3-

Remember Jane's sticker map?  (It's her new and improved reward system for using the potty.)

 

Well, Miss Jane successfully filled in her sticker map all the way to her coveted Hello Kitty lunchbox.  So, we made a family trip to the store where she found it so that she could "buy" it.  We explained that she had to pay for the lunchbox by turning in her sticker chart.  She was so proud of herself!  She bellied up to the counter and plopped her chart down next to her lunchbox, smiling ear to ear at the teenage girl behind the counter.  After we left, I heard the sales girls say to each other, "Was that the most adorable thing you've ever seen?!  Soooooo cute!"

-4-

In yet another showertime incident, Jane and Walt got into the sticker map reward stickers.  This is what I found when I got out of the shower.

 

So, does this mean I can't shower when they're awake anymore?

-5-

 Jane is very into drawing people and telling stories about the pictures she draws.

Here's a drawing from the other day:

I said, "Wow!  That's beautiful!  Can you please tell me all about your drawing?  Jane said, "Sure!  It's a picture of you kissing Daddy and holding your baby." 

-6-

Yesterday, I took the kids to a fun (and free!) summer event hosted by our local children's museum and shopping center.  Part of the event was a bubble show.  Jane and Walt were mesmerized by the show!  While Walt hung out on my lap, Jane edged her way to the front of the crowd to check out the action.  Can you spot her?  She's the one front and center in the blue polo and pink shorts.  

 I apologize for the crummy picture quality, but I had to crop one of the images of the faces she made as she watched the bubble show.  I love this one:

Both kids took turns going in the "time machine" bubble (a bubble made around them with a hula hoop).  Walt stepped right up with his little sippy cup and LOVED it!

What children's event is complete without a photo op with a beautiful princess?  Jane couldn't believe her luck!  

-7-

Firefighter Walt with his sidekicks Bert and Ernie.  Such a cutie pie!

 

Want to join the fun?

Head on over to Jen Fulwiler's blog at Conversion Diary and post your own 7 Quick Takes!

Babymoon Recap

Philip and I got to enjoy a four-day weekend babymoon in Kansas City a few weeks ago.  It was so awesome!  Since I was 30-weeks pregnant, most of the trip revolved around food.  Oh, the food!  The food was AHHHHH-MAAAAAAA-ZING!

Here's a photo recap of our trip:

View from our hotel room at the Intercontinental overlooking the Plaza

Our room!  We stayed on the 8th floor overlooking the Plaza and hotel pool.  We had a great view of all of the action going on in Kansas City. 

One of my favorite parts of our stay was lounging poolside at the hotel.

Is that Don Draper lounging next to me at the hotel pool?  Check out those washboard abs!  ;)

Virgin piña colada?  Don't mind if I do!

Now, let's talk about the food...

Restaurant One:  La Bodega (Awesome Spanish tapas!  I felt like I was transported back in time to my semester abroad in Salamanca, Spain.)

Asparagus & creamy horseradish sauce

How cute is this place?!  We got to eat on the patio, and they gave us a complimentary champagne toast for our anniversary.

Oh, how I love thee, paella!

Champiñones in a de-lish garlic sauce

I'm drooling just looking at this one.  Prosciutto-wrapped figs stuffed with chorizo.  They were as amazing as they sound.

Grilled beef tenderloin with garlic crudités

Post-tapas food coma

Restaurant Two:  Arthur Bryant's  (Fantastic KC-style BBQ joint.)

I loved everything about this eating experience--beginning to end.  The lunch crowd's line went well out the door, and the men outnumbered the women 10-1.  Most of the patrons got their orders to go in sauce-soaked brown paper wrapped packages, but we decided to be fancy and dine in.

Dominating my sliced pork sandwich that was as big as my head.  The sweet & spicy Arthur Bryant's BBQ is where it's at!

Philip equally enjoyed his beef sandwich.

Restaurant Three:  Cheesecake Factory (We had to stop on one of our beautiful evening strolls for a little dessert!)

Selfie in front of the Cheesecake Factory fountain

Restaurant Four:  Bristol's (Some of the best seafood I've ever had.)

Salmon flatbread appetizer

Isn't he so cute?

Lobster mac 'n cheese?  How can this NOT be awesome?

The heart confetti they placed on our patio table for our anniversary stuck to the bottom of Philip's water glass

Mixed grilled seafood. 

Molten lava cake and hazelnut ice cream--all homemade and decadently delicious

 We decided to recreate one of our favorite wedding day photos that night:

Original pic of our champagne toast on our wedding night

The recreated version on our 5-year anniversary (and babymoon).  This time, we toasted with wine (Philip) and a virgin piña colada (Me)

Restaurant Five:  Gram & Dun on the Plaza (Great brunch spot on Sunday before we hit the road home)

All I know is there was French toast, bacon, eggs, orange juice...I wanted to cry when the meal was over because it meant our babymoon was coming to a close, too!

Entertainment/Sites:

World War I Museum.  I had no idea this place even existed!  It turns out your tickets are good for two days, so we split up our visit over two days so that we could take it all in.  What an amazing place!  I learned so, so, so much about World War I, and we enjoyed exploring all of the items on display.

Quote from an American soldier coming home from WWI.  I had never considered that they were coming home during Prohibition.  Bummer!

How beautiful are these?!  These are envelopes addressed to Pvt. Walter L. Myers throughout his time serving in WWI.  Walter's father worked as an artist on vaudeville productions and sent him all of these amazing hand-drawn and hand-painted images on the envelopes he sent his son around the world. 

Here's another great envelope from Walter's father on the occasion of the 4th of July, 1918.

Power & Lights District (Fun nighttime destination for live music and bars.)

A really talented Journey cover band was playing in their open-air venue.  Philip and I lived it up and enjoyed dancing to some of our favorite Journey tunes.  I got a few funny looks for being the wild pregnant woman dancing by the stage!

Philip's mom (the kids call her "Mimi") did such a great job watching the kiddos.  I can't sing her praises enough.  I mean, the woman even potty-trained Jane while we were away!  It was a great getaway, but we were so excited to see "the babies" when we got home.

Me, Mimi, and the kiddos

7 Quick Takes Friday (Volume 3)

7 Quick Takes from this week:

- 1 - 

Have you ever heard of a babymoon?  It's a fantastic idea that some brilliant pregnant woman made up to reward herself for the 9-month journey.  It's a little getaway to reconnect with your hubby and spoil yourselves before Baby arrives.  Most couples opt to take their babymoons in the second trimester because the morning sickness is gone, and they aren't too big and uncomfortable for travel.  

Philip and I went on our babymoon to Kansas City last weekend, and it was faaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous!  Philip's amazing mom came and stayed with the kiddos, and everything went off without a hitch.  I cannot sing my mother-in-law's praises enough.  She is simply the best!  I'll write a longer post about our babymoon another time.

- 2 - 

In addition to watching the kiddos while we were away on our babymoon, Philip's mom potty trained Jane!!!  Hooray!  It turns out Jane just needed to hear from someone other than her parents how this potty business works, and "Mimi" (that's what the kids call Philip's mom) was just the person Jane needed.  Also, it didn't hurt that Mimi did a special song and dance and gave Jane a "potty present" (little items wrapped up in tissue paper from the Target dollar section) every time she successfully went on the potty.  

- 3 - 

One of my favorite things about Philip is that he loves coming up with fun, creative ways to encourage good behavior from the kids. (I suppose that's one of the perks of being married to a pediatric resident, huh?)

By the time we got back from our babymoon, Jane had a few days of potty training under her belt.  We decided to continue the potty presents for every successful trip for another day before changing up the system.  Philip created a new and improved sticker chart to facilitate the process.  Here it is:

Every time Jane successfully uses the potty, she puts a sticker on an empty square of her sticker map.  When she reaches a colored square, she gets to draw a wrapped item out of the potty present bag.  The picture at the end of the map is a Hello Kitty lunchbox that Jane's had her eye on for awhile.  When she completes her sticker map, she gets the lunchbox.  This way, Jane continues to get rewards for her potty training, but she doesn't expect a present every time.  Great system, Philip!  I am pleased to report that Miss Jane completed her sticker map tonight, and we're hoping to pick up her Hello Kitty lunchbox sometime tomorrow.

- 4 - 

Oh!  I forgot to tell you!  Remember how I was worried about failing the gestational diabetes test and that Baby was measuring 3 weeks ahead at that appointment?  Well, good news!  I passed, Baby was measuring right on track at my last appointment, and my weight hadn't budged at all.  So, I'm going to chalk it all up to those weeks being a big growth spurt.  Phew!  

- 5 - 

 Ever since we had a big hailstorm about two months ago, Jane has been struggling to go to sleep at nighttime.  She started insisting on sleeping with "quiet music" and her lights on.  She wasn't falling asleep for a few hours with the lights on, so we decided something had to change, and we decided to find a new nightlight/noise machine for her.  

Since we already had the sticker map system going for potty training, we thought we'd make the nightlight/noise machine a reward in place of a potty present for one of the colored squares.  

We found this great Munchkin Nursery Projector & Sound System and bought it at Babies 'R Us.

I love everything about it, and it's working like a charm!  It didn't hurt that it was well within our budget, and Jane was excited about it since she thought it was a reward that she earned for doing so well with her potty training.  Win-win!    

- 6 - 

Now that I said that the nightlight/noise machine is working like a charm, a severe weather system with thunder and golfball-sized hail is moving our direction.  Hopefully Jane (and our new roof) make it through ok!  

- 7 - 

We celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary on May 31.  We decided we'd try to recreate one of our favorite photos from our wedding day while on our babymoon.  We had a daytime wedding and luncheon reception, and we had the whole evening to ourselves.  Our photographer tagged along as we took a limo ride downtown and had dinner in our tux and white dress at a fancy restaraunt.  He took this great shot of us making a champagne toast on our wedding night:

Here's our recreated photo from a fun restaurant on our babymoon. Our server took it on Philip's phone.  Instead of champagne, Philip has some wine, and I was sipping on a virgin piña colada.  Cheers!

Want to join the fun?

Head on over to Jen Fulwiler's blog at Conversion Diary and post your own 7 Quick Takes!

Pampering a New Mom

My good friend, Nicole, is going to deliver her third baby (and our godson!) any day.  Since she already has all of her baby gear, I thought I'd make her present all about her and her hospital stay.  I decided to put together a hospital "survival kit" to pamper her, her husband, and all of the sweet nurses that will care for her during her stay.

Nicole's Labor/Delivery/Postpartum Survival Kit in all of its glory

Here are a few pictures of the contents:

Non-smelly lotion, room air freshener, hand soap, mints, hand wipes, gum, tissues, chapstick

Granola bars, dark chocolates, hair bands, hair ties, notepad, baby "thank you" stationery

Scented foaming hand soap for visitors to use before holding the new baby.  "Please scrub before snuggles!  Thank you!"

In addition to the contents for Nicole, I included a fun surprise for the nurses.  I wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea, but like most creative ideas, I found this one on Pinterest!  The general idea is you fill a container with goodies, label it "Nurse Bait" with a cute little poem, and use it to lure the nurses in to take extra good care of the patient.  I decided to use a pail and shovel for the "Nurse Bait" container.  I found the poem here, printed it off on cardstock, and laminated it before attaching it to the pail.   

"Nurse Bait"

NURSE BAIT

When one’s in the hospital and feeling sick,

The very best thing is to get well quick.

The nurses are wonderful and take good care.

They can’t stay long.  It’s just not fair!

To lure them in to check on you

Even more often than they usually do,

This bucket of NURSE BAIT should do the trick,

To get them to see you often and quick!

So, with extra visits and extra care

Hopefully you’ll soon be outta here!

Cute, huh?!

Here's what the note attached to the crate says:

Friend's Name’s

Labor/Delivery/Postpartum

Survival Kit

Pamper yourself during your hospital stay with the following items:

• “Nurse Bait” (Bucket full of goodies to keep the nurses coming back to take extra good care of you!)
• Soothing lavender room spray for when things need freshening
• Burt’s Bees lotion - a non-flowery smell so that you can pamper yourself without overwhelming Baby's Name’s nose!
• Honeysuckle-scented foaming hand soap for visitors to use before holding Baby's Name.  “Please scrub before snuggles!”  It smells better than the hospital stuff, too!
• Tissues for the gamut of emotions
• Wet Ones - because you never know when you can use more hand wipes
• Kashi Cherry Dark Chocolate granola bars
• Dove Dark Chocolates
• Tic Tacs
• Extra Spearmint Gum
• Non-slide headbands and hair ties to keep your hair out of your face during labor & delivery
• Chap Stick
• Cute notepad for scribbling down notes, recording gifts, etc.
• Baby-themed “thank you” stationery
• Pink crate to help haul it (and other gifts you receive) all away

Originally, I was going to put it all into a cute basket, but I decided the crate was the way to go.  With a crate, your friend can use it to haul away whatever loot they get in the hospital (gifts, diapers, formula samples, etc.) and reuse it in the future.  I don't know about you, but I forgot to bring containers to carry everything home our first time in the hospital with a baby, so I thought this might be helpful.

Please, please, please feel free to copy and paste anything I typed up here and steal any of it to pamper your friend in the hospital.  Having a baby is tough work, and us mamas need to make sure we're all being pampered through the process!