Wordless Wednesday- Breakfast at Panera

The Animal Exhibit

Last week, Reese, River and I set out to go to the animal exhibit at Crown Center.  It was packed with kids but also packed with fun for sweet little Reese.  She slid down the slide, ate a hot dog, got some popcorn and played in the elephant room for a long time.  She thought it was the best day of her life.  And maybe it was, it sure made my day wonderful to see her so excited.  Here are a few of the highlights.

 

Reese turning the elephant (elephan!) wheel.

 She was really into sliding, but a little scary because there was a huge blind spot for me and I had to have a lot of faith in her. 

River just hung out and took it all in. He was halfway buckled in here, it kind of looks like he was being choked, poor guy, but I promise I had my eye on him!!

Hot Dog!  Hot Dog! Hot Diggity Dog!

 And the happy face I saw all day. 

Next up: Wonderscope (we found a Groupon for it) and then the Dinosaur Alive exhibit comes to Crown Center so we're all about that too!!

Laundry Detergent

Today we woke up knowing we needed a trip to Wal-Mart.  Dustin came out and said we were out of laundry detergent.  We needed formula, a new sound machine/CD player to keep the baby asleep, we needed stuff for lunch and the list kept piling up and all I could see was money going straight to Sam Walton.  So I had seen on pinterest that people experimented with making their own laundry detergent and we thought we'd give it a try.  There were several recipes and we decided to make the powder kind strictly for storage reasons....the liquid just makes SO much.

Here are the links if you are interested:
Liquid:  http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html

Powder: http://randomosityblog.com/2011/11/frugal-friday-make-your-own-he-safe-detergent.html (this site answers a bunch of questions that you might have and this is the one I made.)

I just bought all these ingredients, grated the bar soap, stuck it in a container and called it good.  I added up my total with everything including 3 storage containers I spend $16.22.  And most people say it can last up to a year!  The container in the picture holds about half of the recipe so we stored the rest in a similar container under the sink. 

Let me know if you give it a try.  I'm curious to see how well it works for everyone, but we are really excited to do laundry today, and if you know me, that's a big deal!!

Wordless Wednesday

River- One Month Old

River has been a part of our family for a whole month now.  What a big adjustment he has been for us!  But he has the sweetest nature and is such a cutie.  He is sleeping for about 3 hours during the night when he wakes up to eat and then goes right back to sleep.....we can handle that!  He loves to be swaddled and rocked and really doesn't care much for the pacifier.  (We'd love to give it 3 months and be done with it.)  He eats quite a bit for such a little guy but he is getting taller and taller by the minute and there are even some 0-3 month clothes that, although are big on him, are getting to be on the short side. 

Reese continues to love him and show her sweet side.  She walks by and says, "Hi Rivah!" and sometimes drops a kiss and sometimes just lets him be.  She introduces him to new people and usually says he's her "bruddar" She is adjusting pretty well, likes to be held a little more than usual and is still getting up quite a bit in the night so we are waiting for summer when hopefully River is sleeping better and we are going to have toddler-sleep-in-your-own-bed boot camp.  Any advice will be much appreciated!

So life in the Neal house is crazy as usual.  We can't keep it clean, dinner sometimes has to be a bowl of cereal or prepared one handed (or sometimes it gets peed on).  Pictures are changing fast through the house and the dogs moved underground on the totem pole.  We are enjoying this time just kissing our babies and hoping we don't forget a thing.

Wordless Wednesday

Snake Saturday

Saturday we took the kids and headed out to the Snake Saturday Parade in North Kansas City.  We had such a blast and the weather was absolutely perfect.  We could not have asked for a better day at all.

River had a ball just laying around.  He never heard any of the horns or loud noises.  He just chilled out and enjoyed the breeze! 

 Reese loved the bands and all the candy that was thrown out. She also loved the music people were playing beforehand, she danced and jumped around like crazy!

Here is our first family picture.  We were lucky it turned out as great as it did.  The sun was out and the weather was beautiful.  We had the best time and are even considering braving the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown next weekend.....you know the one with approximately 100,000 people attending....yeah right!

Friday Funnies

Reese has been potty trained pretty well since the first of the year.  She has an accident every so often and she definitely has trouble going poop in the potty but for the most part, she has it down pretty well.  I'm proud of her, she did it like a champ....but she has her moments.

When I make dinner, Reese loves to sit on the counter and watch or help.  I like it too and usually we really enjoy ourselves.  Last night Reese really enjoyed herself.  We were making fajitas so I was chopping peppers, onions and chicken and Reese was standing up looking in the cabinets for her cups so she could fill them up with the veggies.  Pretty soon I hear a tinkle and notice that she is peeing all over the counter and the cutting board full of veggies for dinner.

We ran to the bathroom and cleaned up while I cried over our ruined dinner and the mess left behind.  Today I can laugh about it, but honestly, that was an ugly mess.  Oh Reese, how I love you, but oh how I despise your ability to use this house like a toilet.

Wordless Wednesday

"Milk"

Reese loves milk.  Milk is a lovey for her, she just can't get enough of it.  And she likes to ask for it at really inopportune times. 

Example 1:  It's 3:00 in the morning, she is standing face to face with me as I startle awake.  She says to me, in the quietest whisper, "Milk" which sounds more like a mew from a cat.

Example 2:  I am holding River, Reese, a Night Night, a blankie and there are 14 toys and a laptop surrounding me to the point of almost burying us.  Mickey has just turned on the TV and we are unable to hardly move.  "More Milk" she says. 

It is both infuriating and endearing.

River loves milk too.  He has to though, milk sustains him.  His cute little sip, suck, swallow is as sweet as it gets.  He drinks milk like it's his last meal on earth.  Watching and hearing him gulp is a mother's true joy.  I love cuddling up and and feeding him.  He asks for milk in a different way though.

Example:  It is 4 am, he has eaten just a mere 2.5 hours ago.  I have finally fallen asleep and I am beyond exhausted and I hear a small cry that impatiently grows louder and louder until finally I am forced to get him some milk and rock him back to sleep.  I love this but I simultaneously beg for a few more minutes of sleep. 

Milk is a vital part of our lives right now.  We need it to get by and we are thankful for the pleasure it brings our babies.  The sweet little ones sip, suck, swallow it to fill their sweet little bellies and we just smile and think, maybe someday we'll look back on this and miss it.