My daughter amuses me everyday

I can't believe in two and a half months my daughter will be three years old!  Time definitely flew by because it seems just like yesterday she was born.  I still remember the day we went to the hospital to get induced like it was yesterday.  I have decided that when my daughter turns three in a couple of months that I am going to write her a letter everyday until she turns 18 and give them all to her on her 18th birthday.  I plan to write about things she did, things she said, things that happened in the world, etc.; it will be like a journal in a way for me.

It's amazing to see how far she has come in the two and a half years.  I remember the day at work my husband texted me a video of her crawling for the first time, he texted me a video of her walking for the first time, and now it's my turn to be able to take videos of our children for him to see while he is at work.

There is an app I downloaded on my phone for my daughter and when she wins the game, she earns a "sticker".  It's funny watching her pick the stickers because she likes to pick the same ones she has and places them together and groups them together.  She is so orderly just like me that I just laugh in my head.  My daughter acts like me in so many ways, but she looks just like my husband.  And my son acts like my husband (for now, it's hard to say what his true personality will be like when he gets a little older) and looks just like me.  

Being a mother has truly been such a blessing for me.  It's something that I never thought I would become but I am so grateful for having a wonderful husband who treats me better than he treats himself, two beautiful and healthy children, and a house above my head every night.  It's truly a blessing indeed.

Some days I just want to cry

I think I am at my breaking point some days.  There are days, like today, where neither of my kids are listening to me, they're not napping when they should, they're demanding my every attention and if I pay attention to one the other is getting upset, they are not sharing their toys.. it is all just too much sometimes.  I keep looking at the clock and it seems time just is going by so slowly and 5:00pm is never going to get here.

I don't think exhausted is even remotely close to how I feel right now.  I wish I could get both kids to nap willingly and easily, I wish I could get everything done, I wish I could sleep easily, I wish my daughter would sleep through the night.  She slept through the night the last two nights, and then last night she woke up twice.  And my son woke up once.  Luckily, when my son wakes up in the middle of the night, my husband gets him for me.. but still, there are nights I just wish both of them would sleep straight through the night.  But I guess I'm asking too much.

Last night for dinner, I used the Casserole Cookbook again.  I've been using this book a lot lately as far as cooking meals goes.  I made a Curried Chicken with Asparagus.  Except, I didn't have any curry powder and so I left it out.  I just didn't see the point of going to the store to buy curry powder when the recipe calls for only half of a teaspoon, and I didn't know if we would like the recipe or not.

Curried Chicken with Asparagus

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. curry powder

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen asparagus spears, thawed

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tbs. canola oil

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder, and pepper; set aside.  Place half of the asparagus in a greased 8-inch square baking dish.  Spread with half of the soup mixture.  In a large skillet, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink.  Place chicken over soup mixture.  Top with remaining asparagus and soup mixture.  Cover and bakme at 375 for 20 minutes.  Uncover; sprinkle with cheese.  Bake 5-8 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Makes 4 servings.

My husband said the sauce was too liquidy and I agreed.  So I think the next time I make this, I'll put it on a bed of rice.  But the sauce was indeed pretty good.  The meal was good though.  I didn't use the curry powder because we didn't have any at home so I think next time if curry powder is on sale, I'll go try it that way next. 

One more week..

In just one week will be Spring Break!  I absolutely can not wait until Spring Break.  That means I will have more help with the kids, I'll get some much needed laundry and cleaning done uninterrupted, I'll get to do some organizing in the office that we are going to convert to our son's room soon, and I'll get to work on T's project for A.  I gave my husband the sample box to give to T so she can give it to A to show her this is how it will look when all complete.  

Right now my son is crawling everywhere.  And I mean, everywhere!  He goes all over the place in the house and if I'm not paying attention, he crawls behind the television and plays with the wires and I don't want that and I also don't want him to chew on the wires either.  He's been biting and chewing on everything.  When we hold him, he likes to bite on our shoulders, or if we are sitting down he likes to crawl up to us and bite our legs.  

Nap time today for my daughter wasn't exactly as easy as I was hoping.  She was doing good all morning and hoped and prayed nap time would be simple.  But for the past few nights, bedtime has been relatively easy for my husband.  And she actually woke up this morning at 4:50am!  She slept straight through the night!  She woke up the other morning at 4:00am, but she slept through the night!  I can only hope and pray that she will keep sleeping through the night and wake up around 5:00am.

Lazy Sunday = Fun Day

Today has been such a relaxing day.  We didn't do much today really.  We grilled up some burgers in the backyard, our daughter played on the swings, our son was playing in his exersaucer, and our dog was relaxing in the sun.  I also gave both kids a bath and changed their outfits.  

I have been working on A's order lately too.  I can't wait til it's finished.  T said she wanted to give A a sample of the goodie box that I am making for A so she could see what it would look like in the end.  So I made one sample box to give to T to give to A.  I also did some prepping for the two things I need to make for A as well.  A wants me to make 20 goodie boxes and 20 teabag holder boxes.  It should be fun.  I can't wait to start diving into it.  But I probably won't start until this weekend.  I have until the end of next month to finish.  For some reason, long deadlines like these just make me want to just get it all done so I can get it out of the way and focus on other things.

I need to finish doing laundry.  I started a few days ago but I didn't get a chance to finish.  I hope I can get it done this week.  I love putting the clothes and the laundry detergent in the washing machine.  But I don't like putting the clothes in the dryer and then putting it away.  I think I have issues because I feel like I am the only one that feels this way.

I love the weekends!

I absolutely love the weekends.  For me, it means my husband is home for two days in a row.   And I can get so much done around the house.  Today the weather is absolutely gorgeous.  But we are going to get our taxes done, then go to Target to get diapers and baby food, and then come home so my husband can watch more of March Madness.  Later on the day we are going to a fund raiser at my husband's work.  It should be fun, I guess, even though the circumstances that are bringing us all together for the event is rather tragic.  One of my husband's coworker's husband passed away.  He got hit by a drunk driver.  Sad.

I have been making this cute little brag wallet thing for T.  I wanted to make her something to say thank you as she has been helping me get my name (Serendipity Kisses) out there and helping me get business.  So I made her a simple thing.  Lately I haven't had the desire or willpower to finish any household duties that needs to be done.  I'd rather craft and make cards and stuff.  But today I am going to just finish laundry and do some cleaning tomorrow.

Here is a card I made a few months ago.  I don't know why, but I love the simplicity of this card and how cute this turkey looks.  I mean, look at that guy.. he's just so freaking adorable!  

I feel like a prisoner..

Most days I feel like a prisoner in my daughter's room.  She's the warden and I'm the prisoner trapped in her room, waiting and waiting and waiting for her to fall asleep.  Some days she drinks her milk and when she finishes, she hands me her sippy cup and then turns over and falls asleep.  Easy peasey lemon squeezey.  But most days she drinks her milk and I am sitting on the floor, waiting for her to fall asleep.  After she drinks her milk, most days she tosses and turns in her bed and sometimes gets out of her bed to run around in her room.  Sometimes she plays this game of I want the comforter.. I don't want the comforter.  Repeatedly.  It gets to the point of pure exhaustion and most of the time I just take it away and not give in.  Once she's asleep I will cover her up and walk away.  But I feel trapped in her room waiting for her to fall asleep while I hear her brother in the background cooing away or babbling away.  I know I should just walk out of her room and let her fall asleep on her own but it doesn't work that way.  It hasn't worked that way in a long time and the only way she falls asleep now is when myself or my husband are in the room with her.  In fact, if we leave, she'll cry and letting her cry it out never works cause we tried it before and she never fell back asleep.  So, I'm trapped every day in her room waiting and waiting and waiting for her to fall asleep.

My project I did for a customer

Here is the project I did for T, my husband's coworker.  I did these a couple of weeks ago.  She wanted 36 of these whale boxes for her daughter's baby shower.  The theme was whales, obviously.  She also wanted 36 whale cut outs to incorporate them with the pacifiers that she was giving out at the baby shower also.  But the way she wanted to incorporate them with the pacifier, I ended up making 72 whale cut outs; 36 whales in green and grey and 36 whales in dark blue and medium blue.  I also made 36 boxes, 72 green and grey whales, 72 dark blue and blue whales, and 36 grey belly bands with a green flower on top embellished with a rhinestone in the center.  

Here is a view of the box when you open it, it was green and grey on one side, and blue and dark blue on the other side.  I think if I had more time, I would have definitely loved to have put a rhinestone in the center of the whale spout.  But I digress.

Here is a slightly up close look at the whale.  On the bottom of the whale is a wave that T had wanted to add on the box as well.  My lighting was terrible when I took these pictures, the color of the wave doesn't look like that really.

And here is the look with the box closed up and the belly band on with the green flower and the rhinestone in the middle.

I think these turned out super cute and T was pleasantly happy with the way they turned out.  I am very proud of myself for finishing these on time when I had such a short time to finish them for her.  Luckily I had everything I needed to get these done.  Good news though; she told me one of her family members loved the box so much that she, A, wanted 20 of the boxes for a Mommy and Me Tea Time party theme that she is planning to have for Mother's Day.  She wants 20 boxes by the end of April.  Unfortunately, she wants teacups and teapots on the boxes and since I don't have a Cricut cartridge for it I had to order it.  But thank goodness I have plenty of time to do it since I had to order something in order for me to do it.  T also told me that her family member wants 20 of these teabag holder boxes that I made after watching a YouTube video that this one girl made.  So I will be making those for her as well.  It looks like I'll be busy once again, but I won't be too busy.

Now time for me to finish doing laundry and start prepping for tonight's dinner.  Tonight on the menu is my Veggie Stew which really has no recipe.  I just throw in some veggies that we have a lot of that I don't want to go bad and throw them in a pot, top it off with some veggie stock, and let it simmer away for a few hours until my husband comes home and everything should be good, soft, and delicious.