No More Baby!

This has been a pretty big week in our house! We switched Finley's crib over to a toddler bed and have started to cut out diapers and have brought in panties!

I was worried the switch over would be really hard. You hear horror stories about the kids screaming and getting out of the bed. That it takes hours to get them to go to sleep and several trips on the parents part to get them to stay in bed. 

Not the case for us! 

We have been very lucky that it has been a smooth transition. She has stayed in the bed every night. She has had a few nights where she cried for almost an hour, but she never got out of the bed.

It probably helps that she thinks she can't get out. Lets hope it stays that way for a while.

We have had an amazing summer so far and we are only half way through. It has been very relaxing and awesome that I haven't HAD to do ANYTHING. I haven't been required to go anywhere or do anything and it has been amazing!

We have been going to parks and on play dates. 

We have spent a lot of time at the pool.

And seeing family.

Father's Day weekend was awesome. We spent that Saturday with Matt's dad and his family. Grand-Daddy Fred was able to make it. Which was amazing! Finley has only had the chance to meet him one other time and that was when she was only 8 months old. I was worried she would be shy around him, but she wasn't. She warmed up to him very easily.

Finley and Grand-Daddy Fred!

Finley and PawPaw!

Daddy with his gift! We gave him that one because it looks like she made a heart. 

Well, we are about to head to the airport to pick up the Hub's. He has been in Texas for the last few days for work. We are very excited to see him! 

Lilac Sugar Hand Scrub

So I thought I posted this a while ago, but I guess I never got around to it. For Mother's Day I made a sugar hand/foot scrub for the mom's in our family. It has been a big hit and I have had several people ask me how I made it. So here are the instructions.

What you will need:

* 3 cups granulated sugar

* 1 cup plain olive oil

* Scented oil - 20 to 25 drops  in the mixture (I used Lilac and was able to find it at Hobby Lobby in the soap area)

* Small mason jars

* Some twine

* Printable tags (optional)

*This will make 1 batch, which will fill 4 almost 5 small mason jars. I made 2 batches and it took about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Mix all ingredients together. Add the oil slowly, you don't want the mixture to be too wet. If it does look too wet, just add a little bit more sugar. I added 20 - 25 drops for 1 batch of scrub. Really, I just added it until it smelled good.

Spoon the mixture into the mason jars and tie the twine around to make it look pretty! 

These make great teacher gifts, bridal shower gifts, Mother's Day gifts and so much more! They are super easy and cheap to make! 

Have fun!

Chill Week

Last week was pretty uneventful. Early in the week I had another dentist appointment. They found another abscessed tooth. Hopefully the antibiotics I was on will hold it off from getting worse for a while. I am really starting to understand why people hate the dentist. I take Finley this Friday for her first visit. We have been talking it up like it is a super exciting thing to go do. I am hoping that she doesn't freak out too bad.

I took Finley to her first movie at a theater. We got to see "Puss in Boots" and she LOVED it! She did so well! I am very excited to take her to go see "Brave" in a few weeks. I was really apprehensive about how she would do. The girl lives for "Tangled," but she can't sit through the whole movie at home. I really want to take her to see "Brave," but I wasn't sure how she would do. Luckily, we live in an area that the theaters offer $1 and $2 summer movie specials. I could justify taking her to a $2 movie to see how she would do, then taking her to a full priced movie if she did well. Which she did. So, yay! I can't wait! 

While Daddy was away paddling this past Saturday, that gave us the perfect opportunity to work on our Father's Day gifts.

Yup that's my hubby.... He's crazy I know!

We started out fully dressed and using a paint brush.

We ended up half necked and a hot mess! My OCD was freaking out. I tried keeping her clean and then just gave up half way through. She ended up in the bathtub after this project.

We spent Sunday with Grandparents while it stormed outside. We had a great time watching movies together. 

Finley has been having trouble sleeping the last few nights. I'm not really sure what is going on. I think she may be having nightmares. She doesn't normally wake up several nights in a row like she's been doing. Last night I went in to get her and she about clawed her way out of her crib when she saw me. She started asking for the light on, which is an unusual request. I hope she's not starting to have night terrors. My mom said I had them as a child and Matthew would sleepwalk. I hope this doesn't turn into a habit.

Well time to get ready for a play date at the pool! Have a great rest of the week!

Oreo Lollipops

So I have been making these Oreo Lollipops quite a bit lately. I first made them for Finley's birthday party and they were a HUGE hit. So I made some more to add in with her end of the year teacher gifts and for a surprise baby shower we threw for a friend the other weekend. Here is how I made them...

What you will need:
* 1 - 2 packages DOUBLE stuffed Oreo's. You have to use double stuffed. I tried to use the regular kind the last time I made them, but there wasn't enough cream to hold the sticks. Also, I got about 20 pops out of 1 package of Oreo's.
* Lollipop sticks. I usually get a 25 package. Obviously if you are making 40 lollipops you will need 2 packages.
* 1 - 2 bags of melting chocolate.
* Sprinkles, if desired.
* Cookie sheets
* Parchment paper
* Lollipop bags
* Ribbon

1. First you want to pull your Oreo's apart very carefully. Try not to break the cookie. You also want to keep the cream on one side. This is why you only get about 20 lollies out of one package.

2. Next, you want to melt a small portion of your melting chocolate. Dip the tip in the chocolate.

3. Then gently press the stick into the cream. You will feel the cream split. That is fine, just make sure it doesn't go off the sides. If it feels like it might, just gently push it back on the cookie. Again, try not to crack the bottom cookie.

4. Then put the top cookie back on while trying not to break the cookie. If it does break, it is not a super big deal, there is a way you can still use it. Check the bottom of the post for a how-to.

5. Let the chocolate set for a few minutes so the cookie is stuck together.

6. Next, cover one side of the cookie with chocolate. In the picture below I covered one side and the rims, but I found that if you cover just one side and let it sit, then cover the other side and the rims it actually works better. While the chocolate is wet, add your sprinkles. Place the lolly on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and let the chocolate harden. This will take about 20 minutes, give or take a few.

7. Repeat adding the chocolate and sprinkles.

8. Allow cookies to sit and harden. (I used aluminum foil this time because I was out of parchment paper. Both work just fine, but I prefer parchment paper.)

Once the cookies are set you can put the lollipop bags on them and use the ribbon to tie them and make them look pretty.

*** How to fix the top cookie if it breaks: Just take a lollipop stick with a small amount of melted chocolate and smear it on the broken piece. Line one of the broken pieces up on the cookie, then match the other piece up with the other one. I would also make sure to add the chocolate coating to the broken side first. I would be too worried that if I put the chocolate on the non-broken side first, that could cause the whole thing to break.***

3 day weekend, vomit, and an abscessed tooth!

We had another crazy week! We started our 3 day weekend with a girls night. I was able to go hang out with some lovely friends and get some ice cream while our hubby's took care of the kids. On Saturday we headed out to Serenbe to check out the local farmers market and  HGTV Green Home (which will be my new home). Sunday was spent at church and catching up on sleep from a few days of too short naps and late nights. Monday was spent chilling out at the pool soaking up the sun and becoming a prune!

Tuesday morning was started with Finley randomly throwing up. Which is exactly how I like to start my day! Thankfully it was just a one time thing. 

Wednesday was started with a toothache. That afternoon I set up an appointment with the dentist. By the time I got there, the pain had gotten out of control! Turns out I had an abscessed tooth and they had to do an emergency root canal. I would not wish that pain on anyone. I would rather be in labor and have 10 babies then go through that again. 

Today was spent walking around our downtown square. The first weekend of every month they do a market day that has all handmade crafts. I love walking around down there to see what people are making. It also made me want to be creative again. I love to sew, but with Finley's birthday, Easter and Mother's Day I just haven't had the chance. I have been exploring other ways to be creative and just haven't had time to sit down and sew something. So after we were done downtown, I went and bought some new fabric and am going to make Finley a new pillowcase dress! I walked in and was so excited to make something I thought I was going to bust at the seams! I can't wait to start sewing!

End of the School Year

Last week marked the end of Finley's second year at preschool. She has grown up so much over the last 10 months! She is so smart! Her teachers did an amazing job this past year. It seemed like every day she would come home saying or doing something new. Every day she amazes me by how smart she is.

*Finley on her 1st day of school back in August.

* Finley on her last day of school in May. Look at how long her hair has gotten!

* Finley showing me her hand print book that she made this year. She would say "I paint!" and then tell me the color on the page :)

I also finished up my first school year with the babies. We had an amazing year learning and growing together. We started the year with babies and finished the year with toddlers that were talking and walking. It was such a treat to get to watch them grow. 

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We also went to a friends fly-in this past weekend. I think we found Finley's love. She was very excited about the airplanes. Every time one would fly by she would scream with excitement. I really wanted to get her in one, but I was afraid that they would be too loud and would scare her. So maybe next year....

* Daddy showing Finley the inside of the plane.

* Finley and her friend Trevor in the bounce house. It took her a little while to like it, but once she did we couldn't get her out of it.

It was an awesome day full of fun and family! We had a great time hanging out with some new friends and watching the planes fly by. We got to see a few planes do some tricks in the sky. Finley really loved when they would fly by really fast and turn their smoke on. 

Since she didn't get a nap that day, she fell asleep on the way home. As we were pulling into the driveway she woke up and said "Airplane!" and then went back to sleep. 

I think she is in love. 

Maybe she will by a pilot someday??

Some Great Family Time

Last week I took Finley for her 2 year visit. Everything went well. She did really well getting her shot. She only cried while they were doing it. Then as soon as she got her sticker she was fine. The only concern the doctor had was that she had lost almost 2 lbs. This may not seem like a lot for some kids, but when your 2 year old weighed 23 lbs in February and now weighs 20.8 lbs... It's kind of a big deal. We have had to cut out all juice. She still gets 1 cup in the morning of V8, but that is because she has stopped drinking milk. After that she gets water in a big girl cup. This is to try and make sure she isn't filling up on juice instead of eating. This seems to be helping. Last night we had leadership at our church and I had packed her a dinner I knew she would eat. They always order pizza, but she has never shown any interest in eating it. When I picked her up at the end of the night she had eaten her chicken nuggets, fruit and a slice of pizza! My jaw hit the floor. Maybe the doctor actually knew what she was talking about!? We are starting to weigh her every week and we have to go back in 6 months for a weight check. We haven't noticed a big change yet, but it has only been a week.

We had a great weekend this past weekend. Matthew stayed home. I did our neighborhood yard sale. I had a few people come and buy stuff. It was mainly little girl clothes, so I wasn't sure how much I would actually sell. I made $55! Which was more then Matthew and I expected to make. I wasn't sure I was going to make anything, so that was a plus! I plan on taking everything else to consignment this week. Then Saturday night we went to a surprise birthday party for a close friend. We had a great time being baby free! Sunday I was able to go to service with Matthew since I had planned on not serving that weekend. The service was awesome. I told Matthew you can tell how much I get out of the service by how many notes I take, and I almost took his bulletin so I could have more space! Then after the service we had my in-laws over for some pool time and cooking out on the grill. It was a great weekend full of family time.

This weekend is Mother's Day and we are having some of our family over to our house. I plan on making some type of small gift to give to all the mom's in our family. Also, we are coming up on the end of the school year so I have gifts to make for my class and Finley's teachers. So I'm sure there will some fun homemade things to come! Have a great week and Happy Mother's Day if I don't get the chance to post again before then!