Summer Birthday

We threw Lily a Little Bear Beach Party for her Birthday this year. Lily LOVES the beach - and what better place to party? Didn't have to plan any games or entertainment and decorating was minimal. We knew the kids would make their own fun at the playground and the beach. What we didn't know was that all of Southern CA were headed to the same beach the same day. It was perfect beach weather, and I have never seen it so crowded! Parking was a challenge. But once everyone had dropped off their stuff - found spaces and hiked over we had a pretty good time! 

Well, it's a good thing I wasn't too worried about decorating because there was nothing out there available for the theme I chose - so I ended up making what I wanted from scratch.

Here's the invite I made:

 

And the favors: (I forgot to take a picture beforehand - so this is leftovers)

The birthday cake:

 

We got some balloons, but it was so windy they almost blew away. I didn't really bother to set everything up cute because of the wind, and because it ended up taking so long for everyone to gather - I didn't want the cake to melt in the sun. Such is life - nothing ever turns out just like you imagine it... Still - my little girl had a great day, and is asking about her next birthday already! 

Here are some more fun pics from the party! 

  Candle-licking cousins.

The favors were mostly treats - including teddy grahams and gummy bears - a big hit with my fruit snack fanatic daughter.

Gummy bears! Audrey was interested too.

I was impressed by how nicely Lily opened her presents - she didn't get upset when I encouraged her to open another rather than getting each thing out of it's package to play with it right away. Best of all she thanked each person so sweetly for each gift! Hope that habit continues!

I made a stand up Little Bear for the kids to take pictures with.

Lily just wanted to hold his hand, and talk to him - so it was hard to get a picture with her facing the camera.

Audrey was a little unsure - either about Little Bear or being sat in the grass.

Evie is awesome as always for photos. She's going through this phase right now where her mom just has to say "Whatever you do - don't stand next to little bear and smile!" and she'll do exactly that. "Whatever you do - don't go stand on the other side and hold Little Bear's hand!" I can just hear her infectious giggle looking at these shots! She is too cute!

Isaac wanted to hold his hand too! They had a lot of fun with it.

Mike got in there with Audrey - he is so cute with her. She's a joy to everybody.

Finally got shot of Lily's face by setting up this little lawn chair!

Little Bear and I - we're buds!

Getting ready for the beach! Audrey kept lifting up this umbrella pole like she was Wonder Baby. Love her little toothy grin!

Down at the beach:

I tried to get Audrey to wear a pair of Lily's sunglasses - this lasted long enough for one quick shot.

Lily really got into the sand this trip! She was crawling all around in it on her belly. She kept getting it in her mouth and trying to wipe it off her tongue with her even sandier hands.

Evie showing Lily a sand worm.

Lily played by herself in this hole for the longest time! At one point a lifeguard ran right by her head with a rescue board -- she was oblivious.

This grin looks more gritty than cheesy to me.

Me and my girl playing in the water. Mike took the initiative to take some photos of us - I was thrilled! -- I hate to ask. He told me later Rebecca had suggested it - Thanks Rebecca! I love this one of us holding hands.

It was a great day despite the crowds. It is rare to get our whole family out to the beach. Hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did!

Random Conversations with a 2-year old

So the other night Lily and I were laying on the floor talking and I was wearing this shirt with crazy designs all over it:

Lily: "What's on your shirt, mom?"

Me: "Oh, I don't know...there's flowers and all kinds of things..."

Lily: "It's got animals...

        It's got monkeys.

        It's got flowers...

        There's sun rise

        There's shadows...in the dark shadowy hall...

        There's everysing in the whole world!"

I was pretty stunned with that dark shadowy hall line so I went to get a piece of paper and write it down. 

Well, of course, Lily wanted to write with my pen too, and then she asked me to draw a swimming pool which ended up looking kind of like a cake...so naturally she wanted candles on top - next to the two little swimmers. I obligingly drew the candles, and told her to blow them out. Lily blew at the paper without giving it a second thought, but then she paused, catching my eye, and said: "Because, pretend!"

As we were sitting there drawing different cakes...Lily asked me about something she saw on the side table - My dad's name printed in gold on his scriptures.

She had a little trouble saying Grandpa's last name...so as I repeated it, I told her that it used to be my last name too - and went in to a little explanation about how someday when she meets a nice boy and gets married she'll take on his name...

Lily's reaction: "No! I'm Lily!"

                         "I don't want to get married!"

Twisting hair clips in Lamby's ears while I did her hair this morning:

Lily: "I'm checking Lamby's ears ::mumble, mumble:: doctor!"

me: "Are you a doctor?"

Lily: "No! I'm Lily!"

me: "Oh, then are you qualified to do that?"

Lily: "No, I'm not qual-fied."

Another day - sitting in her booster chair with Grandma and I nearby:

Lily: "Ahhh! I need to wash my hands!"

        "Ahhh! I'm sitting on something!

Grandma, concerned to Lily: "What are you sitting on?"

me, unconcerned: "There's a little piece of hard cheese down there."

Grandma to Lily: "You're like the Princess and the pea!"

Lily: "No, the pea and the cheese!"

Maybe she is a true princess - when I pulled her up it was the tiniest little piece of dried grated cheese.


I think that dark shadowy hall business was from Scaredy Mouse - a book we've been reading. We got a new book this week chock full of fairy tales, because I always loved them - so now I've read her the Princess and the Pea, but so far The Three Little Pigs is her favorite.

What are your Mommy Secrets?

So, these aren't really secrets, but I got this idea from a blogging friend and thought it rocked! She shared things she does to make being a mom easier. She has a private blog or I'd share a link, but she got the idea for her post here - in case you want to check out this other mom's list.

Please share any ideas of things you do - we all need all the help we can get!

I should preface this by saying my house is not spotless, nor do I manage to get dinner on the table every night. I am also lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who helps me a ton, even after a hard day's work. That said...

Here are my tips or shortcuts that make everyday life just a little bit easier on me:

1. When we're just going to be around the house (which is most days because I am car-less) I keep Lily in her pajamas until nap-time. After milk and stories we brush her teeth and wash up and she always gets her pj's wet - so we change her clothes last and she always goes into her crib in a fresh, clean set of clothes. I don't have to wash and change her sheets as often and she doesn't get sick very much. PJ's are so cute anyway!

2. I always buy the next size of diapers when they seem slightly small so I don't get stuck with a bunch that are too small, or have to deal with a bunch of leaks.

3. I made my own flannel sheets for Lily which I use most of the year. The crib mattress fits so tight I can just make it flat and tuck it in. It absorbs moisture better (because that girl gets sweaty) and is easier to change than a fitted sheet.

4. I made my own window inserts out of cardboard covered in contact paper so that for daytime naps and too-early of mornings the room is as dark as night. This trick got my baby (who I thought never slept!) on to a regular 2-3 hour nap a day - 7:30 am wake-up schedule.

5.  I've sung to Lily since she was a little baby. It's something that soothed her and it still helps her to get to sleep faster. Nice because you always have your voice with you without having to think about it, and it doesn't get lost or wear out like a favorite toy (at least not permanently). I've tried to mix it up with a good variety so we don't get too tired of singing the same old song, but even if you don't think you have a good singing voice - I think your baby loves it. When I had to be away for a week after my thyroid treatment I even sang Lily's bedtime favorites into a mic and recorded them on the computer to make a CD for Mike - though I don't think he used it :)

6. I don't give Lily a bath everyday unless she really needs it, and I still use the toddler bathtub inside the big tub most of the time because it uses less water so it's quicker and it's so quick to clean. I just rinse it out with hot water from our pull out shower head, let it drip dry and we're good to go. Lily doesn't care because it's the norm.

7. When Lily asks to get out toys for a new activity I get her involved in cleaning up whatever is out first. The mess doesn't get out of hand and she has incentive to clean. This morning she cleaned up her toys all on her own, before getting some right back out again :)

8. I always do laundry first thing Monday morning when I'm fresh, and if it needs it once more later in the week so it doesn't build up. I only do two types of loads - hot and cold. Yes, I put my husband's white Sunday shirt right in to wash cold with the dark colors - as long as there's nothing new that hasn't been washed yet. If there are more than 2 loads I might separate it out a bit more carefully, but it's so nice to be able to just sort everything into 2 baskets as we go. If anything need special stain treatment I stick it on top of my laundry basket lid so it will be right there to remind me to pre-treat it. If it's a major stain like chocolate I take it right off if I can and rinse it with cold water immediately. Vinegar in the wash removes odors and kills germs like thrush and doesn't smell vinegary once it's dry.

9. When I buy ground turkey (we don't do beef) - I season it and do it up into burger patties to freeze - 2 per freezer bag so I can knock them apart easily if I just want one. This saves so much time and money because you don't have to think what you are going to use it for until you need it. Just get out how many patties you need to have turkey burgers, brown for spaghetti, or whatever. I like to use just one patty in a recipe sometimes so we get the flavor while using meat more sparingly like the Word of Wisdom instructs. Goes farther and saves money too!

10. When I buy canned goods or boxes of dry goods I write the date (month/year) right on them before I put them on the shelf. It helps us to use the oldest stuff first when you can't always organize things perfectly right away. A lot of food containers have complicated date stamps and I don't have the time to go online to figure them out.

11. With pretty much 3 households sharing one kitchen it's pretty difficult to keep the dishes from piling up. For me, I just try to clean up after myself and not worry about the rest, because I just can't! When I cook I do try to think about how I can use the least number of dishes (ex: Cut veggies before meat on the same cutting board, use the knife for butter first and then to spread the messier condiments) and I clean up as I go. It's become a habit so it's not like I'm frozen, calculating, before making a move. As I go, taking dishes off the stove: I rinse the pots and pans or let them soak right away so I can avoid extra scrubbing.

12. Some of my favorite cleaning products:
Vinegar
All detergent - less perfume than special baby detergents.
The Works - toilet and shower cleaners - remove soap scum so easily!!
Barkeeper's Friend for stainless steel pots
Resolve Stain Remover Spray

13. I have an ongoing To Do List in an excel spreadsheet on my computer, another tab has my To Buy List, other tabs have goals and friend and family's addresses so all my organizational lists are right in one place and I can just print them off in a rush. I am working on organizing all my family's medical records into a single binder.

14. I try to plan a week's meals before we shop. Once I did a whole month in advance which was kinda crazy, but nice too. I want to switch over to a meal planning routine a lady at church shared with me, but I haven't gotten there quite yet. It's an improvement on what I was doing because you leave one day open to account for leftovers or going out, and you have a super organized grocery list and recipe book and schedule of all the meals you rotate.

15. I don't clip coupons - I just shop where I know the things I buy are typically cheaper like Walmart and Costco and one or 2 local grocery stores. I only use coupons when they fall into my lap because they make mess and just take too much time and energy for me - and shopping at fewer places saves money on gas - so that's good enough for me. If something I typically buy is on sale I stock up - just make sure you keep the expiration dates in mind.

16. When we eat out - we bring a to go bag for Lily - A large Ziploc bag with a cheap square plastic plate, a bib, and some kid friendly utensils. We usually just take a sandwich and offer her something off our plates rather than shelling out $5 for our picky eater to try one bite. When she's done we can just stick the dirty bib and plate back in the Ziploc bag and the server doesn't have to deal with Lily's mess.

17. When Lily first started eating solids I bought a large rectangle vinyl tablecloth and cut it in half so I always had a drop cloth I could easily wipe off protecting the carpet in our kitchen area. Suction cup bowls - love those!

18. Lily is a picky eater so to make sure she's getting more of the nutrition she needs I mix some liquid toddler vitamins in with half orange juice/half milk. She loves it and downs it no-worries every day! She also eats her yogurt better every morning with a sprinkling of Rice Krispies to make faces on her spoon. The best part is they don't have to look any more like faces than her scribblings look like what she says they are.

Well, that was more than I thought I had - I think I will stop there! I realize you probably already do some of these things and others might not work for you, but please share any tips you have with me! Anything to make life easier and give us more time to just enjoy living!

Tiny Tomatoes!!

I know this is only days since my last garden post, but I'm excited! Mike removed the wildlife netting off the major section of tomatoes for fear it was keeping out the bees in addition to the birds and squirrels. The plants are big enough now that we hope they'll be fine. I went out to check on them and spotted our first tiny tomatoes on Sunday afternoon! Yay! And there are lots of promising blossoms.

Matt's Wild cherry and one of our larger varieties. Can't wait til' they grow plump and ripen! Just hoping those birds will stay away and leave them to us.

We've been getting lots of zucchini and the spinach is really getting ridiculous. I actually need to just go cut some back - snails or some kind of insect are munching on the enormous leaves anyway.

Garden Update!

 Whoa, baby!

It's that time again! I've been trying to do a garden update twice a month - once at the beginning/end and once in the middle - because frankly more than that would be too much for me.

I actually took these pictures a few days ago, and it seems like the garden has grown a lot even since then! I guess gardens and kids are a lot alike - once they get going...they grow fast! I LOVE my garden to grow fast - my kid, however, grows much too quickly!!!

Here's the pics for now - don't have time for more than that at the moment. It is a hot summer day and we are going swimming with the cousins. Woo hoo!

Alas, these are not tomatoes - these showed up on our potato plants after they blossomed. Potato seeds? I thought you usually started potatoes with the potatoes themselves. Obviously I have a lot to learn about growing potatoes.

Pretending to take a bite

Actually taking a bite

Hmmm... that was pretty good!

Say what?

Lily is turning 2! She is a sweet smart little girl and we love her like crazy!

Here are some funny things from Lily I’ve been saving - I scratch things down on paper when I hear them so I can remember them later.

She’ll say Monday like “Moonday”

Today she was talking about "Scrumpy and Dumpy" -- the 8th and 9th dwarfs? I don't know...

She calls her Bathing suit “my Baby Suit”

She can always trick people into sounding like you’ll do what she’s asking with an innocent “OK” when you are just trying to clarify what she wants.

Lately she’s been saying "Oh my gosh!" and adding “I guess” to the end of things. I think she may have picked this phrase up from her cousin Evie, but she makes it her own. “I want some ice-cream, I guess…” With an instinctive subtle pouting of the lips an upward glance and batting of the eyelashes. I wish you could hear it or I could describe it better because it’s the way she says things that is killer!

My mom likes to tell how when she was taking out the trash (which is in a clear plastic bag) Lily saw an ice-cream carton and in a shocked tone exclaimed: “Grandma, No throw away ice-cream!” Like it was the worst thing that she could imagine -- but she understood when Grandma told her the container was empty.

We are always telling Lily she has to do this or that FIRST, like eat her lunch before doing something else. Well, she’s starting to turn the table on us... The other day as Mike was trying to get her to eat when she wanted to watch a show, and Lily comes out with: “I need to watch a show first, Dad!” I just need to watch a show, real quick!”

 Snippets of conversation:

(While drawing)             

Lily: “I’m drawing a cat.
It’s a spider.

                    Look at the spider! Ahh!
::giggles::    

  Just kidding!”

Lily: What are you doing, Mom?

Me: “I’m grating some cheese.” 

Lily: “I want some grate cheese!

        This is great!”                     

              

(Watching birds at the bird feeder which Lily calls a “bird seeder”)

Me: “The birds are fighting. That’s not nice.”                 

Lily: “They need a time out. The birds need a time out!”

Lily was coloring while I was working in the kitchen and when I wouldn’t help her trace her hand one more time she got upset and stalked off and dramatically threw herself to the floor while saying with feeling: “You make me so sad!” (Heart breaker! Thought I wouldn’t hear that kind of thing until she was a teenager!)

 

Lily: “I’m having a bad day. Mom, are you having a bad day?” 

Lily: “Seeker, I’m hiding!”

She’s getting really good at imaginative play and entertaining herself. While I folded the laundry on the bed this morning she grabbed a baby towel and wrapped it around her head like a head scarf and said it was her raincoat. She imagined it was raining outside (despite the sunny weather) and pretended to hold up her umbrella. She said: “I’m all cold and shivery! I need a coat.” and pretended a wash cloth was pants and she was pulling them on. A few minutes later she had piled all the washcloths in front of her over her legs in a heap with the headscarf still around her and she was driving her car with a small round mirror for a steering wheel. She and her dad LOVE to build houses and pretend cars out of our bed pillows.

One night last week - when I was also folding laundry - I showed Lily the new panties I bought her that came out in that batch. We haven’t started potty training yet, but plan to soon and I sometimes take an opportunity to tell her about the process and what we’re going to do – a little advance preparation. She was in love with those panties and wanted to put them on immediately! I helped her on with one pair over her PJ’s, but as I finished with the other laundry she proceeded to put on every single other pair – excepting one for Lamby. So funny - because I remember my mom recounting how as a child I came out of my room with about ten full layers of shirts, pants and underwear on!

 

Today we were reading Ten Little Ladybugs and there was a picture of a bee holding a ladle and a bucket and flowers in the background. I asked her what the bucket was - expecting her to say ‘bucket’, but she said: “honey”. Then she said: “Bees turn flowers into honey.” She is always surprising me with her understanding of concepts I don’t remember teaching her.

 

She has her stubborn moments, but she is pretty logical and reasonable most of the time. One day we were looking out the window into the backyard and she remembered having the blow-up water slide out the day before and asked to play on it. I told her not today and she just accepted that. I remember at the time I was kind if fearing she’d be upset or that she'd at least keep pestering for it... She just said “Water slide not today, maybe another day.” and was happy as can be!

 

She’s getting so smart and capable, but she’s still my baby! Sometimes in a quiet moment between the two of us... when she’s having a drink before a nap or something - she’ll say: “I want to feed you, mom” Which actually means she wants me to hold her in my arms and feed her her sippy-cup like I would if she was a baby. She likes babies. She laughs and laughs at this Little Bear episode where Mother Bear is babysitting a baby raccoon. She is so sweet with her cousin Audrey, and her little baby doll. She’s been saying her baby and Lamby are best friends and role playing with dolls and her Little People in the cutest way. I think she’ll make a pretty great big sister someday.

I love my little girl and I’m so glad she’s growing into such an awesome little human being!