recipe Wednesday

I tried both of these recipes this past week from the Kraft Food and Family Magazine. I love that magazine first because it is free, and second because it is usually full of fun, EASY ideas.

I didn't actually make the potatoes, my sister did. The Blueberry-Cheese Rolls however, were really easy to make. Unfortunately, the husband didn't care too much for either recipe although I loved them both. He said the scalloped potatoes didn't have enough flavor and the Blueberry-Cheese Rolls were too rich for him (of course, the exact reason I loved them). Nevertheless, I would make both again and I would definitely recommend subscribing to the Kraft F&F Magazine if you don't already. Anyway, if you make either of these recipes, I hope you enjoy them!

I hope the people at the Little Gym didn’t look at my arm and think I had a drug habit.

I've been spending the evening uploading new pictures and trying not to eat myself out of house and home. What have you been up to?

Jules had her first Little Gym class today. It was pretty funny. There were only two other kids there (summer vacation or something I guess). Anyway, one of them was very timid and stayed near his mom while the other little girl was very energetic and more outgoing. Julianna immediately started following the little girl around everywhere that she went. If this little girl climbed on a mat, Jules climbed on that mat. If the girl went over to the bars, Julianna went to the bars. If the girl played with the balls, Julianna played with the balls (or tried to take hers).

Julianna participated more in this class than she did in the class that we previewed. I guess it will grow on her and she will do more and more as she becomes used to it. They worked on depth perception with the kids today. Each kid got to practice doing a forward roll. She walked on the beam pretty well with just a little bit of assistance. She loved the bubbles being blown on her belly and she also really enjoyed this one part of the class where they got to play with musical instruments. The sticks that you rub or tap together to make rhythms and noises were her favorite especially when the teacher asked them to hammer their nails (I told you she's into "boy" things!).

Of course, she was wiped out in the car. I tried talking to her all the way home to keep her awake for lunch, but no such luck. (My husband can probably totally relate to her not being able to keep her eyes open during my long, one-way conversations.) When she woke up getting out of the car I decided she'd better eat before her nap so I put her in the high chair while I got out the milk and by the time I'd turned around her head was slumped back over! My sweet precious girl!

Tomorrow I am thinking that we'll go to the Y for a little bit and maybe do a walk outside if it's not too hot. Thursday we're going to the Children's Museum for story time and then to the Rib Festival. Happy summer!

Oh! One more thing! Here's a picture of my arm after giving blood yesterday. Since I know you were curious and all.

nuggets from my mind

Here's a random list of things that have been running through my mind.

• I joined Weight Watchers Online this morning. So basically I have lots of food on my mind.


• I gave blood today and the dumb lady really screwed up my arm. My blood actually started clotting in the vein and they had to stop it early. It took forever and they probably can't even use the amount I donated and besides I now have a huge, painful bruise on my arm. Wah!


• No one has yet to join my mom's running group yet and it has been three weeks since I started the group. That makes me sad.


• Thinking about beginning to potty train the little girl. She's almost 15 months and I know that seems young. I firmly believe that she really understands what's going on though. She has done #2 on the big potty three times now with one of us holding her up. One of those times was after she started going in the shower and on another occasion we didn't quite make it from the shower to the potty in time. The only concern is that she hasn't started telling me or acting like she needs to go right then. By that I mean that she doesn't really mind if she does go in her diaper. She does show every other sign of readiness (she stays dry 2 hours or more, she follows instructions, she can take her diaper off herself, likes to sit on the potty chair, and often wakes up from naps dry). Just thinking it all over.


• I need a running mantra. Something along the lines of "push hard", "I think I can", or "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better and better". But those aren’t “just right”. Anyone have any other suggestions?


• I joined a local Mom's Group a couple of months ago and I am really excited about it. So many activities on the calendar and so many fun people to meet. I've only been to one playgroup so far, a day at the zoo, and one mom's night out dinner, but it seems to be a really great group of people. Now I've got to get started reading my book for next month's book club!


• I was trying to sing this song to Jules today but couldn't remember the words. So I just looked it up. Love that song.

list of the week

Top Ten Things I Enjoyed About the Beach

1. Seeing Julianna get excited about the garbage truck and playing with her cousin


2. Lots of yummy food and beverages


3. Having fun without spending a lot of money


4. Playing in the water (duh)


5. Staying up late


6. Being able to read a very good book


7. Getting a "Gingy" toy from McDonald's (Come on! You know you love to hear him say "Don't worry! Not my gumdrop button!" a dozen fifteen hundred times.) and a cool hat from Steak 'n Shake (are you jealous yet?)


8. Walks on the beach and around the plantation


9. Getting a tan without sunburn


10. Riding in our new car

YAY! for vacations

fun at the beach

are you smarter than a 5th grader?

For your entertainment this fine Thursday morning:

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

1. True or False? A polygon with eight sides is an octagon.


2. True or False? There are over one million miles of blood vessels in the human body.


3. True or False? The world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old.


4. What is the adjective in this sentence? Sam has a blue bicycle that he races.


5. You must be at least how many years old in order to become President of the United States? A. 35 B. 40 C. 45

the secret of the terrible two’s

Julianna has officially learned to test me and misbehave. She has been a royal pain in the patooty ever since Sunday. At first I thought it was because our trip to the beach was rough on Sunday when we screwed up her schedule, but now I think it's just that she's learning to control whatever situation she may be in and she's trying to become more independent. I do know for certain that she is testing me and pushing my patience.

She's started screaming whenever she wants something instead of signing for it like she usually does. I've tried encouraging her to sign again and prompting her by asking questions like, "you want to eat this hot dog?" but it doesn't help much. She is also protesting loudly anything she doesn't want such as diaper changes, car seats, high chairs, etc more violently than she ever has. She runs away from me in stores, out on the beach, and all through the condo. She also throws things across the room and I cannot exaggerate enough the extreme messiness she's adopted in her eating habits - smearing banana in her hair, throwing food on the floor, and mashing peas with her fingers. She's never been too much of a messy eater and now she is clearly doing this because it invokes emotion and reaction from me.

Last night I was feeling really down from the stress of having to deal with her on my own over the past couple of days. I've heard so much about the "terrible two's" and never known what to believe - everything from "it wasn't that bad" to "they start around 18 months and last until 36 months" to "it's all a part of growing up and it's what you make of it." Well, Julianna is only 14 1/2 months old but I can already tell a huge difference in her behavior.

I know that I feel a lot of pressure from myself. I feel like my actions in response to her are so important. I know that the way we treat her now sets the stage for discipline later and I don't want her to be like so many other children you see misbehaving everywhere else. That's why she's been bothering me so much the past few days. I just want to do what's best for her in the long run.

Thank God, I woke up feeling much more positive and energized this morning. Jonathan will be here to help with her tonight and we'll be able to have a somewhat decent vacation. I'm sure my attitude adjustment will help when dealing with Julianna today. I want to be able to enjoy the fun things that she's experiencing now in addition to being able to deal with the challenges she presents me with as well.

So any advice from anyone? What's your take on the big secret of the terrible two's?