Lydia turned 3 yesterday and the whole day was about her. She woke up (really early) to find three balloons tied to her crib. I remember several birthdays where I woke up and there would be as many balloons on the ceiling as the age I was turning. Shane and I thought this would be a fantastic tradition to continue every year for our kids. (Yes. Lydia is still in a crib. Just for a few more weeks.)
During the day we had a lovely Princess Party for she and three friends. A friend of mine was sweet enough to snap photos while Shane and I hosted the little soiree. I will post photos of the event when I get them from her.
By the end of the party Lydia was a little tuckered out, but she had a great time.
For dinner, Shane made Lydia's very favorite meal. Tuna patties with salad and a bowl of fruit. She LOVES tuna patties. It is almost scary how fast she wolfs them down. Shane and I actually like them quite a bit too. I am attaching the recipe in case anyone else wants to try them. They are the easiest meal ever.
Isn't that first photo cute of Lydia? It is the first time I have straighten her hair. I just don't like that she looks like she is 6. The flowers she's holding are the ones that she uses when she pretends she is getting married. Married! Where did my baby go?
Happy Birthday Liddy-Bitty!
TUNA PATTIES
(From Kraft.com)
Prep Time:10 min Total Time:26 min Makes:6 servings
What You Need
2 cans (6 oz. each) light tuna in water, drained, flaked 1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken 1 cup Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese 3/4 cup water 1 carrot, shredded 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
MIX all ingredients. Refrigerate 10 min. HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Use ice cream scoop to add 1/3-cup portions of tuna mixture, in batches, to skillet. FLATTEN into patties with back of spatula. Cook 6 min. or until golden brown on both sides, carefully turning patties over after 3 min.
3 years ago this week I was laying in a hospital bed pondering the fact that I was a mother. While I wanted most of these thoughts to be lovely positive ones, I couldn't seem to get my mind off the incredibly horrific ordeal that was giving birth. I was still shaking from the anesthesia (I had a C-Section) and I was throwing up about every 45 minutes. While in this less than blissful state I decided that I would do a little something for myself on each anniversary of my children's birth. (At least the same week.) Something to say "Way to go Natalie. You made a baby. Treat yourself." I would highly recommend all mothers to adopt this tradition. You know you deserve it.
This little "Birthing Day" treat doesn't have to be a big affair. Last year I just went to Barnes & Noble, bought myself a hot chocolate, muffin and a magazine and read for an hour or two. The year before that I got a massage. This year I got an hour long spa manicure. I tried my best to keep my thoughts lovely and positive. However, the nail stylist had just found out she was pregnant and she wanted to talk about the incredibly horrific ordeal that is giving birth....
Well that wasn't too nice of her. But your nails do look great. I think that should be a "before you deliver" tradition. Nothing like soft hands for a soft new baby.
Happy Birthday, sweet Lydia. I can't believe it's 3 years already.
I always think of that when it's my oldest birthday, it's also the date I started being a mother. What a great tradition
Your hands look fabulous, by the way.
-Laurel
Great idea! I love a reason to do something good for myself.
ps. I got the magic pancake idea from you (thank you). We will never make pancakes the old way again!
Love the idea Natalie! My next birthing day won't be till august so I might have to take one early:)
p.s. from my experience no one loves their mommy more than boys you will do fabulous! Plus Lydia's at a great age to help:)
Natalie, Congrat's on little one #2! Boys are great, and hope you enjoy him as much as you do Lydia (and that your birthing experience goes better than your first- every one is different!)
Maren
Lydia's friend Kate came over for SIX hours on Saturday. I really thought that we would have some major toddler (or Mommy) meltdowns, but it went great. Of course they wore coordinating outfits. What? You don't make sure that all the kids in your play dates match? Must be just the cool kids. (Or those of us who shop the 75% off rack at Target. Going on now FYI)
We made homemade pizza and cookies, had a grated cheese fight, dumped out every toy to Lydia's name...the usual. Then the girls pleaded to take a bath. Fine by me. I am really lucky that my master closet is two steps from the master tub and is in full view. When Lydia takes her baths, I usually get my clothes ready for the next day. I was in the process of doing this, listening to the girls laugh, when I turn around to see Kate dumping the last of Lydia's brand new bottle of shampoo into the bath. The jets were on and there was a 4 foot wall of bubbles billowing onto the floor. They thought this was hilarious. I cleaned it up with a towel and called it good. Can I count that as scrubbing the bathroom floor?
Kate also showed Lydia that she could fit into the bottom drawer of her dresser. Lydia thought this was fantastic, though I told her that she is a lot taller than Kate, so she couldn't fit in the drawer herself. The next morning was Sunday. Shane was out of town for the weekend so I was trying to get myself ready without him around. (Shane is in charge of getting Lydia ready on Sunday mornings. He is a wizard at doing Lydia's hair.) Anyway, I asked her to go play in her room. 10 minutes later I hear "Mommy! Come look at me!" She had taken every item out of her dresser and was laying in the bottom drawer. "Look! I can fit now!" Got to give her credit for ingenuity. We played hide and seek in the mound of clothes for a while. Better than dealing with the mess.
Oh. And I haven't even mentioned the fact that while I was putting my makeup on, she "cleaned" my standing mirror with hydrocortisone cream. Awesome.
Congrats to my little sister Molly who just got engaged to her long time boyfriend Wayne. Shane and I are so happy for you both! Bless you for choosing chocolate brown as your bridesmaid color. It is the wedding equivalent to black. If I had to wear teal or coral or something of that nature, being that I will be 7 1/2 months pregnant at the wedding, I would have definitely found a way out of the photos.
And congrats to my very good friend Lisa who is getting married this Saturday. Wish I could be there! You will be such a beautiful bride.
Love not in the air for you? Check out this awesome site for a few ways to get out of a relationship "gracefully". Just click on the heads. I laughed for an hour.
Just like last year I am going to attempt a personal list of the best and worst of 2008.
Best book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. When my mom handed me this book this Christmas I read the cover and thought "um, did Oprah recommend this or something?" - It just seemed random. Two pages into it, I didn't think it was random anymore. A utterly gorgeous work that I would recommend to anyone. Uplifting and heartbreaking, I found myself wanting to be like the main characters and hoping that if they knew me, they would like me too.
Worst book: I don't have time to read books that I don't get good recommendations for, so most of the works I read this year were fine. I will say that reading "Marley and Me" was difficult. Not that it wasn't an entertaining book. I just didn't understand how anyone could own a dog like that. It was totally beyond me. And this is coming from someone who actually grew up with a yellow lab. I finished the book and thought to myself, if we get a dog it will be a miniature poodle.
Best Movie: The Dark Knight Seriously how could anyone not think this movie was amazing? It perfected the comic book hero genre. Unreal special effects, superb acting, brilliant writing. A+ for me.
Best Comedy: Baby Mama I think I peed a little. And that was before I was pregnant.
Best chick flick: The Duchess This isn't truly a chick flick, but I think more women would be willing to attend it. A beautiful movie and Kira Knightley was enchanting.
Worst Movie - The Love Guru- Honestly, I only made it through 15 minutes of this movie, but that was enough. Mike? What happened man?
Best commercial: Progressive Insurance I am not saying that these are the best commercials ever. Commercials are becoming more entertaining than TV. But I really love the "star" of the progressive commercials. (Flo) I just want to call her up to hang out and talk about my rates.
Worst commercial: Hellsmann Mayonnaise Oh how I hate this commercial. We can tell immediately from the fresh faced actors; the freckled red head, the SoHo shopping hip mother, the down to earth guy next door; the product they are endorsing must be wonderful. Something to enrich us naturally. Solar energy, the electric car. organic greens? No....Mayonnaise. "What if we all said No? No to fake food. No to over processed food. No to food that’s not fit for our kids. Yes to Real." Wha??? I'm supposed to get all pumped about feeding mayo to my kids. That is the key to healthy eating? Mayo is REAL food? Not buying it. (Well, actually I do buy it. Hellsmann is the best mayonnaise, but I am thinking of switching to Kraft just because of this commercial. )
Best product: Neutrogena® Healthy Defense SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer I have had the opportunity to test a lot of great products this year, but this moisturizer is my personal favorite. I love the price, the SPF 30 (None of this puny SPF 15) and the slight tint is just just enough to even out my skin tone. I don't even wear makeup over it in the summer. Also a huge plus for me, there is barely any scent.
Best TV show: 30 Rock - One of my favorite aspects of last year is that Shane and I stopped watching TV unless it was really something we wanted to watch. That basically equates to new Lost episodes and 30 Rock... and The Office, but that is only me. (Hey. Does anyone really watch E.R.? I know one person, but she is the only one I have found. )
Worst event: The downturn of the economy Last weekend Shane came home from a long business trip and we had plans to "be alone" that night. Instead we ended up laying in bed talking about the status of the economy and our 401K. The next morning Shane asked "What happened to last nights plans?" I thought for a moment. "Must have been all that talk about the economy." "Yea" he replied. "That wasn't much of a stimulus package". :)
Best development: Kicking the Diet Coke habit Let me start by saying that I don't think there is anything wrong with drinking caffeinated soda. I do think that it is a problem when it becomes an addiction and I was so there this year. When I saw that little plus sign on my pregnancy test, I knew that I had to get rid of my "drinking problem". That day I started my cold turkey detox. It was a rough week, but I got it out of my system.
Last week I was telling my OB/GYN about my avoidance of caffeine during my pregnancy and he started chuckling. "There's nothing wrong with drinking a coke or two everyday. It won't hurt your baby in the slightest." I just starred at him dumbfounded. "Seriously?!" ***** Now I like not relying on coke to get me through the day. But having an occasional "treat" is so very very fabulous I must say. Best Day: My birthday
Worst day: Every day during the two weeks in October that Shane was away on business and I had such terrible morning sickness I couldn't get out of bed. That was hell. Pour Lydia. I think one dinner was nothing but an apple, saltine crackers and milk.
Best new family tradition - Pancake Saturdays. One thing that I love about Shane is that, while he is a very hard worker, he is very much present when he is home. He has a blackberry job, but he doesn't let work interfer with spending time with our family. He decided that he wanted to make Saturdays special by having a tradition that was just for Lydia and he. Every Satuday he gets up with Lydia while I sleep in and they make shaped pancakes together. He will make any character or shape she wants. They always take photos of their creations. Lydia looks forward to this day all week (as do I since I sleep in and then have yummy pancakes waiting when I finally roll out of bed) Shane is becoming quite the pancake artist. He isn't ready to quit his day job, but you never know....
I am also loving Lydia's and my new tradition of 2008 - Lydia days.
Best thing overall - Lydia leaving the terrible twos. I had a huge post written about Lydia's difficult bout with the terrible twos. It was a bit of a downer though. Let's just say, I took a lot of Tylenol. People told me three would be better, but people say a lot of things and usually it doesn't seem to apply to her. In this case "they" were right. She isn't even three yet (next week is the big celebration) but she has left the twos behind and become the most adorable creature imaginable. She gives me kisses and hugs, dancing and sings, pretends with her dolls. She chose a name for her baby brother and talks about him with such tenderness. In fact, Shane and I are pretty sure we will use that name. (Not telling it quite yet until we are sure). When I was sick in my first trimester, she would stroke my face and say "it's okay sweetheart. I love you. I will make you feel better". She would be concerned at the tears that fell after that, but they were only tears of joy. I love being Lydia's mommy. It's incredible. The thing I look forward to the most in 2009 is putting my new son in his big sister's arms.
Shane came home for lunch today so we could watch Barack Obama's inauguration as a family. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the moment. My personal congrats to President Obama and his family and my thanks to President Bush for serving our country so diligently for the last decade. All political views aside, the job of leading this country is a daunting and enormous undertaking and my prayers are with this new leadership.
And....since we were all home together, I thought I would make a fun patriotic "red, white and blue" treat. Blueberry crostata served with strawberries macerated in freshly squeezed orange juice and vanilla bean ice cream. Yum.
That prayer at the end was a little crazy no? Shane and I just started cracking up, but seriously. Mellow yellow? That was weird.
I have been noticing a lot of cool posts about organizing lately, so I thought I would get in on the fun. My favorite organizing tool I have in my house is my "Stuff Closet". I liken it to a huge junk drawer. I have been fantasising about having a stuff closet and a gift wrapping closet for several years now. When Shane and I were house hunting a couple years back, this hall closet may have been the deciding factor. I love the idea of having a space that is like a household headquarters, where odds and ends are placed. Random electronic cords, pencils and tape, light bulbs, cake decorating supplies, etc. You can see in the photo that there are two boxes that differ in color. This is intentional. The black one has flashlights - thus easy to see in the pitch black when searching for the box. The floral one is a box of random things that need to be put away or attended to. The bright colors don't let me forget it. *************************************************
Winners!
The winner of the Paisley Lane Giveaway is..... Ashley! Congrats! AND...since there was such a huge response (over 300 comments!) I am sending a pair of earrings to another random winner.... Samantha Pruitt. Both of you email me your address and I will get you your jewelry. - Don't forget - everything in my shop is on sale, with free shipping on two or more items.
I will be starting up giveaways again, so if you make or sell something fabulous and want to be a sponsor, email me and we can discuss.
Wednesday, I talked about some of my goals for the New Year, but I forgot to give my huge props to Shane for meeting his New Years goal for 2007. His goal was to lose the 25 pounds he had gained since getting married. Not only did he surpass this goal, but he competed in a triathlon and is doing another one -twice as long- in a few months. He is now training for a half marathon that is held next month. His enthusiasm is catching...just check out the video. (Shane hates running on treadmills, and was sure he could figure out a way to run outside while we were in Spokane. In three feet of snow. It didn't happen. Thus the treadmill.)
People email me all the time asking about Flutter Photography, the studio that takes so many of the great photos on my blog. (Like the family photos on my Christmas post, this shot and these gems.) If you live in Utah, you are finally in luck because Randi will be doing a last minute shoot THIS weekend!
When: Saturday 17th & Monday 19th
Where: Provo on Saturday & Lehi/ Sandy area on Monday.
Randi's slots fill up fast so I would schedule ASAP. Email her at: flutterpix@gmail.com
Lydia turned 3 yesterday and the whole day was about her. She woke up (really early) to find three balloons tied to her crib. I remember several birthdays where I woke up and there would be as many balloons on the ceiling as the age I was turning. Shane and I thought this would be a fantastic tradition to continue every year for our kids. (Yes. Lydia is still in a crib. Just for a few more weeks.)
By the end of the party Lydia was a little tuckered out, but she had a great time.
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