Second time around...

If Preston keeps all his fingers by the time he is 2, it will be a miracle! This kid and his hands have had more problems than ever! On Sunday evening, while playing in Reese's room, he managed to pinch his thumb in Reese's toybox (again!) Kyle held pressure on it for about 15 min, but when I looked at it, and could see his muscle, I knew we had to get to the ER. We packed the kids up, grabbed the IPad for Reese to stay entertained, and went to the ER. The doctor was already waiting in our room after our initial assesment, and immediatly ordered X-Rays to make sure his thumb wasn't broken (it wasn't) and then he was held down by 3 nurses to get 3 stitches in his finger. Not fun :( Poor guy did really well though, and we went to the doctor today for a check up to make sure its healing well, and it is. He will get his stitches out this weekend. We head back to Ilinois tomorrow for our long Christmas break, so luckily my cousin who is a nurse said she would take the stitches out for him.
Presents are wrapped, suitcases are almost all packed, so we head out tomorrow and won't be home until the 29th. We hope you have a Merry Christmas!!

Blog Hiatus

Sorry for the short blogging hiatus! We have been so busy by the time I have a chance to sit down and blog, I would rather take a nap :) But I'm back and ready to update on what we have been up to.
First, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving seeing friends and family over the extended weekend. We spent Wed-Fri with Kyle's family, and Fri-Sun with my family. It was a great weekend. We spent Thanksgiving day at Kyle's grandma, eating good food and letting the kids play with all their cousins/extended family we don't see very often. Thanksgiving evening we always go to Kyle's aunt and uncles for drinks/appetizers and watch football. Friday we headed to my parents and Kyle and I went out with a group of my high school friends for dinner Friday night. We had a fun night catching up! Saturday we spent lounging around and went to a local Christmas tree farm with my parents to let the kids pick out their annual ornaments and drinking apple cider! It was a beautiful day and was so nice to get outside! Sunday morning we had brunch with everyone (my parents and Kyle's parents) and then hit the road back to Indiana. Weekends home always fly by- but we had a great time.

We went to get our Christmas tree Friday night (at Home Depot!) :) We figured since we are going back home for Christmas on the 20th- and only being able to have it for like 2 weeks, we weren't going to spend a ton of money on a tree at a tree farm. Maybe next year :) We got all the decorations put on yesterday, and Reese had a blast helping. She was really into it this year, carefully choosing places for each ornament (of course they are all high because Preston wants to tear them all off the tree!) So, our tree is decorated from the middle half to top- looking very silly, but has to be for Preston- as he has already broken 4 ornaments!!
A friend of mine (also a photographer) came over this morning to take family pictures. The kids were SO good, I can't wait to see them. It also started to lightly snow outside, so we braved the frigid temps and headed outdoors from some pretty, wintery photos. Very excited to see them Wednesday when she will give me the disc of all the pics.

Reese has her school Christmas program tomorrow morning, so I am excited for her as she has been practicing Jingle Bells for weeks now. Must be the song her class is going to sing. We will see if she really sings- she gets SO shy in large groups. I'll record it for sure, and share with you later this week!
We are also doing the holiday Jolly Days on Wednesday at the Children's Museuem. More to come on that, as well as meeting friends on Friday at a light show close to our house where the kids can sit with Santa in a sleigh- should be a fun week! I think we also may try to do ZooLights at the Indy Zoo Saturday after the kids naps- depends on how cold it supposed to be- but I know they would both love it as Preston is in awe of Christmas lights!

Preston turned 15 months on Nov.19- and I got a few pictures of him:

 He has 6 teeth- 4 on top, 2 on the bottom

 The boy and his tractors- anything with wheels and he is all for it!

 

 

We got our first snow Thursday night- amounting to about 3 1/2 inches total. The kids have been out twice to play in it- and we tried to make a snowman today, but it wasnt quite wet enough!

 

 

He was not too sure about it. He didn't move from this spot the whole time we were outside :)

Her "snowman"- full of leaves :)

 

CTS

I am officially the newest member of Christ the Savior (CTS) Lutheran Church! Last night concluded a 3 week course in which I am now a new member. After not really having a church "home" since high school at my parents church, it feels good to have a place we go on a regular basis to worship, get to know the other members, and have the kids in Sunday School. I have already met lots of new people through the class, and look forward to meeting many more. My next step is meeting with our Pastor (Jim) to go over details for Preston's baptism. Logistics and dates and all that fun stuff. I am also joining a small group for stay at home moms which meets every other Wednesday morning at the church starting in January. Luckily, it meets on the opposite weeks as my other MOPS group which is every other Friday, so it will be nice not be bombarded with two groups on one week! :) I finally feel that I am becoming connected in the community and meeting new people and new families through church and Mom's groups. Its nice to feel connected since we are so far away from family.

Preston had his 15 month appointment yesterday, and of course, he has another ear infection. I swear every 3 months like clockwork he gets an ear infection. I figured he might have one since he got a really runny nose this past weekend and hasn't been acting like himself. Everything else checked out ok. Here are his stats:
Weight: 24 lbs. 1.6 oz  (44%tile) - which is a loss. He was 24 lbs. 10 oz at his 12 month appt.
Height: 33 inches (93%tile)- he has grown 1 inch since 12 month appt

The doctor was a little worried about his weight loss, and we talked about ways to get him to drink more almond milk throughout the day. The little stinker will only drink his almond milk out of a bottle (which I still give him one before  bed to atleast get some milk in him.) She told me to stop offering him water at meals in a sippy cup, and only offer milk- that way he gets used to drinking it out of a sippy cup- which right now, he refuses to do. She said he will get thirsty enough and will start drinking it from the cup. She said to continue the night bottle until he gets ahold of the concept of milk in a sippy to get those fat calories in him still, so he doesn't lose anymore weight than he already has.

This weekend is the 2nd annual FriendsGivingMas (a Thanksgiving and Christmas event) that is held with 4 of my close college girlfriends. I am hosting this year, and am excited as none of them have been to Indy yet since we have moved last February! It will be fun. We cook all day Saturday, drink wine, and then enjoy our delicious meal, before going out on the town for some drinks when the kids go to bed. Should be a great day!!

Week Re-cap

Well it was an interesting week, to say the least. While Kyle and I tried to come with grips of losing a cat, it's not as easy to explain to a 3 1/2 year old who loved him dearly. Everyday, she still asks when he is going to come home, and still wants to go out looking for him. I have to remind her that Sunday is in kitty heaven. Without giving her too many details, we still wanted her to know what happened- so we told her he got an owie on his body, and had to go to sleep to make it feel better. Now he lives with God and a bunch of new kitty friends in heaven. Usually when I remind her of this, she starts to cry and says she wants to go see him in heaven, not quite understand what it all means. That might be the toughest part for me. She also is not understanding why our other cat, Jack, is still here, and why he wouldn't want to go be with Sunday. Every night before bed, she includes Sunday in her prayers, and always asks for him to come back. Breaks my heart. I have also heard he tell people this past week (usually when we see someone walking a dog, or pretty much anyone) that she has two cats, Jack and Sunday. I can't bring myself to remind her that now she only has one.  Someday we will get to that point.

I also joined the local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)-(but really moms of kids ages birth-kindergarten) group this week. I have been on the waitlist since the end of August, and got a call last week that I was able to join. It is held every other Friday morning form 9-11:30, so we went yesterday. They have daycare for the kids, so I dropped them off and had a great time at the meeting. There is probably about 50 moms that are part of the group, and there are 10 tables with 5 moms at each. You sit with the same group each time- and do things outside of the meeting with the moms at your table. I am lucky that 3 of the other moms at the table are about my age with kids around the same ages as well. They told me they try to do play dates on Tuesdays- so we are looking forward to that, and meeting more moms in the group.  I haven't met to many other moms that I have connected with that I call "friends" so hopefully this is a chance to meet some!

Sunday

We said goodbye to our family cat, Sunday, yesterday. He went missing last Tuesday evening, and Kyle found him yesterday. He had been hit on the road behind our house, and Kyle found him on the side of the road. We will miss him so much. He was the BEST family cat you could ask for, and let the kids crawl all over him and tackle him for fun. I'm so glad we were at least able to find him to give him the proper goodbye. Until we meet again, Sunday boy...

 

 

Bathroom Cabinets

After my Dad had painted our bedroom and master bath while we were in Nashville- I got a wild hair to refinish our bathroom cabinets. Our bathroom and the kids bathrooms were the only things not remodeled/updated before we bought our house (which is 15 years old.) With the new paint- I decided I wanted to spice up the bathroom a bit more and get rid of the plain, oak cabinets. I had no idea how to do it, so after doing many Google searches, I decided to go to Home Depot and talk with the experts in the paint department. They HIGHLY recommended this product:

Instead of sanding and stripping each cabinet/frame/door, you follow this kit step by step. It ran around $65, but they said they have never had a complaint about it, and its the way to go. So, trusting them, we bought it. It comes with an instructional DVD I watched first, and then I followed along in the written guide as well. 

"Before" pictures

Step one:
Remove doors from the frame and tape areas you want to stay clean (i.e. I tapped along the walls and the floor) Tip: Tape really well and really tight to the frame so it doesn't leak onto your wall)

Step 2:

Deglosser. This is basically a liquid use you with a scratch pad and rub it really well over the whole frame and doors. It strips away all the finish that is already on the doors. It is really easy and doesn't take long to do. Let it dry for specified time before next step.

Step 3:

Paint. This is when you paint on your tinted base. Just like painting walls, you use a regular brush its not difficult. Just make sure you don't let it "goop" in the corners and let in "run" down. Let it dry specified time before next step.Tip: For the doors, it take a bit longer, because you can only do one side at a time - so paint one side, dry, flip and paint other side, dry. Finishing the doors takes the longest.

I chose the color Expresson, but there are about 20 different shades/colors you can choose from with the kit. You have them mix the color at Home Depot when you buy the kit.

Step 4:

Decorative Glaze. This step is optional. The glaze basically gives the cabinets a more "custom" look, pulling out the grains in each door instead of having just a flat painted look. I chose to do the glaze, and am so happy I did. You paint it on with a brush, and then immediately wipe it off with a rag provided. You have to let this step dry longer than the previous two before moving onto the last step.

Step 5:

Top Coat. Basically the protective coat so prevent scratching/peeling. Again, just use a brush and paint it on, letting it dry much longer (8 hours or more) before you can put your doors back on/drawers back in. 

Honestly, it was really easy- just very time consuming. With to wait for each step to dry, it took me a good 5 days (although I could only work while the kids napped or at night- so I bet you could do it in 3 days if you could work non-stop.) It also takes long because of having to flip the doors and wait for each side to dry. For anyone wanting to refinish cabinets, I HIGHLY recommend the product and I am so happy with the outcome. Sometime in the future we hope re-do the floors (get rid of the white tile) and get new counters. Here is the finished product:

*Side note: This kit comes with quite a bit of product. I was able to do two vanities and a set of three drawers and still have enough to do the kids bathrooms (a double vanity sink) and our bathroom in the basement (a single vanity sink.) I think it is ideal to use for a kitchen with lots and lots of cabinets, but it works out great for us as I can now do all three bathrooms!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

I wish. We eat atleast an apple a day, but it isn't keeping our doctor away. Yesterday morning I took the kids to get their flu shots. I asked the nurse to just look at Preston's burns on his fingers (as some are getting red and not healing) and she took one look and said, come back tomorrow and see the doctor. So, back we went this morning. 3 of them are infected and the one on his thumb she is worried about. He is not bending his thumb at all, and she is worried that scar tissue will heal tight and he wont have a good range of motion with it. She prescribed a cream to help treat the skin, and then an antibiotic to help with the infection within his thumb. She wants us to go back next Wednesday for a re check, and if he still is not bending it, he will need to wear a special glove on that hand that will help it heal properly.
While we were there, I also had her check Reese as she has had a cold for 5 days now, and she isn't getting any better. Two days ago she got a nasty cough, and sure enough, she has an ear infection in her right ear. Crazy as she never got many ear infections as an infant, and now she seems to be getting them everytime she gets a cold. Guess we need to start eating two apples a day in this house!

One more delicious crock pot recipe for you- one of the best pot roasts I have EVER had I made last night. It was SO yummy, and so easy.


Crock Pot Beef Roast
Ingredients:
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
1 pkg. low sodium Brown Gravy (I used McCormicks)
1 pkg. powdered Italian dressing

Combine the 3 ingredients with 1/2 cup water, and pour over roast. My roast was frozen, and I put it on LOW in the crockpot for 7 hours. It was SO yummy. So tender and juicy. I HIGHLY recommend trying this recipe!

Slow Cookers

It's that time of year when I love to pull out my slow cooker a.k.a crockpot- which I tend to use ocassinally all year round, but really start it's prime use in the fall/winter. With our grilling season coming to an end- which consumes most of our summer- I am always hunting for new an delicious slow cooker recipes to try. I have come across 2 different recipes on Pinterest, and both were fantastic- so good, I though I would share with you. They are easy prep- and basically throw ingredients in and be on your way!

First was the chicken tacos we had last week. SO yummy, and so easy.
Clean Eating Crock Pot Chicken Tacos- click on the link to take you to the site

Ingredients

1 lb (or about four 4 oz)	Chicken breasts
1 cup (8 oz)	Salsa (I used one with corn and black beans)
1/2 cup (half of a 10 oz) can	Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies 1
Optional:	1 tbs taco seasoning 2
Optional Taco/Salad Fixings:	Low carb/whole grain tortillas, shredded lettuce, avocado, cilantro, black olives, avocado, corn, black beans, plain low fat greek yogurt

¹ This gives the chicken a bit of spice and flavor, but if you are making this recipe for children, or you don't like any spice, I suggest using plain diced tomatoes!

² Make your own taco seasoning by mixing together 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/8 teaspoon salt. Be sure seasoning is gluten free if sensitive.

Method

THE ESTIMATED TOTAL TIME TO MAKE THIS RECIPE IS 4-8 HOURS.

1

Put all of the ingredients (except for toppings) in crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred. Add chicken back to the crockpot and stir to combine everything. Serve over lettuce or on low carb tortillas, and top with veggies and/or suggested toppings.

We garnished our with lettuce, avocado, cheese, tomato, and sour cream. I also like to add black beans and black olives sometimes.

Next up is Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup. Another big hit.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla So
For some reason, I couldnt copy and paste the ingredients, so click on the link above to take you to the full site. Enjoy!

Field Trip

Reese had her first field trip Monday with her preschool class. Let's just say the day started out a little rough. We had to leave by 8:45 am, which to us, is early :) Around 8:25, Preston decided that when I turned my back for no more than 5 seconds, he wanted to grab a hold of my flat iron and burn 6 of his 10 fingers. I literally turned around to shut the shower curtain, and turn around to see him holding the hot iron- which led to me grabbing it away, and him shrieking in pain and fear. I knew we couldn't miss the field trip or Reese would be devastated, so I rubbed antibiotic ointment on the burns/blisters, and we headed out (on time actually.) He cried the while 30 min ride, but I knew once we got there, the excitement would help him forget, which it did. He was fine all morning. Our neighbor is a wound specialist, so I had her come over and look at them on Wednesday, and she said they blisters are tough (a good sign) and to let them gradually pop and drain, making sure to keep them clean when they pop so the open sores don't get infected. Thus far, 4 of the 6 have popped, and I have been cleaning them out multiple times a day. They don't seem to bother him at all, he plays, eats, and does everything with his hands normally.
So, back to the field trip. Once we got on our way, we had a great time. It was so fun to see Reese interact with all her little friends :) We went to the local apple orchard/pumpkin patch. First we did a hay ride out to pick pumpkins, then the kids had a lesson on apples, and then we picked apples to take home. The weather was perfect fall weather, and Preston was a trooper through the whole thing with his poor little hands.

Reese and her "best friend" Tyson

 The 3 year olds learning about apples

 Apple picking 

Reese's 3 year old class- I had to post this one- look at her strike a pose! :)

Loving her caramel apple from the orchard

Louisville and Nashville

Last week, Kyle and I got the pleasure of having our first "vacation" alone together since our HONEYMOON! Yep, it's been that long since we have been away together (minus nights we have gone to a wedding or things like that.) But to actually relax and leave the kids behind- never done it! Until last week when my parents came out and watched the kids from Thur-Sun so we could enjoy some time away.
Thursday morning we took off and headed for Louisville, KY (about 2 1/2 hrs away.) Our whole motto for the weekend was "fly by the seat of our pants." We had ideas of things we wanted to do, but no set plans, and we were only going to do what we wanted, when we wanted to. It was amazing. No schedule, no whining kids, no dirty diapers to change, and basically, no rules! FREEDOM :)
Thursday when we got to Louisville and checked into the hotel, we then walked around downtown and ate at a yummy local taco joint. We then toured a huge antique/flea market building before heading over to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. I have to say I wasn't too overly excited to tour a baseball bat museum, but went along for the ride as I knew Kyle would enjoy it. Turns out, it was great! They were actually making the bats for the playoff games and we go to see Tampa's bats being made. Pretty cool. Kyle got to touch one of his favorite St. Louis Cardinal players bats- so it was a hit...no pun intended :) Thursday night we ate at an AMAZING smokehouse place called Doc Crow's. Some of the most delicious barbecue and ribs we have ever had. Little did we know, that wouldn't be the last time we ate barbecue because it was SO delicious in the south. After dinner we hit up Fourth Street Live in downtown, where all the bars are. We had a great time at a bar with dueling pianos.

Fourth Street Live

Friday morning we took off and headed for Nashville (about a 2 hr 40 min drive from Louisville.) After checking into the hotel, we headed straight down to the main "tourist" area of Nashville where all the shops/restaurants/bars are. We ate lunch/ watched the Cardinal game and then headed out to check out some live music in the bars. They have live music in literally EVERY bar on Broadway street- and it's all great singers/songwriters. We basically hopped around and checked out different bars/different singers all afternoon! We ate dinner ate a great place called Sambuca- sitting on a ledge outside overlooking the West End of Nashville. We then met up with an old friend of mine, Ashley Becker, back downtown and hopped around a few bars with her and her fiance. We had a great day.

As you can imagine, we were slow moving Saturday morning. I am not used to drinking that much/staying up that late, and it was hard for me to get motivated to move Saturday. I think we finally got out of the room around noon and headed to Edley's- a barbecue joint that we heard rave reviews for. And it did not disappoint. If you ever go to Nashville, this place is a MUST. We waited in line at least 30 minutes (by we, I mean Kyle- I was sitting down slowly sipping water in hope to re-hydrate myself!) They had the best pulled pork nachos I have EVER had- and probably will ever had. It was the best pulled pork with the works all on top of homemade potato chips- to.die.for. Also, the perfect food for a hangover :) After lunch we then toured the original Grand Ole Opry- now known as the Ryman. It was self guided tour and was really neat. So much history in one place. I highly recommend it- even if you are not a country music fan. Saturday evening we hopped in the car and went to Brentwood, TN- about 20 min south of Nashville, so have dinner/drinks with one of Kyle's friends from undergrad and her family. We had a great time catching up (we haven't seen them for at least 4 years or so.) Sunday we packed up and headed back home- of course only after sleeping in- which was a must since we never get to! We had a great time and I will be going back at some point- such a neat city!!

Boot Country!

The Ryman

Touring the original "Grand Ole Opry"

Tuttles Apple Orchard

A few weeks ago, we headed to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch near our house. Here are a few pics from our visit. Usually our visit consists of fall like weather, sweatshirts, and long pants, but with the unseasonably warm weather, we were almost sweating picking apples in the near 80 degree temps. With our apples we picked, I made an apple pie (which only lasted 2 days) and an apple crisp (that lasted less than 8 hours.)