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!