Whidbey Island Weekend

We had a fun getaway to Whidbey Island this weekend! My friend Allison's parents own a beach house there and they invited us for the weekend.  Their home is custom built and just gorgeous! Dustin and I hope to have a vacation house just like it someday (but maybe somewhere warmer :-) 

The weather was pretty chilly but we still went to the beach a few times, and then just relaxed at the house. The kids played and we talked and sat by the fire. It felt like we were far away on vacation somewhere, not just a little over an hour from home.  Dustin took Friday off from work and we left that afternoon and came home Sunday.

To get there we had to take a short ferry ride. It was Leah's first. She loved it!

Like I said, the house was amazing! It is across the street from the ocean and behind the house is a canal where they keep their boat and have a huge dock and back patio.  It will be amazing in the summer!

It was cold and windy down at the beach but Leah still liked it.

We liked to relax by the fire each night and pretend we were drinking wine :-) It was sparkling cider, we are both expecting :-)

The last morning it started snowing and was sunny at the same time, it was so weird!

Snowing!

Fun trip! I hope we get invited back!  :-) 

Baby #2

I haven't really written about my new pregnancy very much yet. Not sure why! I guess because I am so busy with Leah!  I am 17 weeks and 1 day now.  Just in the last week I feel like my little baby bump has really popped out and I actually feel pregnant now!  I am very lucky and I didn't have any sort of morning sickness this time or when I was pregnant with Leah.  In the first trimester I had a few weeks that I didn't feel like eating, but I wasn't nauseous.  Other than just feeling more tired, I have felt great!

I had an appointment with my midwife today and everything is looking great.  Baby is measuring right on track and I got to hear the heartbeat which I LOVE.  I still haven't gained any weight which I think is kind of weird.  But obviously the baby is growing so they aren't concerned.  With Leah I had already gained about 7lbs by this point.  I have an ultrasound in 3 weeks where they will measure the growth and all that and we will also find out the sex!  Super excited about that!  Then I can start shopping and planning!  I don't really have any guesses or feelings either way as to whether it's a boy or girl.  I will be happy with either one, the most important thing is that my baby is healthy!!

I don't have a belly pic to share......I'm not really into doing those. Maybe I will take a few later on. :-)  

Monday Monday

The weekend kind of flew by. We didn't do anything too exciting. Had lunch with my mom and brother on Saturday which was nice.  Then on Sunday Dustin, Leah and I went to the mall.  Leah was acting off and was super fussy, especially when we tried to get her to sit down to eat lunch at a restaurant right next to the carousel. She threw a huge fit and wanted to go on it so badly. We held our ground though and kept telling her we needed to eat lunch first. Finally (after about a 20 minute long tantrum!!), she did and then got to ride the carousel!  It is situations like that where Dustin and I look back later and are proud of ourselves as parents. It would have been SO much easier to just let her ride it to calm her down. But then she would have won and that would have set a bad example for her to expect to get what she wants when she wants it! It was embarrassing to have her kicking and screaming on the floor, but who cares? Other parents understand and everyone else? Eh, not worried about what they think!  :-)  Turns out Leah was coming down with a cold and had a fever when we got home.  Usually something like that explains her bad behavior.  She has a runny nose and cough now and I hope she gets better soon. 

Mid-fit :)

Today my mom and stepdad came over to play with Leah for awhile so that I could get out and run some errands (Thank youuuuuuuu!  ;-). As always it was so nice to just take my time to look around and not be worried that Leah might melt down at any minute! 
One place I went was Kohl's.  They are having one of the 30% off your entire purchase sales, plus I had some "Kohl's Cash" from a previous visit so I only spent $43.01 and saved $126.87!!!  Isn't that nuts!?  (Husband - did you read that??  ;-)  I got some new clothes for Leah, some baby gifts for friends (the majority of my friends are pregnant right now!), a candle, picture frame, bath mat, new wallet and a few other things. Isn't that so cool?  I love that store, although I can never really find any clothes for myself there. 

I saw this cute tank for Leah and had to get it.

After that I went to Fred Meyer to pick up a few grocery items. 
I have been looking for these lately and found them today -

So excited to start using them, I hate the plastic produce bags at the store they are such a waste! These bags are machine washable!

Here are a few more cute pics of Leah from the weekend -

Peek a boo!

Rawwwrrrrr!

This was so cute, she lined up some dolls (mostly Elmos, ha!) and was pretending to change their diapers, including wiping :)

Happy Monday!

One Year Blogiversary!

Wow I have been doing  my blog for a whole year. I am so happy that I decided to start it.  I only wish I would have sooner! It has been so much fun for me to document our daily lives and Leah's milestones. I know that I will LOVE looking back on it one day.

Thank you to all my readers, you are all so great!  I absolutely love getting all of your sweet comments!!

We are so glad to have Dustin home from his business trip to Boston.  I am so glad he only travels for work a few times a year. I really don't like being alone.  Luckily I planned so many activities to keep us busy while Dustin was gone, it went by pretty fast!

I took a lot of iphone pics this week so I will share a few...

We have a new tradition that after going to her toddler discovery class on Thursdays we go get smoothies and a snack and walk around the mall.  Leah loves her little mini smoothie.  Next week is the last class though and then we will be starting swimming lessons!

We had a little sunshine for a few hours the other day so Leah got a chance to try out her new trike outside! She was sort of getting the hang of using her feet on the pedals.

 Here is another example of my daredevil girl - Pics are from my phone so are a little dark and blurry...She pushed her slide into the kitchen and next thing I know, she is in her highchair!  She is quick!!

One

Two

Three!

I have been really into eating vegetarian lately.  I have never liked meat, but always ate (gagged down) chicken because it is everywhere and I feel like everyone I know eats meat and I felt like I should probably be getting the protein.  But now I am realizing that I don't need to get protein from meat. So, I have been buying lots of veggies and grains and experimenting and also looking for new recipes.  I am not going to label myself as a vegetarian though because I still will most likely eat meat from time to time.
Here is what I made tonight - Mixed veggie stir fry with cashews over pearled couscous.  I thought it turned out really yummy even though it doesn't look that pretty. :-)

Well TGIF, have a great weekend!!

Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Even though my love was gone, it was still a great day.  Dustin had all sorts of surprises for me (I think he felt guilty since he had to be gone on a business trip haha!)

On Sunday when I was at the movies with my brother, Dustin took Leah to the craft store and they made this magnet for me! Cutest thing ever!!

 Then on Monday he brought home pink roses for me AND Leah :-)

 We got wild and crazy and celebrated with some Martinelli's :-)

Here are Leah's Valentine's for her friends (she colored and put stickers inside the card!). We went to a party at her friend Ethan's house. I didn't take any pics but it was lots of fun!

 Leah's Valentine's Day gift from Mommy.

 All ready to go to the party!

 This stuff is for ME?!  :-)

 I thought the magnet and roses that Dustin gave me on Monday was my gift. But nope! He surprised me by having chocolate dipped strawberries and a lavendar spa basket delivered to me on Valentine's Day!  So sweet!!  He actually told me later that the strawberries were meant to come on V Day, but the spa basket was meant to come the next day so that I got a gift two different days he was gone!  How thoughtful is that?!!  He is getting the hang of this romance thing!

That night my mom invited us over for dinner and we had a heart shaped pizza. Leah couldn't wait to dig into her cheese and olive pizza!  :-)

I hope everyone had a wonderful day and felt the love from family and friends! 

Weekend, etc.

This weekend was nice, nothing too exciting, but sometimes low-key weekends are nice and relaxing!  Saturday we didn't do much of anything!  We went on a walk Saturday morning, even though it was really cold and sprinkling.  During Leah's nap I went to Trader Joe's and stocked up on good healthy foods.  I stuck to my Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 list and stayed within my budget. Nice! Being pregnant and not buying wine is making my grocery budget seem a lot higher, haha!  :-) I have found a few new websites and blogs with vegetarian recipes that I can't wait to try! 
One cool product I found -  It is chopped carrots, broccoli, cabbage, celery, green bell pepper, radishes and jicama. Today I mixed it with spinach and sunflower seeds in a salad.  And later this week I am going to saute and serve over quinoa!

On Sunday Dustin thought it would be nice to give me a break since he will be going on a business trip soon.  So Dustin took Leah with him to run errands and go visit his mom.  I felt so weird at first being at home by myself!  It was nice to take my time getting ready in my quiet house. :-)  Then I ran some errands and went to a movie with my brother and sister-in-law.  It was a relaxing day!

This is one of the presents Leah got for her birthday, a princess tent. (Luckily it fold up really small :-)

She likes taking her blankie and books in with her :)

Today I had a quick dr appt, we went to visit Daddy at work, then we went to Toys R Us.  Leah has birthday money so we went to look around.  After Christmas and her birthday, she has enough toys! So we looked for some other things that she could use.
We spent part of the gift card on these things -

Big sidewalk chalk and a travel tray that straps on to the car seat! Leah always likes to look at books in the car but drops them because her lap is too tiny :) This will be great at helping hold up toys/books and she could even color. And it has a built in snack cup!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

The Dirty Dozen

Ever since Leah has been able to eat solid foods, I have become SO aware and somewhat obsessed with what we are eating.  I WISH we didn't have to worry about where our food comes from, but we do. And for the most part, it is disgusting what is done to our food - the artificial ingredients, pesticides, long distance shipping, etc., and don't get me started about what is done to animals.  I love buying as much organic and local food as possible, but let's face it, sometimes it is way too expensive!  I thought I would take a minute to write out the list of foods that are best to eat organic and what we can save our money on. 

First, here is a definition of what organic means-

• Animals have not been treated with: antibiotics, growth hormones, or feed made from animal byproducts.
• Animals must have been fed organic feed for at least a year.
• Animals must have access to the outdoors.
• Food hasn't been genetically modified or irradiated.
• Fertilizer does not contain sewage sludge or synthetic ingredients.
• Produce hasn't been contaminated with synthetic chemicals used as pesticides.

Here is a list of the "Dirty Dozen", the foods that test the highest of pesticide residue.  

My goal will to be at least try to get the following foods organic! 

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Strawberries

4. Peaches

5. Spinach

6. Nectarines

7. Grapes (and raisins!) (Hmmm, must be some wines too, right?)

8. Sweet bell peppers

9. Potatoes

10. Blueberries

11. Lettuce

12. Kale / Collard greens

A few more things to note -

* Milk  (This is an important one for our family. Organic and rbST free milk is a must. We get our milk delivered from a local dairy.  And FYI, Horizon milk is not actually organic for those of you that haven't heard!)

* Chocolate
* Coffee

 I have read that chocolate and coffee most often come from countries that aren't regulated so there is no way to know for sure the amount of pesticides used.

* Beef and poultry - Umm, just watch Food, Inc. :-P

Now, here are the "Clean 15" that test the most clean of pesticides, so are generally ok to buy not organic.

1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapple
4. Avocado 
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mango
8. Eggplant
9. Cantaloupe 
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

A few tips for buying organic - 

*Shop for produce that is actually in season! If you see cherries in the store in the winter, who knows where they come from or how they are being grown!!

*Look for local Farmer's Markets which is not only better for you and your wallet, but supports local businesses!

I hope everyone found this helpful!  Happy 'Clean' Eating!  :-)

Weekend

I feel like I always do my weekend recap posts on Tuesdays, ha!  This weekend was packed full of fun. On top of all the activities, the weather was beautiful in Seattle! 60 degrees and sunny. Saturday afternoon was Leah's birthday party. In the morning we went to run some last minute errands like pick up the goldfish, cake, etc.  We also took the opportunity to go on a short walk outside before Leah's nap. 

These are just a few random pics of Leah playing the last few days....

Whoever invented 'mess-free' markers is genius!!

Whenever Leah is quiet in the other room I get suspicious but here she was the other night while I was cooking dinner. Just sitting on her trampoline reading like a little angel :)

Sunday morning we went on a long walk to a nearby park.  Leah played for awhile and we just enjoyed the sun!  Then that afternoon we went to our friends Katie and Bryan's house to watch the Superbowl.  (They are our friends that live close to us but just decided to accept a job offer in CA. They will be missed!!)  I could care less about the Superbowl but like getting together with friends and usually enjoy the halftime performance.  The only Superbowl I truly enjoyed was the one I cheered at in 2006, in Detroit, Seahawks vs. Steelers.  Life changing experience!!  Wish I had some pics on this computer of that awesome trip. 

Dustin, Kevin, Bryan

Leah giving Cohen a kiss as he drove her around the house :)

Yesterday Leah had her 2 year doctor appointment.  I was so nervous as to how she would react now that she is SO aware of everything around her.  She did such a great job!  She did everything the dr asked, including opening her mouth and saying "ahhhh" when she needed to look in her mouth.  She even showed her how well she can talk. Which in response the dr told me that Leah is advanced for her age with her speech. *Proud Mommy moment* :-)  She weighs 23.5lbs which is in about the 15th percentile for her age. I told the dr that she eats a lot and often, she must burn it off quickly!  She said keep trying to feed her more calories and keep her on whole milk for now. Whatever, seems like she is doing just fine in my opinion and eats more than her friends her age! Anyway, she had to get one shot and she didn't even cry!  Yay!

Leah picked out a Toy Story sticker after her shot!

After the dr I took Leah to the mall and we had lunch and I got her a hot chocolate which she enjoyed :)

 Today we mostly just hung out at home. There was a crazy & loud windstorm last night that kept waking us all up so we are tired today! 

Leah's Elmo Party

Yesterday we had Leah's birthday party! We tried to keep it small with just Leah's close friends, aunt&uncle and grandparents.  I think everyone had a great time!

We did an Elmo theme so one fun thing we did was get Elmo's pet goldfish Dorothy to make an appearance!  :-) Leah loved it.  And then we covered our dining room table in butcher paper and had a bunch of crayons out for coloring.  We had bowls of goldfish crackers everywhere, and also served pizza, veggies, fruit kabobs, juice and soda. 

Then Leah had the best time opening all of her presents. She is a lucky girl who got some very cool gifts!

New sandbox from Grandpa!

Then it was CAKE time. Leah was looking forward to this since she saw the cake earlier in the day!

I love the way the cake turned out.

She blew out the candle on her first try!

Then it was time to just play with her friends.

Leah's friends Emma and Ethan

And Cohen and Ashlyn

Weeeeee!

The ball pit was a huge hit with the kids!

She loves broccoli!

Couldn't get her to put it down for a photo, ha!

It was a very fun party.  I am kind of bummed that I forgot to get ANY video. I wish I had asked someone to video presents and cake. Darn it! Well at least I have the pictures for Leah to look back at.  I still can't believe that she is 2!