Children's Museum (again)

A couple of weeks ago, we decided it was time to take Craig back to the Children's Museum. He had a lot of fun last time, but now he's several months older and seemed to pass a milestone in development when he turned 18 month. This time he was able to go up the stairs and down the slide by himself. He was more confident and ventured out away from us a lot more. Plus, we didn't have to worry as much about him getting hurt. This is something new:

He made that face just for the picture. I don't know if he was just trying to smile really big or if he was just being weird, but I snapped it anyway.

This was a favorite again. The pool noodle forest. This time we were able to let him walk through by himself more and not carry him as much. It was really hard to take pictures in there--those things kept getting in the way. But I got a few good ones.

This time we were also able to ride a "car" through the car wash. Last time he was just a little less stable and wasn't able to stay on the front seat while I "drove" so we pushed him in the stroller. But he loved riding through it this time!

And this is to prove that we really do love Ethan and we take him with us whenever we go somewhere. Those of you with multiple kids...did you spend the first several months of the second one's life feeling guilty for not taking as many pictures of them as you did the first? It's just that not only is Craig so active and doing more interesting things that are picture worthy, but he's so active that it's hard for me to put Ethan down and thereby have the opportunity to capture him on camera doing cute little things. The things I love about Ethan right now can't be caught on camera. :) He's such a good little boy (except for about four nights out of a week, the stinker)--he mostly just sits and enjoys what's going on around him when he isn't napping.

Next, we want to go back to the zoo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's the first picture we've managed to take of all us! I love that Ethan's smiling. :)

We spent Thanksgiving with some friends. I made a pecan pie and pumpkin roll. We also did the turkey (we wanted the carcass to make stock), mashed potatoes, and stuffing. They did rolls, a couple of different casseroles, and some pies. It was a lot fun. Like us, they don't have family nearby and they only have two little kids, so not many people to eat all that food. It was great. Hope yours was good, too!

Turkey...Cupcakes

First of all, I'd like everyone to know that if you don't have a Frys grocery store where you are, I'm very sorry. And this is why:

That's the real price tag off the turkey we bought yesterday. We got two, actually, but this one was the biggest. On the whole shopping trip we saved $42.26 off of what we would have paid without their Thanksgiving sales. And that wasn't even using any coupons or anything--just their in-store sales. We're getting together with another family for dinner tomorrow and our responsibility is the turkey, stuffing, and potatoes and I'm opting to bring Martinellis, a pecan pie, and a pumpkin roll, too. For all the stuff we needed for that, plus ingredients for dinner for the rest of this pay period, we spent just over $80. I love stuff like that.

In another, unrelated topic, I wanted to let you all know I made these cupcakes the other day. They're really moist and easy to make. I have a hard time finding "from scratch" cake recipes that are truly moist, but these really are. (If you check out the original website they came from, you'll be embarrassed for me when you see the picture I have of mine--but they tasted good.) Here's what the best-decorated one looked like, and the recipe follows (with my own notes added in italics).

(I thought the wrinkled fabric might add some interest. Instead it just looks like the cupcake is sitting on some wrinkled fabric. Oh well. I never said I was Ansel Adams.)

Apple Spiced Cupcakes with Cinnamon Spike Frosting
By: Conversations with a Cupcake

1 cup butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup apple sauce
2 Tbsp. caramel topping (I used brown sugar)
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
pinch of allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp baking powder (I used the low altitude version by adding an extra 1/2 tsp.)
3 drops candy apple oil (optional--I didn't do it)
2 1/4 cups flour (low alt.--plus 1 Tbsp.)

Cinnamon Spiked Frosting
2 lbs. powdered sugar
3 sticks butter
6-8 drops cinnamon oil
OR
about 1 tsp. cinnamon extract (to taste)
1/4-1/2 cup whole milk
2 tsp. Wilton red food coloring
(Note: if you want your frosting to turn the color of the original recipe, then you MUST use Wilton. If you don't mind it being dark pink, you can do like I did and use two little squeeze bottles of regular brand food coloring and still never get red, just a brighter pink.)
Mint leaves
Cinnamon sticks
(Note: this makes A LOT of frosting, so if you plan to decorate them like I did in the picture, which was how the original creator decorated her's, then you'll need almost all of the frosting. If you decided to just frost them with a knife, as I ended up doing with the rest, you can cut the recipe at least in half, if not quarter.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter, sugar, and eggs until light and creamy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until incorporated. Spoon into cupcake tins and bake 18-20 minutes. For large cupcakes, bake 27-30 minutes. For frosting, beat all ingredients except milk and food coloring until smooth. Slowly add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency. Add food coloring. Frost and garnish with cinnamon sticks as stems and mint leaves as apple leaves.

Major Crib Recall

I was watching the Today Show this morning, which I never do but was waiting to see NieNie, when I saw them announce the biggest crib recall in history. And guess what crib was being recalled...yep, ours. So if you're like me, you have a Stork Craft crib, purchased between 1993 and Oct. of 2009 from either Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, or Costco. Before 2004 they are also under the Fisher Price name. Not only that, but the one the Today Show used to demonstrate how they malfunction was the exact same model as Craig's crib.

What happens is the drop side railing detaches at the bottom, creating a gap for babies to fall through andget stuck between the railing and the mattress. It has been reported to happen 110 times and has caused 4 deaths by suffocation. Earlier this year there was another recall on these cribs. The support brackets have been known to break. We sent away for the replacement kit and got it right before we moved here. When I went to put the new brackets on, I found that they had sent me four blots but on three lock washers. So this company is not very reliable.

The CPSC (Consumer Protesction Safety Commission) recommends replacing the cribs althogether, but the company is supplying a plastic attachment that prevents the drop side from moving at all. Sigh. We have to get a crib for Ethan, too, and now this.

Something I didn't know until now is that the CPSC doesn't have any regulations on cribs! With all the hype about kids toys, playpens, car seats, and high chairs, what about cribs?! Just be aware that any of your cribs could have a problem because the CPSC has let the manufacturers use their best judgement, but some don't do any field testing before sending out their products for sale. They talked about that on the Today Show. The director of the CPSC admits they have been too slow in writing regulations for cribs and says they will be on top of it. They will probably even outlaw all drop side cribs in the future.

Go here to read the article about it. Good luck!

Here's the link in case the one above doesn't work:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34125890/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

Just for fun

Tiffany, yours was so cute, I couldn't help myself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Catching up

It's been a while, I know. It seemed to take a long time to get everything back to normal after Craig and Ethan were sick. Craig was really cranky from being couped up for three days straight and it took three days more of being healthy andgoing out every day and getting some fresh air before he began to regulate again. But he was still suffering slightly from a yeast rash he got from the antibiotic he was taking for his ear infection. That was done last night and since Monday we've been putting some cream on his poor little bum, so he's been much happier this week. He did get a shot today, though, but handled it well. He forgot all about it until after dinner when I took his overalls off because he got food all over them. He walked into the kitchen, saw the band aid on his leg and looked at me and started whining. He wouldn't move or walk or anything. I couldn't figure out what the problem was at first, so I picked him up and set him on the couch. He sat there and would not move from that spot for a good 20 minutes, periodically looking at me and whining. Finally, after watching him pick at the band aid and whine, I figured it out. I put him pajamas on him, covered up the band aid, and he forgot all about it.

Here are some pictures of things going in our lives lately. Today we went to the Children's Museum again and had a lot of fun, but I'll have to post about that later.

I came down the stairs one day and this was the first thing I saw. Craig thought Eeyore might like to go for a ride, I guess. I thought it was really cute.


Kisses! I love that Craig has seemed to pass a milestone and understands things better and I can trust him to be more careful around Ethan (a little). Also that Ethan has started to get a little solid and stable himself.

The first picture with the flash. Whoa!

And then this one. :) Oh!....I got him to laugh the other day! What a cutie. :)

Robert got me a gift certificate for a pedicure the day I was in labor with Ethan and I finally went last Saturday and used it. It was so nice! I've never had one in a real salon with those big chairs that have the back roller massage thing. The pedicure cost $5 less than what was on the gift certificate, so for the extra $5 they painted flowers on my big toes. :) They also did a neck and shoulder massage after. I had a friend come with me, too, so it was a little bit of a girl's hour, but with Ethan there. He slept the whole time, though.

I don't know when I'll be able to post next. I'm already sacrificing sleep to do this one. Ethan has NOT been sleeping well lately. I'm thinking he needs to be put on a schedule already. He needs regular nap and bed times, maybe, and a darker, quiet place to sleep than the baby seat on kitchen table or in our room with us coming in and out. Wish me luck that I'll get more than 4 hours tonight, which was my record last night. And that wasn't even continuous! This too shall pass.

Sorry, no pictures

I don't think you want to see pictures of what has been going on in our house the last two days. I'm sure you've seen enough of it yourself. Craig had a runny nose and a bad cough on Sunday night so we took him to the doctor on Monday. The doctor said he has an ear infection and just a little cold virus but to call if it got any worse. Well, I found myself half asleep and running down the hall at 1:30 Tuesday morning when a scream came from Craig's room that I'd never heard before. I knew the minute I opened the door--he had thrown up for the first time in his little life. The poor little guy was scared, sticky, and smelly. After a shower, temperature check (101), and some water, I laid down with him in the spare bedroom and he went right back to sleep. In the morning, Ethan started throwing up a little and they were both sick all day. They've been sleeping a lot and today they are definitely better, but still fighting off the last of it. Robert and I feel fine, so far, so we must have miraculoiusly missed this one, somehow.

So, needless to say, I have no pictures to go with this post. Just imagine pajamas, a messy house, and lots of Resolve carpet and uphosltery cleaner.

Who, Me?

If you happen to be within 10 miles of my home and heard ear splitting screams coming from this direction yesterday morning, don't worry...no one's been murdered. We're all fine. That was just Craig getting his finger nails clipped.

I'm amazed that with all the squirming and screaming I didn't draw blood. On purpose.

Candy (Thanks for sharing, Craig!)

I got Craig, Ethan, and myself all dressed up again on Saturday and, since Robert had the night off, we all walked around the few doors that were open in our complex and went trick-or-treating. Craig really seemed to have a lot of fun. As the bag got heavier, he couldn't keep it from dragging on the ground, so he'd just sit down with it. I guess he had to rest, it was so heavy. :) He didn't get a lot of candy, but enough to to occupy him for about 30 minutes that night and make him down one and a half sippy cups of water before bedtime. :) He slept fine, too, amazingly enough. Robert and I helped him with the things he couldn't really handle (like Milk Duds) and other things we really wanted and knew he didn't care, as long as he got something sweet. All in all, it was a successful Halloween, I think.

I wanted to include this picture that I took today to show off Ethan's cute little cow lick. It's right in front, on the right side of his head. It was the first thing I noticed the second they laid him on my chest. I felt a whoosh a relief knowing he came with his own little mark, not to be confused with any other baby in the hospital! I immediately told Robert he could put the Sharpie away. (Anyway else see that Office episode?) :)


Poor little guy hates Tummy Time. :(