What's on the menu??

 We started the introduction to solids a few weeks ago. It has been a fun (and messy) adventure!

So far, Brett and Emma have eaten

• Rice cereal
• Bananas
• Avocado
• Carrots

The favorite so far seems to be carrots. But that might also have something to do with all the practice they had before trying carrots. Eating from a spoon can be tricky! 

We didn't get a good reaction from avocado, but Brett and Emma were pretty cranky so we might attempt it again before we rule it out. 

But when it is time to eat, Brett and Emma get pretty excited!! 

Let's Eat!! (@ Olive Garden)

In other news, Brett and Emma are going to be 5 months old on Friday. WOW!! Time is flying by.

As always, we are keeping things fun and interesting around here. The weather is pretty bad today - if you don't like thunderstorms! I'm sort of enjoying the lazy weather and hanging around the house most of the day. But we do have some errands to run this afternoon and then we are going to dinner at PF Changs, my favorite place! Luckily Brett and Emma are usually very good at restaurants. We are taking advantage of that while it lasts.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! I am looking forward to some gluten free lettuce wraps!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

(Edit: For some reason my photos would not upload yesterday, so this post was not published until Thursday)

I am totally loving how Brett and Emma's personalities are really starting to show some. They are awake so much now and we get lots of play time in!

Emma loves to play and has a favorite play yard. She loves mirrors and her bumble bee!

Brett also loves to play but he has a hard time entertaining himself. He loves to give smiles, laugh, and stick everything in his mouth! I have suspected that some of his recent crankiness may be teething, but who knows!

This sleeper is yummy!

We are having lots of fun around here :)

Happy Father's Day!

     I hope everyone had a nice Father's Day! I know we did. I threw Brian a "surprise" party. Surprise is relative as he was on to quite a few of the details a few weeks ago. Oh well, that didn't stop me from throwing the party ( I mean really, what could stop me from throwing a party???)

The best part of the party was getting the family together. Everyone is so busy so a holiday + a party = a reason to get together!!

Adorable onesies - "My Daddy's First Father's Day"

Brett and Emma with their new cousin Hunter

Brett and Emma with their cousins on my side
(Kathleen and Rosie's children) 

 I wanted to make the party extra special for Brian and make sure there were some fun things to do. So I rented some really cool inflatables...

                                             

                                                Big Kahuna - Waterslide

Brian taking Rusty down the slide

Inflatable Joust

Brian and Adam

                           Then of course there is the food and drinks, that is pretty important!

Bar and drink machine (Strawberry Daiquiri and Piña Colada)

Yummy food

More yummy food!

Everyone had a great time, especially Brian! And Brett and Emma even worked hard on a special gift for their daddy!!!

D-A-D

Isn't this the cutest thing?? A huge thanks to Kristina for using her fabulous photog/editing  skills to help out with this! 

I hope everyone else's Father's day was special - it was Brian's first and his best one yet :) 

Seussville on Pelican Court

The nursery has been done for months now, but I am finally getting around to uploading the pictures. 

It was pretty tough to choose a nursery theme that was gender neutral. And after spending hours looking at nurseries online and in other blogs, I was almost prepared to make separate nurseries for Brett and Emma. But Brian was not having that. And I realized it would be way too much work (for him.) 

Then, one day I was getting my hair and makeup done for my maternity photos when my genius hairdresser suggested a Dr. Seuss nursery! What a super idea!!! We started painting the next day. 

I collected items for a while. Lots of online shopping - Home Decorators, Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, etc. It all came together pretty nicely. Now Brett and Emma are living happily in Seussville!

Presenting....Brett and Emma's room! :)

View from the bedroom door

LOVE the glider and bay window

Changing table with diaper stacker and bins

Bedroom door

Where the magic happens. Magic=Sleep

Closets

LOTS of clothes!!!

Intercom

Light plate and switch covers I ordered on Etsy

Another view of cribs with hamper

A good view of the stripes Brian painted and the cool bookshelf I found!

Bay window with valance and Dr. Seuss alphabet quilt

In a couple of years Brett and Emma will be moving in to their own rooms and all this hard work will be gone. And the thought of that makes me want to cry, so let's not talk about them growing up or anything else like that :)

WILW

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday...

Today I am LOVING all the new fun recipes I have been trying. I love to cook and have been trying to make time every day to get a yummy and healthy dinner together. 

In the crockpot right now I have stuffed chicken cooking...this is going to be so awesome (I hope) over wild rice! 

Here is the recipe, luckily I had everything on hand already. None of these ingredients are too crazy!

Recipe is from a Rival CrockPot cookbook. 

6 boneless chicken breasts

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

3 cups chopped fresh spinach leaves

1/3 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped

1 teaspoon minced lemon peel

1 teaspoon dried basil, oregano, or mint (used basil)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup olives (omitted because Brian does not like olives)

1. Place chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using tenderizer mallet, pound breasts until about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken.
2. Combine feta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon peel, basil, garlic powder, and pepper in medium bowl. 
3. Lay pounded chicken, smooth side down, on work surface. Place approximately 2 tablespoons feta mixture on wide end of breast. Roll tightly. Repeat with remaining chicken. 
4. Place rolled chicken, seam side down, in crock-pot. Top with diced tomatoes with juice and olives. 
5. Cover; cook on low 5 1/2 to 6 hours or on high 4 hours.

At the last minute, I decided to top it off with some fresh mushrooms! I had some mushrooms I needed to use and I thought they would be a nice touch :) 

It is a pretty healthy meal which makes it a winner in my book! Brett and Emma will be having rice cereal :)

I'm ready for my dinner, mom!

February mommas - 4 month wakeful??

     I was on thebump.com and read about the 4 month wakeful. I had heard of it before but thought it was something to do with teething.


     After a little further research, I read descriptions of EXACTLY how our nights are going. Brett and Emma are waking more in the night than they did a month ago. And they are waking up happy...wanting to play. Or screaming, wanting to play. It could be 1AM, 4AM...doesn't matter. We have tried pacifiers, feeding, even a few minutes of entertainment. I am hoping it passes soon! 


     Here is a Q&A thread from thebump.com with some tips from other moms. I hope some of you find this helpful- Q&A:4 month wakeful


      It looks like we are going to need to do a little more sleep training. Brian said I should sleep somewhere else for the night and he will "take care of it." Haha...anyone want to go to Vegas?? 

  

4 months old!!

    Brett and Emma turned 4 months old last week. WOW! They are growing so fast, it's unbelievable. We are already 1/3 of the way to their first birthday party - which I am planning already! 


     At their 4-month check-up we got the OK to start on solids. Fun stuff...we started with rice cereal. 

I followed the instructions on the box, clearly too much cereal!

Emma loves it!

Brett would rather have his bib!

     Our pediatrician said we can introduce foods in any order, but to wait about 5 days between foods when introducing something new. This can help to detect any possible allergies or reactions to new foods. 


     Any moms looking for information on starting solids can find a lot of information at www.wholesomebabyfoods.com. Whether you are interested in purees or baby led weaning, the website has a lot of information, recipes, tips, etc. for introducing solids and helping your child to be a healthy eater that chooses a wide variety of foods to eat! 

                  So...for the 4-month stats:

Emma: 13 lbs, 14 ounces. 
Brett: 15 lbs, 7 ounces. 


They are both in the 50% for their weight and head circumference. Brett is in the 50% for height and Emma is in the 75th! They are actually the same height (around 24 inches), but they are on different boy/girl growth charts. 


We have been having a lot of fun lately, as always :) Luckily, I have the pictures to prove it!

Hanging in Brett's crib, watching the mobile.

Brett hearing a bedtime story from Daddy.

Emma in her favorite play yard!

Post-bath cuteness!

More post-bath cuteness!

Back to Back Baby Blogs!

Brett: Hello again!

Emma:  Let us first appologize for our mommy.  She has not written a blog since we stole her computer last time.  Its not her fault...

Brett:  she has been very busy!

Emma: yeah, that and we totally hid her computer from her!

Brett: OH YEAH!  In yo face momma!

Emma:  We've been able to to take things lately, since learning to use these mysterious objects at the end of our arms.
Brett: Yeah they are good for grabbing stuff, but they are also delicious! Now if only I could figure out how to grab the camera from the paparazzi!

Emma: Today we ate rice cereal for the first time.

Brett: not impressed!

Emma: I thought it was okay

Brett: Do they make steak cereal?

Emma: do they make baby muzzles?

Brett: Heyyyyyy

Emma:  J/K

Both: well, bye for now....