St. George vaca

Paul is out installing Blend Bars, training spas, and attending events in Louisiana, Cali, and Florida. He is building quite the little business and getting Salts into some amazing locations! We are super proud of him but with that comes lots of days and nights away :( So me, the kids, and Grandma Stewart packed our bags and headed to St. George for a care-free week. What better way to pass the time when Paul is traveling than having our own little vacation!

Stewart's first swim! He was way more interested in his swimsuit draw-string than the water but he was the cutest little thing ever. Seeing him float around the pool reminds me how fast he is growing and how quickly he isn't going to be my little baby anymore...

There are two things Lily just can't get enough of - movie night & popcorn! I can't think of a better way to relax with my two little ones than in a little homemade bed of blankets in front of the t.v. and cuddling together. The only thing that could have made that night better would be to have Paul snuggling with us.

We love St. George because you can go to the park in the middle of January and not freeze your buns off. Lily has been park deprived since it is much too cold at home. She soaked up every minute running up the stairs to go down the slide and swinging on the swings.

baby carrots for my baby boy

It is day 7 and my cold is barely letting up. I am tired of being stuck in my house and being completely unproductive. But I know if I push it too hard I am going to make it that much harder on myself to get better. So it's a perfect day for making baby food! Not too difficult but I will feel completely accomplished. Hooray! Plus I already have a Costco bag of baby carrots so I am set. Stew loooves his carrots...

Easy as that! Carrots, pressure cooker, processor, tiny jars, and a cutie little mouth to feed! I was so tempted to spoil my little guy and throw some butter, salt and pepper in the mix, but I resisted :)

Sick Remedy Recipes

After four days with no relief, I am now convinced that being sick and having momma responsibilities is one of the hardest combinations ever! This cold is vicious and not letting up for one second. I am completely exhausted and I know my body is angry at me for not giving it the rest it needs to fight off this yucky bug. The past three days I have tried keeping up my normal routine, cleaning, cooking, running errands, but now I am done. I have to take a break to get healthy. Only one problem - how am I supposed to take a break with a baby and a toddler running around? It's next to impossible. Which is why I take any chance I get to lay on the couch and kick up the feet.

Baby asleep - check

Couch, remotes, water bottle, & blankets in place - check

Lily in position for movie time - check

All my cold remedy goodies (thanks to Paul's early morning run to the store) out and ready when needed - check

And that is my recipe for a restful morning. Of course it only lasted about 1 1/2 hours but it was amazing!

I am not going to lie, the images below were nagging at the back of my mind but I was determined to make the most of my 1 1/2 hours. And I am proud to say that my kitchen and bedroom looked like that throughout the whole movie.

Another recipe I tried today, I am not 100% sure about. Even after having 2 big glasses full, I don't know if the jar of Pero was worth $10. Dan told me about it and warned me that it is an acquired taste. He said that he hated it at first but now drinks it all the time, in fact he was drinking it as I was getting his secrets about it. I first followed the instructions on the back by adding hot water and a little Pero powder. Disgusting! Blah I couldn't choke it down even if a hot drink was all my aching throat was looking for. So I called Dan again to get some help. That or tell him he was crazy for drinking that stuff willingly. He gave me his little concoction that made a huge difference...Mix 1 TB sugar & 1 heaping TB Pero w/ 1/2 cup hot waterAdd 1 cup milk and microwave til desired hotness.It may just be a sore throat soothing drink but for this cold it is great.

**Snow Day

It was the beginning of January when we got the first chance to play in the snow this season... crazy weather! So as soon as we saw the fresh white snow outside our windows, we were gettin' on the gear. I made my first snowman with Paul's help, so somewhere between 16 and 18 years old. Sad, I know. We were determined not to let Lily go that long before she got to make hers, so Paul started rolling that snow. Luckily we did have some carrots laying around for a sweet snowman nose, but of course no coal to be found, so oranges had to do for the eyes. It was bit jagged and rough around the edges, but perfect for Lily's first snowman!

To warm up after our snow day, we ate Lily's favorite - Tella Bread - and nummy hot cocoa. Lily had to end with a nice, warm tubby so Stew hung out in the hall like he always does as Lily splashed around.

Stew Stew's Milestones

FIRSTS:

• Giggle - 8/29/11
• Sleeping through the night - @ 6 weeks
• Blessing Day - 8/7/11
• Roll - 9/19/11 (only recorded by Grandma Stewart, but I guess we trust her!)
• Human Food - asparagus
• Hair-cut - 11/11
• Tooth - 12/9/11
• 2nd Tooth - 12/12/11
• Scootch - going backwards - 12/11
• Amoxicillin meds :( - 1/4/12
• Up on his knees - 1/6/12
• Pull up onto his feet by himself - 2/8/12
• Took his first step - 5/24/12
• First word - "Bawl" he ADORES playing ball (around 14 months)

GROWTH:

• Birth - 7 lbs 12 oz
• 2 weeks - 7 lbs 11 oz
• 2 mo - 11 lbs 9 oz
• 6 mo - 17 lbs
• 8 mo - 19 lbs
• 15 mo - 22 lbs

Nicknames - "Babuska" "Bubbos" "Scooter" (I don't love that one but Daddy sure seems to!) "Stew Stew" "Spider"

Loves his veggies, really challenging to get him to eat his fruit. But I'm not complaining!

9/1/11 - Lily was pretend eating Stewart and said, "Nummy BOB, you nummy!" Then she looked at me and said, "He tastes like cupcake, PINK cupcake!" He is a delish little guy.

Monkey Bean's Milestones

FIRSTS:

• Smile - in the hospital, 2/18/09
• Giggle - 5/14/09
• Sleeping through the night - @ 2 1/2 months
• Blessing Day - 5/3/09
• Roll - Mother's Day, 5/10/09
• Human Food - pickle @ 4 months
• Scootch - going forward, 10/22/09
• Tooth - 10/27/09
• Hair-cut - 11/3/09
• Owhee - bonk on the head, 11/16/09
• Word - "uh oh", @ 9 1/2 months
• Clap - 1/5/10
• Steps - mid Jan 10
• Bee Sting - @ G&G Stewart's, 7/11/10

GROWTH:

• Birth - 6 lbs 11 oz
• 2 mo - 9 lbs 7 oz
• 4 mo - 11 lbs
• 6 mo - 13 lbs
• 7 mo - 15 lbs
• 9 mo - 16 lbs
• 12 mo - 20 lbs
• 2 1/2 years - 25 lbs
• 3 years - 29 lbs

Nicknames included - "Lily Bean" "Monkey" "Monkey Bean" "Monkers"

Daddy would always say "Hey little Monkey, how 'bout some hay!"

Loved peaches! While she ate them we sing "Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for Li-Ly!"

Lily has quite the imagination. Lickey (her imaginary friend) showed up at the beginning of 2011. He is "2 - like me" she says. Mimi (a nice little girl friend) came around mid-year 2011.

I'm not going to lie, it kinda freaked me out when she first started talking to them. We had recently moved into our house and it made me squimish when Lily would look past me and jabber to Lickey. But after I got past the creepy factor of it all, it is actually incredibly nice. Lily has built in friends and entertainment. It is still a challenge when she come running to me and says, "Lickey is hitting me and being mean!" Not quite sure what to do there but we invite Lickey and Mimi over anytime!