Slice of Life – February 9th, 2017

Come on, weekend!

We are looking forward to some beautiful weather here in Kansas this weekend, so praise the Lord for that because this mama needs some Vitamin D badly! I’ve been feeling under the weather for a few weeks, but I’m optimistic that some time outside is just what the doctor ordered. I cannot wait to get out and run! We only have another week of just the girls and me, and we are so ready to have our favorite guy home. It’s funny how missing someone is so relative; I’ve done three 8+ month deployments, but take Jamie away for five weeks and I just don’t even know what to do with myself! Kind of silly.

Anyway! 🙂 Here’s a brief slice of life from the last 10 days or so.

Real quick! It’s been fun this week answering questions about Elite Blog Academy after I put out my post on Monday about how I’ve grown my blog. I got an email yesterday about a new, free video training series that Ruth is going to be hosting called “Blogging Made Simple” that’s starting in two weeks, but you have to sign up ahead of time to receive the free training. To get signed up, click here. Seems pretty legit to me, so I just wanted to share for those who are interested.

It’s funny what moments make your heart explode so unexpectedly. This was one of them. I had to nurse Sadie, so I opened a drawer filled with random puzzle pieces to keep Hadley occupied. I hadn’t opened this drawer for her in a couple months, so she hadn’t had much puzzle practice. While nursing Sadie, I could see Hadley playing with the pieces, but I didn’t think she was actually putting it together (something she couldn’t figure out in the slightest how to do a couple months ago). When I got up, I was shocked! I was literally jumping up and down and praising her for putting half of the puzzle together, and she was giggling like a fool and loving it. I grabbed a few other puzzles and laid them out to see if they could begin to make a picture with those too, and she did! I was so proud of her, I couldn’t stand it. This sounds so silly to type out, but there was just something about seeing her master a skill I had no idea she could do just thrilled me. She’s getting so big, and it’s the most bittersweet thing in the world.

Recently I had a few social invitations all in one night (how/why does that happen?!) that I had to turn down/cancel because I couldn’t find a sitter (after reaching out to eight of them! I really wanted a few hours away with other adults.) A friend from MOPS got word that we had no plans, so three of us got together at a friend’s house for a meal while our kids all ran/crawled around together. Her hospitality meant a lot to me… more than she knew. If I’ve said this once, I’ve said this a thousand times, but this aspect of our military lives means everything to me. When our husbands are away, we all push ourselves to get out of the house and do life together. We have so much in common that conversation is easy. There’s so much solidarity found in social settings like this.

We’ve had more quiet mornings than normal lately. We’re still loving the new playroom space, and these girls love playing together. I didn’t know they’d be able to so quickly, but they know how to make each other roar with laugher and then make each other frustrated and holler all within one minute. If you follow me on Snapchat (<—-whimsicalsept) or IG stories (@Whimsicalseptember), then surely you’ve seen my silly clips of them laughing their heads off together. It just makes me happy.

We are finally having success with the ! I’d read about this crazy cup on a zillion blogs as being the best cup for infant and toddlers and asked for a couple for Sadie for Christmas. Up until a week ago, I had no idea what the big deal was about these cups.

Sadie couldn’t figure it out, and it seemed like an expensively silly cup that was no better than the cheap-o sippy cups I buy at Dillons. 🙂 Keep in mind that she’s only nine months old and we only started introducing a sippy cup to her right at Christmas time. Well, she has finally figured out the and sucks water down in no time! It’s easy to clean and easy to carry around in my diaper bag. Winner winner chicken dinner (which she also loves). 😉 #besteaterever #rollsfordays

I watched the Super Bowl with a couple friends, and I made an assortment of mini pizzas to share. All of these pizzas are just waiting for the cheese before I put them in the oven. I made pesto chicken, barbecue chicken, and buffalo chicken. So good! I use this dough recipe.

Monday was surprisingly a little warm, so when we got home from dance (I remembered to take her this week!), we jumped on the trampoline until it was dark. Getting a trampoline was a fabulous idea. I recommend it. 🙂

Remember a few weeks ago how I talked about my new obsession with Amazon’s Subscribe and Save? This is one of the products I found that we have subscribed to receive every two months, and if you like a little spice in your food, you will love this ! A couple drops goes a long way, and we really like tossing some pasta and parmesan cheese with this oil. Sometimes I consider pasta a super boring option for dinner, but this olive oil tastes like we made something fancy. Highly recommend if you use olive oil and like a little heat!

One of the biggest ways we bond with Hadley and spend time one-on-one with her is through reading. She loves to curl up with anyone who is willing to read to her, so we read with her often throughout the day, but especially at bedtime. Since I’m sure many of you also curl up with your kids at night with a story, I wanted to share three books that Hadley can’t get enough of (Jamie and I think they’re great too).

: This book is interactive and does a really neat job of teaching kids what happens when you mix colors (i.e. If you mix red and blue, you get purple!) In my opinion, this book would be really entertaining for kids ages 2-6ish.

: My friend Meagan had raved about this children’s book for a while, so I was really excited when my name was drawn at a MOPS raffle fundraiser to receive it. Sure enough, Hadley is obsessed. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Jamie read it to her every single night for a month straight. They both nearly have it memorized. Apparently it’s all the rage in England, where the author is from. Super cute fantasy-type story that would be really great for kids ages 3+. An animated read-aloud is also occasionally offered on Netflix (the book is much more fun to read though).

: My best friend gifted the girls this book after seeing it read on Fox and Friends, and we think it’s so fun! Not only has Hadley learned a lot, but I have too. Jamie especially loves reading this one to Hadley. Every Army brat needs this book! This would be a fantastic gift for a newborn Army brat (as a keepsake to read later) all the way through elementary age. We really love it!

Let’s chat!

1. If you’re enrolled in the Subscribe and Save program, what are the best deals you’ve found?
2. What are your kids’ favorite books?
3. I need new pizza flavor ideas! What are your favorite kinds to make?

*affiliate links are present in this post