Weekend Recap

Great little weekend around these parts ....

Friday, Andi and I spent the evening celebrating our belated fourth wedding anniversary. We'd originally planned to keep things low-key with a nice dinner somewhere in town, but then Andi's mom offered to babysit Tory overnight and we'd have been silly to pass up that chance! Tory was practically giddy about Grandma and Grandpa coming over to play and Andi and I were equally excited to have an overnight to ourselves. We had a nice, quiet dinner at Cosmos, then partied it up big time (ha, just kidding, we're way too old and boring for that crazy-talk) walked around downtown Minneapolis for a bit before retiring to our hotel room at Graves 601. The alone time to reconnect was just what Andi and I needed. A perfect way to celebrate four years together.

For an extra-special date that doesn't break the bank, I highly recommend renting a hotel for the night close to home. Even though we live a quick ten minutes from downtown, very rarely do Andi and I take the opportunity to be tourists in our own 'hood. It was really fun to have a fancy dinner at a new-to-us restaurant, then see downtown buzzing with a nightlife we're not usually apart of.   

Downtown view from our 20th floor hotel room

Hotel room for two

Andi and I had big plans to sleep in all morning and order breakfast in bed, but sadly we were both up by 6:30am. So, we grabbed Starbucks in the hotel lobby and hit up the Minneapolis Farmer's Market instead which is one of our favorite things to do when we're in town over a weekend. The farmer's market was packed with people. Andi and I leisurely strolled by all the vendors and picked out fresh fruits and veggies.

We spent the rest of our weekend at the cabin with family and friends. The weather was absolutely perfect for boat rides and bonfires - plenty of sun during the day with just enough chill in the air at night. Sad as it is to acknowledge, I could feel summer slipping through my fingers while we were at the lake this weekend. One of the cabin neighbors said an old wives' tale states there's 30 days left of summer once you spot seagulls on the lake. And - DUN DUN DUN - we saw seagulls for the first time on Sunday. We're officially buying the cabin this October (have I mentioned that before?) so luckily, our cabin time won't be ending; it's just the change in seasons and a wrap to one of my favorite times of the year.

Traveling with a Toddler: What's In My Bag

Ever read the feature in US Weekly Magazine where celebrities show you what's inside their bag? Authentic or not, I also enjoy browsing through that section of the magazine to grab a glimpse into other people's purses. What items can't they live without? Are they mom-centric? Make-up-centric? Minimalistic or prepared for anything?

On a daily basis, I don't carry much in my purse - just a few diapers, wipes and a changing pad, a packet of applesauce for Tory, my wallet, keys and cell phone. I like everything in my purse to have a place so I can avoid doing a deep dig at store check-out counters if it all possible. Lately, I've been carrying this purple bag I received at Christmas from my in-laws but I'll soon be transitioning to my new Skip Hop diaper bag once Baby Aden arrives this winter. It's nuts how excited I am to organize this new diaper bag. Three separate compartments! My Type A self is swooning.

Random trips to the grocery store are one thing, but I've come to learn traveling through an airport with a small child is a science. I don't like to tote around any more junk than I have to, but a mama has to be prepared. I use my purse/diaper bag as my one carry-on bag and it's got to have enough snacks, wipes, diapers and activities for Tory while also leaving room for my boarding pass, phone, wallet, sunglasses and iPad. It's a tight fit, but I'd rather have one bag for everything (vs. carrying a separate bag with Tory' stuff). I prefer it this way for simplicity's sake. I bring only what I absolutely need because I've also got to manage Tory, the stroller, the car seat and a suitcase as I traipse through the airport on my own.

Here's a glimpse into my recent travel bag:

1. Activities for Tory: I make activities for Tory a priority in my bag but honestly, I only need enough to occupy her interest during the airplane's take-off, touch-down and taxing; the rest of our in-flight time can be occupied by the iPad. I know that makes me sound like a lazy parent, but it's truly easier for everyone, including myself and the people seated around me, if she's sitting quietly in my lap without a lot of chatter or wiggly-worm ups and downs.

I rotate the activities I bring so there's always something new to play with on the airplane. I also only bring activities that are quiet and don't have a lot of pieces to drop onto the floor. Here's a few of my favorites:

Wipe Clean Animals Book -- I picked this up for half the price at TJ Maxx and what a good find it was. This book keeps Tory entertained for at least 10 minutes and she keeps asking to play with it over and over again. Of course she can't follow the page directions, but coloring with a marker inside a book is mind-blowing fun for her. 

Homemade Pipe Cleaner Toy - I made this pipe cleaner toy for Tory using an old Gerber Puffs container and some pipe cleaners. I simply clipped a few holes in the lid with a paper punch and cut the pipe cleaners to fit into the container. Seriously, this is one of Tory's favorite activities on the airplane. She can sit for quite a while and thread the pipe cleaners through the hole before she's on to the next thing. For extra entertainment, I've twisted the same pipe cleaners around her wrists like bracelets or together to make shapes. I like this activity because the container is light in my bag.

Sticker Books - I load up on small-sized sticker books in the dollar section of stores like Target, Wal-Mart and Michaels. These books are great because they don't take up much room in my bag. Sometimes I let Tory stick the stickers on pages of the SkyMall Magazine. Other times, we place stickers on coloring pages or scrap pieces of paper I have in my purse.

Travel Magna-Doodle (not pictured) - We have a few versions of the travel doodle magnetic pad and these are great for quick, easy entertainment.

2. Snacks and beverages: I never leave home without them. Always found in my travel bag (and my purse on a regular basis) are a no-spill sippy cup with water for Tory, a water bottle for me, applesauce packets, fruit snacks and M&M Minis (saved for desperate moments on the plane).

3. Mom's essentials: wallet, iPhone, boarding pass and fold-up reusable bag.

4. iPad and headrest mount: Every parent has their own opinion on kids and TV but for me, letting Tory watch a television show on the airplane is a lifesaver. It's easier on my nerves as the parent and I'm sure every person seated next to us is also thankful for the non-screaming toddler. So, I never fly without our iPad fully charged and loaded with her favorite cartoons. Last week, Andi gave me a new iPad Mini which is awesome for traveling because it fits nicely inside my purse without taking up a lot of room. Even before the iPad Mini, I made room for my first generation iPad.

Another iPad essential is this iPad headrest mount. Andi bought the mount for our car which makes long distance car rides with Tory a breeze. When traveling through an airport, I just roll up the headrest mount and stuff it into my purse. It fits perfectly around the tray table on the back of airplane seats and keeps her grubby paws off my iPad, too.

5. Diaper and wipes: I always travel with 4-5 diapers, a changing pad and a full pack of wipes. Now that Tory's nearing two years old, diaper blow-outs are mostly unheard of but having extra diapers is still a good rule of thumb. I usually change her diaper immediately before boarding the plane and immediately afterwards, as I push the water consumption fairly heavy on flights (the drinking / sucking helps her ears adjust to changing cabin pressure). A full pack of wipes is a MUST on every travel trip as they come in handy for just about anything -- wiping down the airplane seat and tray table, washing Tory's hands and face mid-flight, wiping off toys and even cleaning off the Wipe Clean Animals Book mentioned above.

After taking countless flights with a child over the last two years, one thing I've noticed is my travel bag evolves based on Tory's age. I no longer fly with an extra outfit for her to wear (in the past, I changed her in the airport bathroom after the flight because she'd be so dirty from snacks/beverages consumed on the plane). If an emergency situation arose where I needed a clean outfit for her to wear, I always figure we can make it through the flight until we retrieve our suitcase in baggage claim. I don't travel with extra clothes for myself either for this reason. Whatever I wear on the plane is destined to be dirtied by having a toddler eating and crawling all over me, so I just plan to change when we arrive at our final destination. If I got poop-plosioned on mid-flight, I guess I'd just wipe myself off with a wet wipe as best as I could, then change when I retrieved my luggage in baggage claim.

It'll be interesting to see how my travel essentials change once I've got two children to manage in the coming months. Baby Aden will take his first flight to Nebraska this Christmas so trial by fire it'll be!

Park Play

Tory begged to go to the park yesterday so what's a mama to do but oblige?

We haven't been to the playground since the beginning of summer. I sound like a bad mama for not taking my child to play more often, but she's just a handful there with all the climbing and scaling of everything. It was becoming increasingly difficult for me to spot her through all the tunnels and big slides to ensure she didn't fall and break her neck. The girl has NO FEAR.

Turns out, Tory is now vocal enough to express her interest in going to the park and also knows the route there. "No Mama! Park! Park!" was shouted from the backseat of the car on our way to Target yesterday. The girl is persistent. I'll give her that.

I had a big "a ha" parenting moment minutes after we arrived at the playground: my baby girl is growing up FAST. Tory climbed on the playground equipment with ease. The incline tunnel she used to struggle to scamper through at the beginning of the summer? ZOOM! Scaled right through it, no problem. RUNNING over the drawbridge (eek!) and over to the bigger side of the playground equipment with monkey bars and moving steps. She was TALLER than the baby playground equipment with the steering wheels and small slides. There was a day not long ago that Tory struggled to move around on this tiny section. Amazing to see such an advancement in skill before my very eyes.

We moved into this house two years ago when I was nine months pregnant with Tory. We've been taking her to this neighborhood playground since she could walk or even before actually, when she was just big enough to fit into the kiddie swing. Oh my, how two years flies by.

8 Months Old
April 2012

13 Months Old
October 2012

19 Months Old
April 2013

20 Months Old
May 2013

23 Months Old
August 2013

Fun times in Nebraska! (Aside from car trouble and sleep-less nights, of course)

Tory and I are home from a week-long trip to Nebraska. I'm fantastically lucky to go home and see my family as often as I do. Those trips are the best distraction from real life when Andi's traveling for work. Week-long solo parenting = so lonely. So, I booked this trip months ago when I realized Andi would be gone and arranged my cousin's baby shower and niece's first birthday celebration to coincide with my visit.

The thing about traveling with a toddler who thrives on a schedule is, sometimes we have the best time and I'm very let's do this again a million times over! and other times I'm stuck in sleep-hell with a fussy and over-tired child who seems super high maintenance to the family members who don't see her on her home turf very often. Unfortunately, on this trip Tory was a complete wreck between the hours of 6pm - 6am. (Good lord, am I a going to pour myself a tall glass of wine after Baby #2 is born. This mama needs it.) In ideal terms, I'd keep Tory on the same schedule she has at home (an afternoon nap and bedtime around 7:30pm) but in my parents small duplex and with all the commotion of family events, people talking and loud noises, it just isn't possible. My Tory Girl is a gentle flower when it comes to sleep and trips away from her cozy bed only make it worse. Thus ensued hours-long inconsolable screaming fits during the nighttime hours. It felt like I had a flailing, floppy infant again which really sent me into a panic about actually adding a second sleep-less child to the mix this winter. (Which, too late. I shall never sleep again, I'm afraid.)

Other than no sleeping and the constant demand for "Mommy," the rest of our trip was great. We celebrated my niece Neeley's first birthday Friday and Saturday nights. It's hard to believe this sweet girl is one year old already. She folded into our family as if she's always been a part of it and is the most easy-going, happy child on the planet. Neeley smiles from ear to ear morning until night and never puts up a fuss about anything. Unless you have a string cheese in your hand, in which case she take a big ol' bite out of your arm to get it. (Tory learned that lesson the hard way).

My nieces Brooke and Neeley

I took a pitiful amount of photos this weekend, so no pictures to share ... but, my sister threw Neeley a "Winnie The Pooh" birthday party over the weekend which was very cute. She made food and decorations for "Neeley's Hundred Acre Woods" with "Tigger Tails" (Cheetos), "Hunny Cakes" (yellow cupcakes with a Teddy Graham cracker on top), a veggie tray from "Rabbit's Garden," and "Piglets in a Blanket" (hot dogs). All the little cousins descended upon Neeley's new gifts, helping her open and play with every single one of them, and the birthday girl didn't mind one bit. Tory was obsessed with Neeley's new CozyCoupe car so I may have to re-think my gift plans and get one for Tory's birthday later this month, too.

Tory and I also met up with my best friend Ashley and her little boy Easton for an afternoon of lunch and shopping while we were back in town. In the last few weeks, Tory has developed a serious love for accessories and insists on wearing her sunglasses, necklace and purse at all times. At one store, she pulled some shoes off the shelf and had to try them on. She is a girlie-girl through and through.

My brother moved into a new apartment while I was back home, so I went along to see him, even though I had no intention of helping him carry boxes in all my pregnant glory. Remember when your entire life fit into the back of a small trailer? Or better yet, the back of a car. My brother's (now) Bronco used to be my dad's and it's packed and unpacked all three of us kids twenty different times at least. My parents are so great, though. They drive to the residence of the moment, load and unload, and never say a word about it.

Adam's move was going smoothly until my dad went to move the Bronco into a parking spot and the entire shifter snapped off the dashboard. Somehow my dad managed to manually place the truck into drive so we could coast the truck back to my parent's hometown auto body shop. Cue a series of musical cars. My parents stayed in Lincoln to finish moving my brother's stuff while my sister drove the broken truck back to my parent's hometown and I followed behind in her vehicle with all the kids in tow. We rolled into the auto body shop parking lot just as the old Bronco stalled completely. My sister then drove all the way back to my brother's apartment to pick up my parents and then back again to drop them off at home. Remember how I said Tory's rigid schedule is hard to keep when we're visiting? Case in point. Everyone was exhausted the next day.

And between all those events, I managed to eat like a bottom-less pit, catch even less sleep as I attempted to spend a few kid-free moments with my family and make fifteen trips to Wal-Mart. So, fairly typical as my trips back home seem to go.

On the flight back to Minneapolis, the airplane wasn't complete full so Tory got her own seat next to the window. It was both glorious to have the extra space (and Tory's wiggly body off my pregnant self) and eye-opening to realize Girlfriend will need some practice sitting in her own seat with seat belt fastened on future trips. We weren't reprimanded by the flight attendant for Tory's constant seat belt unbuckling, but I was waiting for it.

For a few wonderful moments as Tory sat next to me on the plane watching her iPad, I actually read 10 pages of a book which hasn't ever happened in my history of traveling solo with a small child. All the rigmarole of nursing an infant, then occupying a small toddler with snacks and books and please don't scream child! to reading a book peacefully (for two minutes) on the plane. Who would have seen it coming? I couldn't help but think about the next time we fly back to Nebraska at Christmastime. We'll have Baby Aden with us and a whole new adventure of airport madness will ensue ... x TWO.

Pink Elephant Baby Shower

Yesterday, I co-hosted a pink elephant baby shower for my cousin, Jes, with my mom and sister in Nebraska. We were honored to celebrate Jes' baby girl due this September. My sister Ashley said it best -- Jes is the most adorable pregnant gal. She has that pregnancy glow about her and will make such a great mama next month. I'm so excited to meet her little one!

My mom, sister and I have hosted many wedding and baby showers together over the years, so dividing up the party tasks was fairly simple. I took charge of printing invitations and shower games, my mom tackled the food and my sister took on decorations. It's nice to have others to rely on planning various sections, but in the end we all seemed to pitch in and help pull the shower details together.

The mama-to-be, my cousin Jes

I ordered the baby shower invitations from an Etsy vendor and sent the invitation to guests a month in advance. The day after I sent them, I was standing at my refrigerator filling up a glass of water and half-glanced at the invitation hanging on the door. "Please enjoy us for a baby shower" the invitation text read. Um, WHAT? Oh my gosh! I quickly looked back at the invitation proof on my computer and sure enough, the invitation text was grammatically incorrect. WHAT THE HECK. So unlike me! I re-checked the Etsy vendor and apparently the text was wrong even on the site listing. I don't know how I missed the error, I think it was one of those things where the brain auto-assumes the correct wording, but it was too late to re-print as I'd already sent the shower invitation in the mail. I called my sister to tell her, we panic-giggled at my stupid oversight and prayed the other party guests would read over the text as "Please join us for a baby shower" in their brains just like I had. GAH. (Note: I contacted the Etsy seller and notified he/she of the grammatical error. The invitation is now fixed on their site so at least no one else will have the same thing happen to them.)

Anyway, the baby shower came together wonderfully otherwise. I ended up making a "Lil Peanut" banner, elephant cupcake toppers and thank-you ties for the favor bags on my sister's behalf because I had a color printer at home. My sister purchased beautiful pink roses for decoration and together, my mom, sister and I all added our own touches to the elephant diaper cake centerpiece which Jes seemed to really love.

I spent countless precious Tory nap-time hours this past week cutting and gluing circles out of colored cardstock for the cupcake toppers and in the end, they didn't even fit on the three-tier cupcake stand so we didn't use but four or five of them. Oh well, my sister is going to keep them and use them for a future baby shower or birthday party she said.

My mom purchased pink mints as the party favors and tied them in clear cello bags with a white ribbon and the pink elephant "thanks for celebrating with us" tags I made. 

After beautiful Jes, the food was the star of the party. My mom has a knack for cooking, so my sister and I trusted her to take the lead on appetizers and beverages. She served Ham-Wrapped Breadsticks, BLT Stuffed Tomatoes and Cucumber Cups with Chicken Salad, along with a fruit tray, pink lemonade, iced tea and coffee. The presentation was absolutely stunning.

Stuffed BLT Tomatoes

Chicken Salad Cucumber Cups

Ham-Wrapped Breadsticks

My mom made up her own recipe for the cucumber cups using a chicken salad with black bean mixture. The original recipe idea called for a crab dip. These tasted light, summery and delicious. I loved how fancy they appeared for relatively little preparation. The Stuffed BLT Tomatoes were also a big hit, but their prep time was ridiculous (estimated prep time was 30 minutes, very funny and completely un-true Rachel Ray!) My mom, who is quite skilled in the kitchen worked on these bad boys for three hours - SERIOUSLY! The recipe wasn't difficult, just time-consuming. The finished product was delicious though, so they were worth it in the end. My favorite was the Ham-Wrapped Breadsticks. They were super easy to put together and looked amazing displayed on my mom's heirloom silver platter. I would definitely make those again for another party.

For games, I kept things simple with a "Guess the Peanuts" game (easy peasy - we put a bag of shelled peanuts in a jar and asked guests to guess the total number for a prize). We played a Baby Triathlon game where Jes had to complete a series of "mommy tasks" in under a minute. She diapered and dressed a baby doll, put on a Moby Wrap with the baby doll safely tucked inside and hung baby clothes on a clothesline while juggling the baby doll, a cell phone and the laundry. Jes is such a good sport so she was the perfect person to play this game and she passed all the tests so she's ready to be a mom! Everyone also played Baby Gift Bingo while Jes opened her shower gifts. I could have made my own Bingo cards on the computer paper, but I found a packet of pre-made cards with stickers at Wal-Mart, so I just bought them instead.

Tory was so tired, she snoozed on my shoulder through the first half of the party.

Overall, we had a really fun day celebrating Jes and her baby girl. At the end of the party, Tory came up to me and said "more party!" I think she had fun, too ... at least I know she enjoyed eating all the cupcakes!

Jes, the guest of honor, with her sister Jen and mom Cheri

Here's a link to my Pinterest board with several Pink Elephant inspiration ideas. 

Home Again, Home Again

Tory and I are back in Nebraska this weekend while Andi works somewhere in Oregon. We flew back Thursday afternoon on Tory's last flight as lap child. Next time we fly, Tory will have her own boarding pass and Andi and I will be shelling out something like $450 for her seat on the plane. Wahhh!

I posted this "sad face" photo on Instagram expressing our feelings about paying for her flights now. This was kind of funny, actually. Tory's very into facial expressions right now and I'd asked her to take a picture by the airplane, but she wasn't interested in the least bit. Cue: fake SAD FACE.

This kid. What a character.

Actually, I was bummed about paying for her future flights until a few people on Instagram commented on my photo saying they have to pay for four or even FIVE tickets for their families and whoa ... I guess paying for one kid isn't too terrible after all. It's been an awesome convenience to travel back to Nebraska to see my family with little cost associated. Hard to believe next time we fly back we'll have another "infant in arms."

Tory was very well behaved on the short one-hour flight to Nebraska, but her demeanor while we've been at my parent's house the last two days has been far from stellar. Whenever we come back to Nebraska, Tory's regular eating/sleeping schedule is thrown out of whack (as is always the case when traveling somewhere new). She's just one of those kids who thrives on eating and sleeping at the same time every day and that's really hard to accommodate when there's lots of people in my parent's smaller-sized house and big family dinners every night. My sister's kids are the exactly opposite and are on a very "go with the flow" schedule which makes Tory seem even more high maintenance in comparison. When we were back in July, Tory adjusted very well to irregular naps and later-than-normal bedtimes, but this weekend hasn't been so easy and my solo parenting patience are wearing thin. Last night, Tory had a two-hour screaming fit at my niece Neeley's birthday dinner which left me in tears of frustration by the end. Sigh. So is the life of travel sometimes. I guess all these sleepless nights are good practice for Baby Brother's arrival this winter.

Neeley's official first birthday party is tonight and my mom, sister and I are hosting a baby shower for my cousin, Jes, on Sunday. Lots of family gatherings and celebrations ahead this weekend. Let's hope things smooth out for Tory and I can relax a bit more this weekend.

Blog Roll

I've been busily preparing for Baby Boy's November due date -- planning nursery decor, buying and washing clothes, etc -- and one thing I'm also trying to collect is things to do one-handed while I've got time on my hands and my butt planted in a rocking chair. Not that I expect to have an abundance of time during the day with two kids under two in my care, but I do know there will be many nighttime hours to kill while I'm feeding the baby every two/three hours. I also know from current experience that there's only so much email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to read before ALL THE INTERNET IS SCOURED. I've been to that point many times and it is LONELY.

Now that I have an iPhone and Kindle Fire, I expect to have more nursing-friendly entertainment at my fingertips, but it doesn't hurt to stock up on blogs and books to read so I have them at the ready. That's why I thought it'd be fun to post my active blog roll (active: meaning, people who post often) with you in hopes you will also share your favorite blogs in the comment section with me ... thus, filling up my Reader and supplying me with countless hours of entertainment while I'm up all hours of the day and night this winter. Come on, join me!

Blogs I've Been Into Lately:
Accelerated Baby
Adventures in Tullyland
Iowa Girl Eats
It's All Happening
Life of Lacey
Mighty Maggie
My Life In Transition
Navigating The Mothership
Raising Snowpeas
The Adventures of Erica
The Diniwilks
The Maiden Metallurgist
Yellow Mango Life

Okay, your turn! Leave a comment with your favorite blogs of late.