My Life in a Picture

I took Lila out to do some errands today and ended up meeting my mother in law for lunch at panera. I thought I would share this photo, hoping some people can relate..

Assume that the table is my life..Lila takes up most of the table. The poor salad plate is my head. After Lila came through, there is not much left in there. I can't focus or speak half of the time (ask my husband). Oh and the bread.. That's probably one of my limbs that Lila has tried pulling off of me. 

I hope your day was swell :) 

                              -LS

I'm Guilty..

Have any of you put your child to bed almost 2 hours early because YOU are exhausted? I am so guilty of that tonight.. My child is turning into two HUGE handfuls, and I only have two tiny hands. She is always one step ahead of me!! If I do not have a bikini body by summer I will be shocked! I am going to come out with a workout plan for all women..You ready? Here it is: Have a Baby and wait 15 Months. TADA! I do love her to death, but its just a lot of work!

I decided to make homemade marinara meat sauce, and thank God there is a cabinet of bowls right behind where I stand. It kept her busy the entire time. I even taught her how to stir the spoon and then (pretend) taste. It was so funny! She ended up stirring every time and then handing the spoon to me to taste. 

Today we went on a walk down to see the horses! I was so excited when I saw that they were all out, and extremely close to the fence. I was even able to pet one! I totally forgot to take photos because a man had pulled over to see the horse and we talked for a while. Maybe tomorrow we will try again. They are so beautiful!!!! 

Before we went for our walk I snapped a few photos of Lila because it was SO nice outside. 

Lila "Diva" Steppe

I will probably write more after this weekend because it's Easter!!!! And the Easter bunny has a lot to do before Easter! ;)

xxoo

-LS

"That" Parent..

I have survived! My wisdom tooth is out and I only needed about a half of a day to recuperate. Yeah, it still hurts, but Lila does not give me much time to think about that! She is MORE than a handful recently. With walking, "talking", and pointing, my days as a sane person are long gone. 

We have had quite a busy weekend..Visiting Oma and Poppy, watching the ending to David's rock climbing competition (he won 1st!!), visiting the Easter bunny, and lastly visiting Mimi and Pops. 

Dave's climbing competition. Woo! I'm not a huge fan of rock climbing, but he is pretty darn good and im glad we could see him win!!

So most people think it when children/babies are screaming in public...SHUT THAT KID UP!! However, when you become a parent, I think we all understand. Yeah, kids will start screaming and they do not care who hears it! When I hear screaming, I think to myself, at least its not mine! I usually walk by with my "perfect" (at the moment) little child, and thank God that I am not "that" parent. 

Well, ladies and gents,  I was "that" parent today. Knock on wood, we usually never have issues in public with Lila. She loves being out and is pretty cooperative. Well today we took her to see the Easter bunny! Right when we brought her over to put her on his lap, she clung to David and SCREAMED. Dave could not get her off of him. I finally took her and tried sitting on Mr. Bunny's lap. She was not having it!!!!! Of course the line was starting to grow and grow. So embarrassing! Finally we all sat down, though she was still very upset, and I moved her hand out of her mouth..this is the shot they got. I was shocked. That little faker! She is never going to know what she put us through looking at this picture one day!!!! Thankfully I have this blog :) 

Here is a photo from today baking Easter cookies with Mimi.. Lila probably had about 5. Don't worry. I made it up for it at home making a nice smoothie with about 500 fruits and veggies. 

I would write more but I have a candle burning, a book that is calling my name, and a nice full night sleep awaiting me. 

Don't let the bed bugs bite.

-LS

I have more wisdom today than I will tomorrow

I found out today that I will be getting one of my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow. 

I'm terrified because they will be only numbing my mouth to do the procedure... Which means I will be totally awake while they hammer away at my tooth (a little dramatic but whatever). 

They prescribed me medicine to help with my nerves because I am so scared!!!

Only good thing coming from this is that I might actually lose some weight-so obviously I cheated on my diet tonight. Oh well. 

Here are some recent photos of lila..

Helping me workout, playing with raggedy Ann, and loving her Easter eggs. 

I'm off to bed because I am feeling a little sleepy now.. Zzzzzzzzzzz

Wish me luck.. 

                      Xo

                        -LS 

Super Mom

Do any of you ever have one of those days where you just say "Wow. Today I was awesome. Good job." Well. I rarely ever say that. However, I am sitting on my bed now and I said it. I did a ton today. Not even just today..mostly tonight. I came home from visiting my mom and got really motivated to clean. I clean every night because I have to, but tonight was different. I was sick of looking at all of the clothes I never wear, but keep because I barely have clothes that fit or that I like. I honestly think that I keep the clothes that I will never wear again because I like to huff and puff to myself while looking through all of them. If I put them all away, down in the basement, I would have nothing at all in my drawers or closet. That would be really pathetic. Well. Tonight I did it. I made a massive pile of all of the winter clothes I got out in fall that I never put on once. It felt better than I thought. Now the closet is a little less cluttered, and I can look through all of the clothes that I might possibly put on. 

Not only did I do all of that in less than two hours, but I did laundry, cleaned Lila's room, vacuumed, and blogged :)

SUPER MOMMY!


Tonight I am a very proud mommy. Yes, Lila has taken steps, but tonight was different. My mom was on the kitchen floor playing with Lila when she told me to look over. Lila was walking to her to get the remote. Not only did she do it once, but she did it over and over, back and forth. She would even turn and walk. We were all shocked. Lila is not one to be motivated enough to get up and walk. She would rather get from point a to point b the fastest way, crawling. No one knew when Lila would be ready to do it herself. She has a mind of her own. 


Here are a few pictures of us today baking Italian Easter cookies. 

We have church in the morning, so I have to run! 

Ta Ta 

-LS

Lila's first zoo trip!

Yes, I do have an excuse of why I have not been blogging. 

1. I do not have a whole lot to write about right now, and I do not want to bore anyone.

2. Lila and I have had a pretty nasty cold.

So..When Dave told me his Spring Break was coming up, I really wanted to do something fun as a family. We spend some time at home together, but rarely get to go out just us three and do fun things. My first thought was the zoo! Lila is a little young to go to the zoo, but this kid LOVES animals. She definitely has a love for them just like her dad. Lila has been really curious too; pointing and Ah-ing over everything. 

One of Lila's favorite books is "Hello Baby". It basically has a zoo animal on every page. So I realized that I had it in the diaper bag and started going through each of the pages as we passed the animal. 

 Zebra

 Gorilla

 Porcupine

 Lion

..and Elephant.

I am really glad I did this because she LOVES the book. It blows my mind though because there are no bright colors at all. They are just pictures of animals!

Now I know some may say its a waste of money to go to the zoo while she is so young..and yes, she will not ever remember, but we will! Dave and I will always remember this day. We had so much fun and I will never forget how happy she was! 

I was actually able to get in the pic! 

 Our little penguin

We even got her a little "Maryland zoo" hat for the summer. 

I would say it was a pretty awesome day. That night I went out for drinks with my mom (and drank a little too much-but much needed) while Lila stayed with my in laws! Then all day today we hung out with David's family/shopped for mine and Lila's Easter outfits (glad that's over) and ended the night with his family taking us to Chili's! I am honestly glad that Dave's break is almost over. I am ready for his school year to finish, and for summer to begin!!! 

Oh and snow...I am hoping we are through now. You have visited enough, and now you are annoying. Obviously no one told you it was Spring. Well I am telling you now! I don't want to see you until next winter! 

Oh and I should have some new healthy recipes coming next week! I have been doing pretty well on my diet and exercising! 

Now it is time for me to relax! See you all later!

x0x

-LS

Awake and NOT happy

I really do think its true that children sense when their parents are calm... 

I am at my moms house "house sitting", so lila and I are in the same room sleeping (she's in the pack n play). Of course I come into the room making a ton of racket, and she doesn't even flinch. She waits until I am thirty minutes into my sleep...

Lila totally gets her waking up habit from me. When we both wake up, there is rarely the whole stretch, lay there awake, and relax.. Nope. It's like we were drinking coffee in our sleep. Get right up and happy, happy, happy. 

So back to my story. Lila wakes up and I hear her jump right up and start saying "ah" through her binky. I knew by the sound, there was no way she would go back to sleep right away. I got her up, sat her up next to me in bed and tried to not act happy and awake. I eventually got back up, rocked her for a minute and realized she was asleep.. Whaaaaa?! 

Thank God. Well guess what..

Now I am awake. 

Today's Lesson.

This will be short.

I was making lunch; dave was eating his sandwich.

Lila was walking around the kitchen doing her thing.

Next thing I know dave asks, "les, what is lila eating?"..(I wanted to say "i don't know dave, you're sitting there and I am busy" however, I like that he thinks I know everything :D )

Lila is over at the trashcan, and took a huge bite of something big and brown. At first I thought it was roast beef (what we were eating).

 I ran over to grab whatever it was out of her mouth. 

She had taken a huge bite out of a teabag. Yes, a tea bag. All of the grainy herbs all in her mouth. 

Lila didn't seem to mind. 

Watch your kids, people. 

We only keep her around because she is cute. 

                               -LS

Shit Happens

As I look out the window, I want to kick snow in the face. STOP SNOWING. We woke up to it snowing, yet again, and of course no delay for David. Towson University will never allow their students to be happy-haha. Either way, no delay for Lila or mommy. We started off the day with our normal routine and..snow. BUT it was not just a normal day for us! We found out Oma was coming for a visit and to take us to lunch! We talked while Lila traveled throughout the house and coming over every so often for a hug or a laugh. Eventually we left to go to Sunshine Grill (a little Cafe type of place near our house)! Lila ate up every bite of her fish sticks! We also got to color which is always fun!

Oma and Lila

Not only did Oma come for a visit, but Mimi and Pops came over to visit before they went away for the weekend. Lila was one spoiled little girl. Her grandparents love her! 

Mimi and Lila

For the title of my blog this week. Yes. Shit does happen. While my mom was visiting, Lila was snacking on raisins. Well we were talking and I really was not paying attention to how many she was eating consuming devouring. I guess she ate most of the box because during her bath that night...WOW. I do not even want to describe it. I am sure most of you can imagine what I had to clean up. Lila's face looked just as shocked as mine. Poor baby. Nothing like getting ready to take her out of the bath, clean...yeah. I am just gonna stop there. 

Onto more exciting news. 

Now..remember when I said I had "walking baby radar"? Well...Mama knows best. Last night after everyone was finished visiting and we were over at my best friends house/next door watching TV, Lila took two steps toward me! I will never forget that. Lila has never been in need of anyone. She is very independent. So when she had her arms out toward me and walking to me, it was great! I totally needed that. I did not get a picture or video but I will always remember it. I have been replaying it in my mind for a whole day now. 

This was all yesterday.

Now for today. We had story time again at the library! I really believe going to story time has helped Lila with walking. She stares at all of the kids walking/talking. We went to the mall again after with Brielle and Sarah. I am so excited to see these girls walk and talk one day. I think its going to be a hoot!! We were also able to get Lila a couple spring/summer clothes today. Not near finished but its a start. No one tells you how much money everything will cost for a baby. Even though I LOVE shopping for Lila...I hate it because everything is soooo overpriced. Maybe I can write a book for high school students. Here is how much money you need. Do not get pregnant. You will be broke. The end. Your welcome. Bye. 

Thank God for coupons.

Thank God for sales. 

Thank God for friends and family. 

Now...a couple weeks ago David and I were at Target looking around. I found this little pink tutu bikini that was screaming Lila's name. I had to have it. After 500 "no's" from David I finally gave up and left the store very sad. Well when David said I could get some things for summer, that bikini was one of the first things on my list. Yes, its a bathing suit. Why would she need that before clothes? Our neighbor/best friend have a pool and I think we will probably be in bathing suits more than normal clothes this summer.  So yes, I wanted her to have it. 

So naturally we went home and tried on her summer bikini. 

Oh, and the flip flops.

Not only is there a tutu, but it comes off and on so that there are only the swimming bottoms. Good job, target. We are ready for summer. 

-LS

what you put me through..

Dear Lila, 

This is a little letter from me to you. Tonight has been rather difficult. Along with your new goofy personality (and squeal) you have a new bedtime routine..it seems. GO TO BED, LILA! You do not want to sleep. Usually you are simple. Read books, drink some milk, rock until calm (usually I make you laugh by tickling you first) and I put you down in your crib and you eventually fall asleep. I put you to bed at 7 tonight. yes, a little early, but you had a big day today with very little sleep. It is now 9:40pm and after switching off and on..Daddy finally got you to sleep. Praise God! 

Anyway, the main point of this post is to share your new habbit. You started it this week. We first play our usual "pass the binky" where you take the binky out of your mouth and give it to me, then you take it back. Cute game we have been playing for months. Then...I tickle you. Right under your chin is the spot! Gets you every time. Now....a new game. You poke my eyes. You literally stare at me with so much determination...and I am a little nervous to what the point of the game is.. you poke pretty hard and rub all around. It is quite annoying, but I laugh because it is weird. Then after being unable to keep my eyes open at all, you try to pry my eyelids open with your finger. AND YOU DON'T LET UP. I try to swat you away, but like I said, you are determined. I am now wondering maybe you keep making more games so you go to bed later and later. You can't fool me! Or have you already? Either way. You are asleep now, so I win. 

I just wanted to let you know what you put me through.. 

Sweet Dreams my Lila Bean :)

love, 

mommy

P.S. I am not a mom to a walker yet...however she learned how to stand on the table without holding on. We like to live life on the edge..

So close!

Lila is soooo close to walking... Or just taking her first step. She is THERE, she just doesn't know what to do next!!! I just want the first step to come because I am ready! I am ready to take a mental video in my mind. I am on "walking baby alert" at all times now. 

Gotta go! Daddy is home and we can have family time! Woo! 

So long! Next time you see me I might be a mother to a walking baby ;) 

                              -LS

Giggles and Kisses

A little over 13 months and Lila is starting to make me laugh. I mean..I have always laughed at things she did, but now she is doing funny things on purpose..sorta.

"I'm always funny, mom"

Forgot to mention...we are still stuck inside. Go away snow!

So Lila has a little baby doll that talks when you squeeze her belly. I always make her talk for Lila, and I also show her how to kiss the baby. Well just recently I realized that Lila is squeezing her belly to make her talk! Yay Lila! I was watching her squeeze the belly, and she could not get her to talk. All of a sudden Lila start licking her face. She would do it over and over again. I couldn't stop laughing because I think she thought that since I kiss the baby and she talks, that Lila could kiss the baby and she would talk. By the end, the baby's face was covered in slobber, and mommy had a good laugh. Poor baby. 

It was a normal day yesterday, but it felt very different. Lila was doing so much more! She was mimicking me all day (her usual words) and laughing how I laughed. I would squeal, she would squeal. Its so much fun! We did it over and over for at least 5 minutes. It usually ends with both of us laughing. She is getting so giggly and its fun to see her mouth open so I can see her teeth! They are so big. 

The other funny story that happened last night was during dinner. I was in no mood to make a fancy dinner so I decided to make grilled cheese and tomato soup. Grilled cheese is boring, so I added anything I could find to spice it up a little bit. I think I put cheese, tomato, spinach, onion, and spices. 

It was good! Even Lila ate all of hers up. Her tray was empty and she was digging down her vest...I opened it up for her because she dropped a piece of the grilled cheese down there. I went about cleaning up and realized that she started digging down her shirt. I kept watching her (thinking she dropped another piece) because she would pull it over her head. She eventually pulled it down and started poking her belly. It was huge! I was laughing so hard. 

I also want to share my dinner from a couple nights ago. If anyone likes Chicken Piccata, you gotta try this! Its amazing. My hubby LOVES everything with lemon now, so I like finding recipes with lemon. When I started making dinners for us, I would put lemon on broccoli (just like my mom always did) and he loved it. More lemon the better! So I found this and thought of him. I found this on pinterest! Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken Piccata

2 skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise

salt and pepper to taste

all purpose flour

4tbsp butter

2tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine

1/4 cup brined capers

1/3 cup parsley

season chicken with salt/pepper. dredge in flour and shake off excess

in large skillet melt 2 tbsp of butter with the olive oil, over medium to high heat

add chicken pieces to skillet and cook for about 3-4 min per side until browned. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken from skillet

remove skillet from heat. add lemon juice, chick stock or wine, capers and scrape up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. return skillet to heat and bring to boil. taste sauce and season with additional salt/pepper

add chicken back to skillet and let simmer for 5 min. remove chicken to a platter and add remaining butter and whisk for about a min. sauce will thicken a bit. 

add sauce to chicken and garnish with parsley. 

I also was able to take some pics of my sis-in-law and her boyfriend on sunday. They are super cute and funny. They had me laughing alot!

I have a lot of fun doing these photos! Definitely a fun new hobby for me! 

Good Day!
-LS