10 on Tuesday divided by 2

It's been a crazy week and I had planned on blogging over the weekend, didn't happen...I planned on blogging yesterday, didn't happen. So here I am MAKING it happen during nap time, but my time is limited so we will be making this a 10 on Tuesday divided by 2!

1.) Dan and I have decided that a decision needs to be made by July 10th on where we will be moving. I am worried that August is going to come around and there won't be any openings in the places we want come September, so we are hoping to get our application(s) submitted in a timely manner

2.) Madelynn slept last night from 8pm-5am, ate, then went back to sleep until 8:30am!! Joshua also slept through the night 8:30-8am...a first in nearly 2 weeks.

3.) The OCD in me REALLY wants to start packing, yet I am so unsure of where to start. I have boxes of things already packed that we don't use (clothing for the kids) and a TON of labeled plastic bins that I am not even sure where to begin with the packing. I guess I am going to have to deal with the fact that our move is happening the end of August and I have yet to begin...AHHH!!

4.) This boy melts my heart in so many ways!

5.) This little beauty also makes my heart melt!

Wordless Wednesday

Ten on Tuesday

My goal is going to post 10 things, probably random, on Tuesdays (hence the name) and call it a blog entry :D Makes perfect sense-right? Exactly! So without further ado...Ten on Tuesday!!

1.) I am NOT a morning person. I would be much happier if I could sleep all day and be up all night. Becoming a mom has not changed that, but made it impossible! I usually don't go to bed until close to midnight and with the middle of the night feedings (generally at 12, 3, 5, and 7am) I usually don't get much sleep, but I get up with my children and we get the day going. Normally I am awake in the morning by the most horrible sound...it is the sound of Joshua moaning/whining. He sounds like a dying cow, seriously I am not kidding. I can't stand it. I have been waiting for the day to hear 'mommy, I'm awake. I'm awake mom' but it looks like it will never arrive. But today gave me a little hope. I was awake to Madelynn laughing and playing in her crib. After getting her up and sitting in my chair watching the news as Madelynn nursed I heard one of the best sounds in the world...'mama' coming from Joshua's room. Could this be, I thought? Is this my sweet, normally grumpy morning, little guy calling me to tell me he was awake?? YEP! Joshua was awake and the day started our WONDERFULLY!

2.) I make my own baby food, did you know that? I love every min of it and I love that I am able to give healthy fresh food to my children. Madelynn loves food, but is content whether she is eating solids or not. Mama's milk is sufficient for her, anything added to her day is a bonus!

3.) Joshua is very content in his crib! He never tries to climb out and reminds you to bring the rail back up. Joshua loves to climb into his crib and play 'sleep' but as soon you as walk out of the room he cries for you to come back. The crib is not somewhere he is comfortable playing in really and as soon as Joshua wakes up for the day and from his nap he wants out of his crib asap.

Madelynn is a monkey child and she loves her crib. She walks around the crib in circles. She can be placed in her crib awake and she'll put herself to sleep on her own. She plays with her paci's and lovey when she wakes up. I have found her multiple times hanging (like a child from monkey bars) hands on the rail and feet off the mattress when I go in and get her...she'll be out of the crib before her brother at this rate!!

4.) I love to cook and have people over! I am not an entertainer at all, but I love to cook and I love to be surrounded by people (in my home!, I do not do large crowds of people well in public). I get in a rut, making the same meals over and over, so I am always open to new ideas! I love to try new things, but no seafood please!

5.) I have some OCD! I love to organize, clean and label! I do not like toys mixed into the same bin when they are not suppose to go together (legos and little people belong separate in my mind) and have to learn to control my urges to clean other people's homes unless asked. My label maker is by best friend, but when I am pregnant it is my worst enemy (I once placed a label on EVERY.SINGLE. CABINET with the contents of what was behind each door-I was pregnant!!)

6.) I do not like it hot and humid or very cold. Mr. Weatherman...please keep the temps to 70's during the day and 40's at night-thank you!

7.) We are about to move-well in a month. And with our move we are choosing not to connect cable. We will be getting a box so we can get local channels (for news and weather) and relying on movies/videos for the kid's 'screen time'. I need some good recommendations of G rated programs.

8.) Did you know that I cloth diaper my children? I love everything about it, well not everything, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It started out as a way to save money as Joshua was going through 8-12 diapers a day still at 9months old and he HATED being just the slightest bit wet. I started out with some WAHM (work at home mom) made ones and fell in love with the idea and then purchased some Bum Genius from there. I love them!! With Madelynn we had issues after birth with the cloth and we had to use disposable for her the first few months, but now she is in cloth most of the time (night being an exception or long outings far from home). I love cloth diapering and Dan hates it!

9.) Joshua loves water, normally. He is a fish in the bathtub and shower but does not like to go swimming. He loves sprinklers and zero entry pools. This morning we added a new dislike where water is concerned...he does not like cold water! I took the kids to the Oak Hill Splash Pad today with a friend and her daughter. It was a blast but Joshua complained a lot of the time that the water was cold. He would only go into it if I was holding him. I was able to catch this moment of him today as Shelley splashed Joshua-he loved it!

10.) Madelynn has discovered a new love of the ball pit!! She loves to crawl into it. She will chew on the balls, she will sit in them, lay in there and she's starting to hide and then peek up when I say 'peek a boo'. She's a delight!

Monday Madness

Wow it has been way too long since I have posted a blog entry. For all my blog readers and followers I apologize.

Things here in the Harrison Household have been a little crazy. We have been informed of a rent increase as our lease comes to an end. With the increase it appears we are going to have to move and it isn't always easy seeing eye to eye, but I know that it will all work out in the end with lots of patience, good communication, and God's direction.

Ok, it has been a month, so I better get caught up on here...hmmm, what is new??

Joshua took a tumble Memorial Day weekend while we were visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house up north. He tripped with a plastic spoon in his mouth and boy did it bleed. We had him checked out at the dentist the next day and they said everything looked ok. He was such a trooper despite cuts to the inside of both of his lips and lots of swelling of his gums and lips.

Joshua has recently dropped down to 1 nap a day and I must say that it is bittersweet. I loved that he and Madelynn took naps at the same time, but it became very hard for Joshua the month before the switch to actually sleep his second nap. He would ask to go to sleep at 9:30/10am and would go down great and sleep for 2hours but then he would cry and cry for his second nap, which carried over to bedtime being a struggle. Joshua now goes down at 12/12:30 and sleeps until 3/3:30. He is much happier and so am I. Though, most of our naps start out like this, as I have 2 little kids (one being his sister) to get situated before I can rock with him as they are just waking up from their naps.

And then there's the Moo. Joshua calls her "MOOOOOOOOO MOO". He absolultely loves her to death. He loves to kiss her, hug her and play with her. He does not like for her to play with his toys unless he gives them to her, but he's generally good about sharing.

Madelynn is such a happy baby! Though I don't know if I'd consider her a baby anymore. She crawls, walks furniture, hangs like a monkey from her crib, walks if you hold her fingers, she can get from crawling to sitting and from standing to sitting no problem. She is eating more foods but does not like to pick food up and put it in her mouth, toys are an exception.

And Madelynn now takes baths like a big girl-sitting up. She loves to sit under the running water. She loves to lay on her tummy and kick and splash and crawl all around the tub. SHe is such a delight!

Another thing Madelynn loves is her TOES. This is a new discovery and her favorite time to chew on them is when it is time to eat. I guess we are going to have to start using the try on her highchair!

Isn't she cute? Well my blog time for the day has come to an end, but I wanted to share 1 last photo of the Moo. Stay tuned tomorrow for my "Ten on Tuesday" entry!!

Pesto Chicken Gnocchi

Ingredients:

1# cubed chicken

1 tsp minced garlic

bacon bits

1 pkg gnocchi

refrigerated pesto (1/2)

Instructions:

Cook chicken in butter with minced garlic in a skillet over medium heat.

In a separate pan boil water with salt and add gnocchi-cook according to package.

When chicken is cooked and gnocchi is done, add pesto and bacon bits. Mix well and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

Too fast!

Make it stop! I want my baby back! Now before you start going huh? What did I miss? Don’t worry, nothing happened really…just my baby is getting too big for her own good! Madelynn won’t be 7months until June 1^st and she is already sitting, rolling, crawling, pulling up and today she decided that walking the length of the couch would be her next task to check off her to-do list! Miss Moo has become such a little go getter and I have a love/hate relationship with this idea. I love that she is so independent, curious, and content learning about the world around her, but she’s so little!

I wasn’t prepared for my little 4month old to start crawling.

I wasn’t prepared to have to drop the crib down 2 levels for my 6month old!

I wasn't prepared to discover Madelynn's newest trick of pulling up on the couch today...Joshua didn't do this until he was 9months old (then within a week he was taking his first steps!)

This little girl is turning my hair grey, as if the 100 white hairs I have weren’t enough L Now don’t get me wrong, I love that she’s so independent. I love that she’s content playing by herself and she’s able to fidget with things until she figures out how they work. I love that she’s persistent and keeps trying after countless fails…I love all those things, I just wasn’t ready for my baby to grow up-this fast! I do not know if we will have more babies, so I wanted to be able to cherish all of these things with my little girl-but she has different plans it seems. Oh well, what can I do?!?