“Mommy, I sad.”

This was what I heard from the backseat of our car while pulling away from my brothers house on New Year’s Eve.

“Grant, fun.”

“(Pa)tricia, fun.”

And then, because he is two,

“TV, fun.”

But while I was in awe that my little bruiser could identify his emotions so well and that he was perceptive enough to realize that when we pulled away from that house it would probably be a very long time before we saw Grant and Patricia again.

I also realized that in order to be sad, it also meant things had to be pretty good.

And it was.

 

All the fam was together for a good three days.

And it was an awesome reminder of how blessed we are to have such an amazing family.

People that love us despite our many flaws, encourage us in our endeavors, and help us when we need it most.

 

So while my little one was expressing his current onset of sadness.

Repeatedly.

For several minutes.

Without reprieve.

Over and over and over again.

I drove into the New Year thankful.

 

And then I shoved a TV screen in front of him to safe guard my sanity.

I already annoy him.

I realize that a part of being a parent is your kids finding you completely annoying and embarrassing.

I still find my parents annoying sometimes and I am in my 30’s.

But I did not realize my son would find me annoying before the age of TWO!

I was under the impression that this did not happen until at least third grade.

I thought I still had several more years of being the coolest person in his little word.

But nope.

I’m annoying.

We will be in the car and I will start dancing and I will hear from the back seat, “Noooooo.”

I will start singing a song to myself and hear from the other side of room, “Nooooo.”

Sometimes I just have to look at him and he finds it irritating, “Nooooo.”

I am shocked.

I am an amazing car dancer and my singing voice is humbly compared to that of an angel.

How could anyone possibly find me irritating?

But I am.

Already.

My one year old finds me annoying.

It is going to be a long 18 years kid, you should probably get used to this singing voice.

Letting him pick.

Every night we do the same thing.

We have a routine.

Bath, brush, book, and bed.

And although every once in a while I think it is okay to skip the bath, book and bed will never be altered.

No matter how late it is.

{Truth be told, I am really pretty strict about bed time. There may be one night a week were Linc is up later because we are at an event or something, but those really don’t happen often}

There is a small bookshelf in Linc’s room that holds all of his board books.

His shelf.

And he gets to choose his book.

I have noticed that this process has become more intense as he has grown older.

I truly believe that one of Lincoln’s favorite parts of the day is choosing his own book.

He feels empowered.

He will stand at that book shelf and move books around, look at some pictures, ponder, then put one back, until…

He has the perfect book.

If I ever try to help even move books around so he can see them all I get an instant whine of disapproval.

This is his thing.

Just recently I have started to bring in longer books for us to read but he still gets to pick from his shelf.

Long book…then Lincoln’s book.

His bedtime.

His book.

Fat kid in a little diaper.

The day of his appointment.

Okay, in his defense, he is really not fat.

But we had a wellness appointment for little Linc yesterday and he is in the 100 percentile in weight and height.

Which make sense, because he no longer fits into his diapers.

We are buying size 6!

Do they make a bigger size other than pull-ups?

I have kind-of looked, but I think this is the largest size for real diapers.

I see sleep diapers for older kids and things like that, but what are you supposed to do when your 1-year-old is busting out of size sixes?

Seriously, the sticky velcro sides are unlatching.

And for once in my life I am not buying cheapies!

(I know the value of a good diaper…trust me)

We are wearing Huggies and Pampers.

Crazy big kid.

No wonder my back hurts.

The good news is the doctor said he is perfectly healthy.  I shouldn’t be worried about his weight because it is proportioned.

So yay for a good report.

And boo for small diapers.

The DEAR plan.

Drop. Everything. And. Read.

I don’t know where the number of 15 minutes per day actually came from but I have heard that thrown around the parenting world since before I was even a parent.

But the word is you should be reading to your child 15 minutes a day or more.

I used to think that our bed time book would suffice for this time, but now that it is summer we are going to bump things up a bit.

Bedtime does not count.

We are going to set aside 20 minutes a day just to stop everything, go to the reading chair, and read.

Everyone is invited, Lincoln, Bo, and of course, me (I’m the only one that can actually read).

It is going to be super.

I think it will be good for the fact that we are reading, and apparently that is good for kids.  But also the fact that we are just taking 20 minutes out of the day to chill.

I like that.

Planning my weekly menu.

I heard that if you go to the grocery store with a plan you spend less money.

And tonight Isaac has the boys for a little while before bed so I can go grocery shopping childless!

Our breakfast is always the same.

Me: homemade egg and cheese on an English muffin

Linc: blueberries, grapes, and peanut butter toast

Bo: boob

And lunches are almost always leftovers or tuna

So dinners are what takes planning, so here is what I am thinking, prepare to be dazzled.

Monday:
BBQ chicken in the crockpot
Green beans

Tuesday:
Spaghetti squash with meat
Broccoli

Wednesday:
Turkey roast
Potatoes and green beans

Thursday:
Cheeseburgers on the grill
Tomato and cucumber salad

Friday:
Dinner out? This is my one childless night. I will either be ordering in, or going to dinner with friends.

Saturday:
Grilled steaks
Asparagus (market)
Potatoes (market)

Sunday:
Tilapia filets
Green beans

Snacks:
Cottage cheese
String cheese
Homemade popcorn

Desserts/Sweet treats:
Cinnamon and brown sugar steal cut oats with fruit
Apples and vanilla yogurt
Mocha protein shake

Leftovers turned summer salad

For a quick lunch today we chopped up the leftover steak and asparagus from last nights dinner, mixed it with the quinoa, threw in some Parmesan cheese and random seasoning, and viola!

An asparagus and steak summer salad.

I’m pretty proud of myself.

Lincoln didn’t like it but what do toddlers know.

He can’t even talk yet, so obviously the answer is, nothing.

It was good.

Trust me.

Eating like kings.

We have been eating healthier here lately.

And I have been cooking/grilling more at home.

Tonight we had tri-tip steak, asparagus fresh from the farmers market, and quinoa w/olive oil and tomatoes.

Linc loved it, and his favorite part…the asparagus.

I don’t know what it is about those spears of green, but he loves them.

Another new Lincoln favorite, tilapia.

He gobbled that up yesterday for lunch.

What a little healthy eater.

 

 

Well I bought a stroller.

Two strollers actually.

That is what I get for trying to save money.

I bought something that doesn’t really work for me from a second hand store.

I was excited about this amazing deal I was getting.

I took the stroller straight from the store to the park and then BAM.

I realized that this is not at all what I wanted.

The front wheel is fixed.

Which basically means you can go straight, and if you want to turn, too bad.  Straight.  That is the direction.

If you are an avid runner this is great because then the wheel will not shake when you pick up speed.

I don’t plan on ever picking up speed.

So I quickly realized that this is not the stroller for me.

So it was back to the drawing board and I spent another few days lugging to kids around to every store, and garage sale on earth.

And then I was done.

I didn’t find anything or if I did find something good on Craigslist it would be gone before I could get to it.

Defeated, I turned to Walmart.

I do not know why I neglected this go-to store to begin with, my life would be so much easier if I just kept doing what worked.

I bought a hybrid jogging stroller online and it should be here by Tuesday.

The In-Step.

The most affordable, double jogging stroller on the market, but has great reviews.

And I cannot spend 500 dollars on a stroller.

150, sure.

This will be good on long walks but also not to big for shopping, doctors appointments, and other errands in which I am toting around two under two.

So hybrid it is.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

I found a new favorite.

Deanna Rose Farmstead is a local farm that is geared towards kids and it is TOTALLY FREE on weekdays.

 

Petting the 4 month old cows.

 

 

Our ride ’em cowboy needs a little work.  You can ride real pony’s here too, but even this was a little much for Linc.

Lincoln “milked” some cows…sort of.

The baby goats were so cute and you can pay a dollar for a baby bottle and feed them!

Linc enjoyed feeding the geese while Bo and I just chilled on a bench.

This is certainly something we will be doing again this summer.