Paper trail...

Ryan drove up to Sherman a couple of weeks ago to get all of his Moms belongings. While we knew this had to be done at some point, we weren't expecting to do this now. 

While we were sorting through all of her items, the kids found their own way to stay occupied...

 

Where's Emmy?

I may never buy a "real" present again. 

Paper. 

Boxes.

Bubble wrap.

Done. 

We will be keeping this stuff around for a while, so if you have kids and need a few hours to get something done, bring them over! :) They'll never notice we are gone!

Family...

Ryan read something last week (maybe even from a blog!!) that one day each week should be the day that Dads cook. He liked that idea and decided that we should make that our new tradition. I like that idea a lot, too! :) 

He got up and started making breakfast for everyone (eggs in a basket...YUM) and then was going to make the Guercio Family Gravy for lunch. 

GiGi and Pops were content playing with the wee ones (and the wee ones were happy too).

Rad and Pops helped as well - master chefs in the making!

Love that Ryan finds such joy in providing for our family and being a part of making memories that last.

Down the tubes...

Our sweet Emmy had a big day on Friday. 

She got tubes put in both of her ears. 

And as weird as it may seem to parents whose children have never had an ear infection - we could not have been more thankful! Emmy went almost a full year without an infection, but it seemed as if she has never gotten over it and although she still remains "happy" - you can tell that she's uncomfortable. So tubes it was!

Excuse the long story that is about to commence, but I need to remember this just as it happened. 

On Thursday night, GiGi arrived. She was going to take Radley to school on Friday since we had to be at the surgery center so early and stick around "just in case." Well, thank you GIGI!

Our night was pretty routine. It was pancake night which is always a favorite - so much so that Emmy ate 4 pancakes (I ate 3). She could have probably kept going but I made her stop. Bath and bed followed and that's where things went a little sour. 

Emmy would not settle down. She had the worst night of sleep since she came home from the hospital. Probably ever in her life. She kept waking up and just couldn't seem to get comfortable. I thought maybe she had this secret baby sense and knew she would be under the knife the next morning, but that's just me. 

Finally I got her and put her next to me and sent Ryan in the other room so he could sleep since he had to work after her procedure. I kept rubbing her tummy and she finally went to a solid sleep around 1:30am. Which is when my migraine started to creep in. I didn't want to get up because I didn't want to disturb her so I thought I would will it to sleep. No such luck - it just got worse and worse. 

I finally sent Ryan a text to bring me medicine around 3:30am - he did, but it was too late. Full fledged migraine complete with nausea. He laid with Emmy, I went to the other room and felt so bad by 4:45am that I woke up my mom to take care of me. 

The next two hours were rough. That's all I say. But I was determined to be there for Emmy, so I mustered up the strength and we headed to the surgery center at 6:45am.

She was in the happiest mood and just looked so cute in her pjs. 

We checked her in and got her prepped and ready to go. The staff was amazing and so sweet and calmed all of our nerves. She was out of our site for about 10 minutes total. 

She was bouncing off the walls and except for two cotton balls in her ears you would never know anything was done at all. 

I on the other hand headed straight for the couch to recover. Please note how small my head looks compared to my body. I had on a ton of layers and just could not get comfortable. Thank goodness my mom was there!

Miss Priss was as happy as could be! She did take a three hour nap but other than that didn't miss a beat!

We hope that this is the solution to those pesky infections!

Tiny Tales Thursday...

This one may be one of my favorites....

Ryan and I were catching up on all our DVRed goodness the other night while the kids were asleep. (Anyone else like Burn Notice and Suits as much as us?). All of a sudden we hear a "thud" which meant that Radley would be making his way into the living room soon. He shuffles in all disheveled and makes his way to the couch.

Me: What's wrong, buddy?
Rad: Nufing.
Me: Well, are you ok?
Rad: Yes.
Me: Do you need something?
Rad: I just wanted to give you a hug.

He then lays with me for a second and then is ready to return to bed.

It's moments like these that just make me want to make him stay little forever. I may have to get him to sign a contract that I'll still get hugs when he's 20.

Showering Tresy...

My friend, Cindy, is expecting baby #3 in just seven short weeks! She and her husband Josh already have two precious girls, Caroline (3) and Annaliese (2) and are being surprised by the gender with "Tresy". (Tresy is the baby's nickname - baby #3 - get it?)

Two of Cindy's other best-friends, Donna and Angie,shared hostessing duties with me and we had so much fun. (As a side note, I can't tell you how much I enjoy hosting events especially with people who are all on the same page - thank you ladies!)

 Since gender is a surprise we went with a green and yellow color scheme and I am so happy with how everything turned out. This was a very simple shower with just a few quests so I even got to use my own china, utensils, etc... which made it even more fun. 

I found these cute silhouette stickers at the HobLob...don't they just work so well? 

We made Cindy two mason jars (girl and boy) and asked guests to write their "words of wisdom" for either raising 3 girls (I think she got lots of patience) or a boy (these talked a lot about dirt). 

Now she has something for the nursery for when Tresy arrives. 

We also had a place set up for people to sign up for dinner duty when the bundle arrives. 

We made these on 12x12 scrapbook sheets so Cindy could keep them for the baby book as a fun way to remember her friends that brought them food.

Of course no shower is complete without presents. Since this is baby #3 and they have most of the "gear" required, we asked everyone to bring diapers to help stock them up. Most people listened - but we will make an exception for the grandmas! NaNa and Bebe went above and beyond and couldn't resist the urge to get boy gifts and girl gifts! They are so sweet!

Of course Caroline and Annaliese were big helpers, too!

 

We had a great day celebrating together! Can't wait to meet you, Tresy! You are already loved!

Bundles...

I've mentioned making "bundles" a few times and have gotten some emails/questions about what in the world I'm talking about. So today, I thought that I would share a wonderful way to make leftovers more appealing to the masses. 

You will need: Cookie sheet, parchment paper, leftovers of choice, any "extra" that you want to add and crescent dough. Because EVERYTHING is better in a crescent - that should seriously be their tag line. 

I like using parchment paper because it helps with clean up - you essentially just throw it away and wipe down the cookie sheet. Here we go. 

Unroll the crescents and form four rectangles. Pinch the "seams" together to make a solid piece of dough

Cut rectangles in half to make 8 squares. 

Fill with yummy goodness. This is left over pulled pork with shredded cheese on top. 

Fold the opposite corners together. 

And you will get little bundles. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until done and enjoy!

Some of my favorite things to "bundle": Sloppy joes, pulled pork, ham and cheese (and serve with soup or eggs), poppyseed chicken leftovers, chicken and rice casserole, tacos, pretty much anything! For things that are a bit "juicy" make sure to get as much liquid out as possible before bundling so they aren't soggy!

Tiny Tales Thursday...

We were on our way home from school this week and Radley was gabbering away as usual.  A million questions, a million statements, a million little things that he processes just kept coming out of his mouth. I was having a hard time getting it all and he wasn't too thrilled with my seemingly in ability to give him an answer...

"Mommy, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" 

Thanks, Ryan. For teaching our son a classic movie quote that is not the kindest of things he should say to me but also is so darn funny that I can't help but laugh.

Say cheese...

Yesterday was another milestone in our house...Radley went to the dentist for the first time! At a dentist friend's recommendation, we decided that around the age of 4 was when we would go and I am so glad that we waited until this age to take him, too. He was excited to get his teeth counted and brushed.

I LOVED going to the dentist when I was little. Dr. Mathis' office always had such fun games and toys and even tiny little chairs in the shape of teeth in the waiting room. I knew that I wanted Radley to see a pediatric dentist in hopes he would have the same experience. And he was pretty excited to walk in and see a Wii, PS3 and other games in the waiting room. (I think we'll wait until he's at least 6 to play the video games though). ;)

We walked back to our room and the excitement grew when he spotted a "Lightming" poster on the wall and a TV on the ceiling. He was a little disappointed that the movie playing was a girl movie though, but was still all smiles. 

Dr. Kalke gave him the option of laying down or sitting up. He tried laying down at first,

but decided that sitting up was better. 

Look at him - I still can't believe how OLD this one little thing makes him seem. Breaks my heart a bit - we went to "Old McDonald's" for lunch before this and there was a group of "big boys" on the playground (like 8-10) and they seemed so different. And smelly. ;) I want to keep him this age forever!

We got a glowing report and will go back in 6 months for another cleaning! So proud of our little man!

Power Cooking...

So besides being crafty this weekend, I also got busy in the kitchen! I stuck with two "go to" people pleasing recipes but they were both new in our PC line up. 

Up first...

Poppyseed Chicken

Ingredients: Frozen chicken breasts (2 five pound bags),  4 cans cream of mushroom soup, 4 cans cream of chicken soup, 2 large sour cream (don't worry...I didn't use it all), croutons (crushed) , poppyseed

Note: I am NOT a measurer. I found a recipe to PSC a long time ago and have adapted it a million times over. This is just what I "eyeballed" would make the amount that we needed. Sorry! 

 

Mix ingredients together

Place 3-4 frozen CBs in storage bag and scoop mixture over. Freeze. When ready to serve, thaw overnight and place in crockpot on low for 6 hours. Serve over rice and enjoy! 

I also made meatballs, but since everyone has their own favorite recipe for these italian delights, I'll save you that write-up. I made about 7 pounds for 3 families which gave us each 2 bags of meatballs. I just bought a variety of tomato sauce (I feel guilty just typing that) and placed the meatballs in a storage bag and poured the sauce on top. Freeze and when ready to serve, thaw overnight, place in crockpot on low for 6 hours. We are making meatball subs tonight so I'll let you know how they turned out!

 When we were finished we had 13 meals. Each family spent ~$80. So my favorite part:

$240 total/3 families = $80/13 meals = $6.15/4 servings/meal = $1.53/serving!!! 

With all my power cooking this summer I now have 22 delicious meals waiting for me!

Gettin' crafty...

I had a ton of craft projects this weekend and I am so glad to report that I got *most* of them done! All of them are gifts for friends and teachers, so I can only share one finished project here since the teachers got their gifts today.

Have you discovered Pinterest? If you haven't then you can thank me later for all the time wasting idea gathering you will now be doing. This project was so simple! All you need is cute picture frames, coordinating scrapbook paper, ribbon, and dry erase markers.

Set the glass on the paper and trace the edges, cut, insert paper, close frame and voila... 

Counter-top dry erase boards!  I just tied the ribbon to the back of the frame to keep the marker in place. 

After this was done, Radley signed his name and there you have the perfect teacher gift!

This was inexpensive, simple, "handmade", and personalized! And even if they don't use it as a dry erase message board, they have a cute frame! :)

I will reveal my other crafting projects later... don't want to spoil the surprise!

Tiny Tales Thursday...

Radley has decided that he wants to wear "big boy underwear" to be every night, meaning no pull-up. Ryan and I told him that if he kept his "Buzz" (there is Buzz Lightyear on the pull-up) dry for five days, then he could try.

Last Friday night came and he had kept his Buzz dry for the appropriate amount of time. As we were getting ready for bed, he was so excited to put on real underwear. He gladly went potty and fell asleep and into dreamland.

Saturday morning arrived and guess what? He slept all night with no accident! Wahoo! Repeat same routine Saturday evening.

Sunday morning. I'm on the couch catching up on the latest Facebook statuses news and I hear the pitter patter of Radley feet making their way to the living room. He walks up to me and with the sweetest face says...

"Mommy, I didn't have an accident. But there is water all over my bed." 

Water, huh? Guess we will just have to keep trying.

It's hot out there...

Have you heard that it's HOT outside? ;)

Texas is in the middle of another "record breaking" summer heat wave and no rain to boot. This makes for some uncomfortable days, nights, walks to the car, trips to the store, I even said "it's too hot to go swimming"

WHAT?!?!? 

This is getting a little ridiculous. 

But, everytime I think that "it's too hot" I quickly switch my thoughts to this guy...

 

You think it's hot in YOUR car... well just think about your friendly neighborhood UPS man who is driving a truck, with NO A/C, probably no power steering, a very uncomfortable seat, and gets to head to the back of said vehicle to retrieve happiness for people. Oh, and the back of the truck probably measures somewhere in the 120 degree mark in the heat of the day. 

Still warm? Me either. :)

Now, in honor of my dear, sweet, sexy UPS man husband (and his charming group of men in brown) I would like to offer some advice on what NOT to say when they come knocking on your door... 

1. UPS Man drenched in sweat in the middle of a drought... Man, is it raining out there?No jackass, it's over 100 degrees, I just had to run from your dogs that you refuse to keep in a fence and I'm carrying 20 pounds worth of ammo that you order every day. It's called sweat. 

2. Is it hot enough out there for ya? No, I actually like it to stay right around 130, so I know what hell feels like to motivate me to go to church and pray for you. 

3. Do they make you work all day? Well, since UPS is a Fortune 500 company and they try to make money, yeah, the make us work all day long. But if you know of anyone that, well, gives half days off just to stay inside in the A/C then let me know.

4.  Man, sure glad it's you and not me out there. Considering you just tracked me down to get your package off the truck because you couldn't wait until I got to your driveway, I'm glad you're not driving around either. 

5. Try to stay cool. Again, I would love for this to happen, which is why I am standing on your porch listening to you tell me about your latest QVC purchase that will stay in the box like the 100 other packages I've delivered this year...you think I really want to know about your steam cleaner?

6. The fall will be here soon. Yes, September is less than 20 days away. But this is Texas. We stay warm until that one day in December when the temperature drops to 20 degrees and then you'll ask me why I have on shorts. 

I'm sure your UPS man would never reply with such snarky remarks, those were just for fun. :) 

So, friends...next time you see your friendly-neighborhood man in brown, do them a favor, give them a bottle of water or an icee pop. Tell them thanks for their service and have a nice day. 

Ryan, thank you for working hard for us. Thank you for smiling through the heat, being a great employee, setting an example of the meaning of work ethic for our kids and coming home ready to play, make dinner, wash babies, read bedtime stories and be silly with our family. 

We love you so much!

Fish face...

The sun may have given Radley freckles but all this swimming seems to have turned Emersyn into a fish.... 

A little silly, but a whole lot of cute. 

Fourteen...

When Radley hit the big 1 year milestone, I quit sending monthly updates via Kodak gallery. Instead I did them on the even months, so trying to be a good and equal, Mommy... here is Emmy's 14 Month Update!

 So what have you been up to?

Well, you are a walker/runner/chaser of Radley/finder of cats/big girl.  You get places so fast and just think that you are so smart because you can walk. You have also mastered climbing - onto the couch, into the dishwasher, up on the coffee table...anywhere you want you get. The other day I caught you in your bathroom on Radley's step stool with your hands in the sink like you were going to wash them. What?!?! 

We have to pay very close attention to you!

You also insist on attempting to feed yourself. Well, not really attempting... for some reason I am more reluctant to let you use a spoon than Radley. I think you are messier than he was - and we all know how mommy likes messes. You are rather cute at your insistence, so if something requires a spoon or fork, then we hand it over to you. 

You are VERY aware that there are "big people" things and "little people" things. For example, a cup. You don't mind your sippy cup at all until one of us gets a big cup out and then it is :::insane gesturing at cup + grunting/attempting at saying recognizable word::: and we try to let you drink out of said cup, you kind of look at us as if to say, "I can hold this myself thankyouverymuch" ... we have yet to let you attempt that. 

We did; however, give you this little juice cup and once again. you thought you were just "so big!" 

This guy continues to be your favorite toy. You just want to be everywhere and in everything he does. You hang with him step for step, ounce for ounce and just laugh and laugh at him. He lets you pick, poke, prod and "pat" most of the time -- every now and then he lets us know when you've gone too far with your "love sharing". 

I think you look so big in these pictures!! But, you are still our petite little girl - 

18 lbs, 6 oz; not sure on your height; size 2 shoe, size 2 diaper, and size 12 month clothes. 

Your vocab is expanding to the point that we know what you want, but your words are still limited to: Mama, Dada (not really when we walk in a room though), Cat (EVERYtime they walk in a room...I see where we rate), RaRa (Radley and only sometimes), Hi, Bye Bye, More, and this weekend WaWa (which was water). You love signing "more" and "please" these days ... so I think your words will catch up soon. 

We love you, Estelle Emersyn King!! Happy 14 Month Day!