A few new things...

Katelyn has a new bedtime routine: clean up her room, brush her teeth (all six of them), jammies, books, let her flip the light switch, rock/sing, tuck into bed. No more night nursing for us...it's been four days now, so I guess we're down to the one snuggly morning nurse. But I can see that maybe phasing out soon too. I'm not actively trying to wean her, but she hasn't asked and I haven't offered. Our morning time is definitely expected though, and she still asks.

Anyway, tonight I was reading her bedtime books and she was chattering the whole time. I've only every taught her body parts on herself or me, but she can point out the dog's eyes and nose in her book (I know, genius, right?). Tonight she repeated "choo choo" after me, too.

But something she did tonight really impressed me. As we were gliding, I taught her where her toes are, and she repeated it back and pointed to them. Then she showed me her hands and pointed her index fingers towards each other and asked, "hm?" That's her universal information request. I said, "those are your fingers." She smiled and looked down at them again, then nodded her head.

I have no doubt when I ask her where her fingers are tomorrow, she'll remember.

Scary, huh?

Pounding Party = Success!

Ryan & Bethany's Pounding last weekend was a success! I love good parties. :)

Lynne and I co-hosted, and we were still friends after the ordeal...I think our husbands were concerned we might, you know, kill each other due to excessive hormones (see last picture in this post).

An old-fashioned pounding is basically a party where guests, instead of buying a gift off a registry, spend the same amount of money on a household staple. R&B are actually having a food pounding (canned goods, baking supplies, etc) up in their East-Texas hometown, so our pounding was for cleaning supplies and toiletries.

Our invitations consisted of two postcard-sized cardstock with the event information on the first and "pounding possibilities" on the second. The list included suggestions for bathroom and kitchen supplies, kitchen cleaners, toiletries, ands laundry supplies.

Also included was this blurb:

"For dinner, we'll be building a salad for a crowd! Bring your favorite topping to share. Be creative. We will provide the lettuce, rotisserie chicken, and cheese...the rest is up to you!"

Let me tell you, our guests delivered! Toppings included sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, roasted pecans, purple onions, pineapple chunks, craisins, and strawberries. It made for a heckuva salad, believe me.

Our chicken:guest ratio was 1:4. James and I shredded the chicken the morning of while Lynne diligently grated mountains of sharp cheddar, Longhorn cheddar, and Monterrey Jack cheese.

Lynne has a beautiful collection of cobalt blue Fiestaware that we used for the buffet table.

Here's the location:



It was a large room, and one half was devoted to tables and the buffet.

I didn't get a good close-up shot of our cute centerpieces...but here's a super-flattering picture of Dane's uncle and the table set-up.


The colors were blue and butter yellow. We hit up Party City for tablecloths, plates, cups, and napkins.

Sidenote: We decided that Party City doesn't really have great prices...they just have everything party-related in one place, so people buy there for convenience.

A trip to the always-classy Dollar King was in order for the little blue tote baskets, crinkle paper and cleaners. The centerpieces are 5 cleaners buried in crinkly yellow paper with a couple of balloons hovering above.


They were definitely unconventional, but in keeping with the Pounding Party spirit. I kind of want some of those little baskets for under-the-sink storage...

(Aunt Marcy must have been very excited about whatever they were talking about.)

The loot was set on the second buffet table, seen in the picture above.

Here's our build-your-own salad bar:



MMM. It turned out perfectly. While filling, salad is also a guilt-free meal. Most guests went back for seconds...I think a couple even got thirds! If everyone likes the food, party success is halfway there, it seems.

The night before the party, I realized that we hadn't planned a dessert. Lynne assured me that it wasn't a problem, and who likes plain white sheet cake anyway?

T-minus 2 hours 'til Pounding, Lynne realized that error of her ways and concurred that we needed a dessert. ;)

In a stroke of genius, she suggested Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings. The butter-free, sugar-free recipe is here. They are fast, easy, and best of all, absolutely delicious.

(I'm kidding about the butter-free, sugar-free part. Those are the two main ingredients...but that's what makes them so good.)

Here they are in all their fattening glory:


I would be amiss if I didn't include the recipe for the punch...Golden Wedding Punch, to be exact. It was a huge hit as well. We doubled the recipe, and most of it was gone by the end.

The other side of the room was cousin/beach ball/wildness zone:

The kids were too fast for me to capture in a single photo. I think there were a total of six running around.

Last but not least, here we are with the lovely bride-to-be. This cracks me up...the pregnant bellies are scary.

See what you have to look forward to Bethany??? :)

I love you! Happy Wedding!

Lynne, Bethany, moi.

Saturday Links

The Secret to Great Iced Coffee

The Nester's new living room

4 Cloth Diapering Choices Defined

A Tragic Tale...or a Comedy?

There's a scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's where Holly Golightly is visiting Sally Tomato in prison, and he's helping balance her checkbook. She jokes that if someone wanted to write a book based on her finances, it would be a comedy. Sally Tomato observes that no, it would have to be a tragedy.


Today, in a rare quiet moment, I had a chance to organize my non-maternity clothes. Spread out on my living room floor, sorted by size and season, I had to wonder: would this be a comedy or a tragedy? I have an assortment of clothes ranging from size medium maternity to ladies' size 2. I've worn every size at least twice in the past two years. That's a laugh or cry situation if I ever heard of one.

Still Here...

Just not a lot to say right now.

My third trimester is about to start, and we're staying busy.


Dane and I at his aunt's wedding.

Our sweet girl.

An Update

The Husband is busy. He's picking up overtime shifts as often as possible so he'll be able to take some time off this fall. Being car-less is an adjustment, but it's kind of nice being home most of the time again.

The Katelyn is growing! Two new teeth on the bottom, another two trying to break through on top. She's still a happy nurser, and a busy little thing! She's into everything, but still very obedient and sweet. Her vocabulary is just exploding these days - she's up to over thirty words spoken or signed.

The New One is growing too. I'm at 27 weeks now, and feeling pretty good. The sciatic nerve pain has been particularly painful in the past week, but I'm doing what I can to control it.

My summer is filling up at an alarming rate. Between baby preparations (two showers, appointments, to-do list) and R&B's upcoming wedding (co-hosting a bridal shower, attending two more, throwing a bachelorette party, and oh yeah, being her Matron of Honor) my schedule is a little scary.

Staying grounded has always been a struggle for me...I tend to get swept up by my to-do list and sacrifice my sanity and checkbook in the process. So my goal this summer is to get everything done, reasonably. I have a lot of planning to complete, so I'll try to use the blog as an outlet to figure things out and keep updated on here.

Peace

The washing machine and dryer are humming...
The dishwasher is whirring...
The floors are vacuumed, the tile is swept...
My bed is made, although a sleeping husband is burrowed into it...
A napping baby slumbers in a clean nursery...

...Is this really my house?

:)