Naptime Blog

Since Tristan is still under a year, I try to go by the no dairy rule. Here is a great alternative to frozen yogurt or ice cream on a hot day. Tristan loved it and it is super easy to make. I take 3 bananas and cut them up and put them in a plastic container. Then freeze over night. I keep some frozen for up to a few days at a time. Then when you are ready to use them Place frozen bananas in the bowl of a food processor. (NOTE: This doesn’t work with a mixer or blender, so you have to have a food processor.) Pulse several times to break into smaller pieces, then turn on and run for about five minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The bananas will start to resemble soft serve in a few minutes. It will be chunky and gooey at first and will clump together, but after a few minutes, it will take on a pale yellow, fluffy texture. Transfer to a bowl and place in freezer for about 15 minutes, if you’d like, or serve immediately. (Makes four 1/2 cup servings) Each serving is about 100 Calories so this is also a great treat when counting your calories, plus a fun way to slip in a serving of fruit.

Chrystal
www.everydayoates.blogspot.com
www.everydayoatescooking.blogspot.com

The time has come to purchase a new car seat. I wanted to cry. The infant one we had was only up to 22 pounds. After spending hours, okay days, researching them online, one thing I noticed was the price among all other safety specs. Those convertible car seats can get pretty pricey! I saw a few around the $350 range (ouch!) Surely you can find a great safe one for less…. right??? After reading reviews, we finally decided on the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite, which was originally about $160 at BrU on sale for $119. And how great, this one goes from rear facing, to forward facing, to a booster seat up to 100 pounds. That in itself seemed like a good deal. Even better when the cashier, bless her heart, pulled out a 15% off coupon for us to use. The remaining balance was helped out with my grandfather’s gift then pleasantly surprised when my mother in law paid the rest. She is the best!

 She stayed with us for about 4 days, left today, and is always welcomed here at any time. I am happy to say that I am a fan of my in-laws, haha. I hear A LOT of stories about how some families just don’t get along and its sad to hear, but I am very lucky. I am always glad when Shaughn gets visits from his family who are spread throughout the country and he seems to like it too. Shaughn is getting more and more vocalized and realizing how high in pitch his voice will go. He will just go on and on babbling, like he is telling you about his day or what he dreamt about during nap time. I sit there and agree with him and encourage to tell me more, and boy does he. One day those will be full words and sentences, and though it will be great when that day comes, I know I will cry because it will be another milestone showing just how fast my little man is growing.

-Krystle

My husband recently turned 40 and on Saturday we had a party for him in our yard (which actually turned into our basement because of the rain).  My mother-in-law, mother and I did all of the cooking, and the whole week before I spent shopping, cleaning, cooking, and preparing.

On Thursday night I made the cakes.  I prepared two half sheet cakes to make a double layer cake filled with chocolate pudding.  After cooling a bit, the first one popped out of the pan beautifully.  The second one got stuck to the bottom of the pan.  No matter how I tried, I couldn’t release it.  Finally, it came out – in a million pieces, and half still stuck to the bottom.

The next morning I asked my husband to run to the deli to get more eggs, and when he returned, he had coffee, cold cuts, and other groceries, but no eggs.  So trying to avoid being late for work, he once again ran back to the deli for the eggs.

I prepared the cake, put it in the oven, and began preparing the baked rigatoni.  Then, since my daughter had a half day of school, I took the cake out of the oven, popped the trays of pasta in the refrigerator, and off we went to the bus stop while the cake cooled.

When we got home, Juliana and I were making the icing. I popped the now third cake from the pan and Viola! Beautiful! I went back into the dining room and continued with the icing.  I had forgotten an ingredient and asked Juliana to get it. When she returned, she forgot to close the kitchen door, and the dog took full advantage of that.  In the two seconds it took us to run in the kitchen, King had taken a chunk out of the cake.  Exhausted already with so many more things to do, all I could do was cry.

Paul had called in the midst of all this, and I cried to him.  And I felt terrible that of all the cakes I had made, it was HIS that I couldn’t get right.  He suggested that instead of making a fourth cake, I should just cut off that corner of the cake and replace it with on of the corners from cake number two that got stuck the pan the night before.  Great idea!  Just as I was about to go get the cake, Juliana walked back into the dining room with a chunk of cake saying “Mommy, it’s good cake!”

Aaaaaahhhh!  My daughter just pulled off another corner of the cake!  So again I cried! The twins were sitting in their high chairs through all of this just watching the show, and now Juliana ran into the living room in tears, knowing she made a big mistake.

So I had to try to rig two corners of a cake with remnants of another cake.  Somehow I managed to do it and it didn’t look bad!  Actually, it would be the bottom layer, so once I had it ready to go, topped it with chocolate pudding, and placed the other layer on top, I figured I should be in the clear!

I usually have Paul’s help in layering the cakes, but this time it was the seven year old and myself.  I used the cake lifter and also grabbed a huge spatula, but it was still too big and had to ask Juliana to help by holding a corner and maneuvering with me to place it on the bottom layer.  I was in a sweat, but somehow we managed to layer them perfectly!  Finally we caught a break!  And once the cake was together Juliana and I were high-fiving each other, yelling out in total happiness, and the pregnant mom that I am, I was jumping up and down clapping.  But the cutest thing was my twin ten month olds were squealing and clapping along with us!!!

Finally it was time to ice the cake.  I decorated it beautifully, and then was ready to write in the words…  And halfway through “Happy Birthday, Daddy” my daughter asks me “Mommy, what is a Birthay?”

How did I spell birthday wrong?  So once again I had to make another fix… 

So all in all, I took way too long to make this cake, and had it been for anyone else, I probably would have thrown it away and gone to the bakery.  I must say, through it all, it looked great and was delicious!  I got so many complements and everyone loved it!  But boy was I pooped! 

Jennifer
Mom to Juliana (7), Louis (10m) and Anthony (10m)
Expecting #4 in September!
www.nevaland.com

When I was a kid, I LOVED SUMMER BREAK!!! My oldest son Jeromy is into a lot of different sports. This year we decided to give football a try. He has tried everything else (soccer, basketball & baseball) I have to admit, I was a little nervous about football. I did not want my poor little 80 lb. baby to be tackled or roughed up too much. My husband had the whole “He’s a BOY” attitude.

Well,,,, I know that!! But he is still MY little boy.

Our local university was sponsoring a 1 week football camp. I was pleased to learn that it was flag football. Well, day 1 of camp rolled around and everybody was excited. I was just glad that my son was exploring something else. Day 1 of camp went great, he was sooooo excited when I picked him up that Monday afternoon. He had so many things to tell us and he couldn’t wait to show his dad some of his new moves. Jeromy even said that they worked him to death!!!  (he was exhausted )

Well, by Tuesday afternoon his excitement had decreased dramatically. When he got into the car, before I could even ask;  “How was camp?” Jeromy busted into tears.

Me: Son, what’s wrong??

Jeromy: Everybody hates me!!!

Me: Why do you think that son, no one hates you!!!

Jeromy: YES they do (sobbing uncontrollably)

Me: Son, calm down. What happened?

Jeromy: sobbing and speaking unrecognizable language,

Well long story short. They divided the boys up into 2 teams, Jeromy missed a big pass at the end of the game and his team lost. He felt like it was all his fault. I was crushed!! I couldn’t believe how upset he was. Well, we rushed over to my husband’s job. I knew dad could help with this one.

My husband gave Jeromy a really good pep talk. He shared with our son how everyone has a bad game and that he was not going to be a quitter!! My son insisted that he wasn’t going back to that camp. We kept encouraging him the rest of the day and asked him to give it another try. Well, he did!! By Thursday afternoon he LOVED football and wanted to find a team to join in the fall.

Moral: Encourage your kids to try new things!! Some things will work out for them and some will not, but at least they tried it!!

~Shanta

Today was a nice day. We woke up, completed the mad dash to get dressed and ready and then headed to church. After that, we indulged in Chinese food and celebrated my mother and father-in-law’s 17th anniversary. Early afternoon brought naps for the boys and laundry for mom then we went over and had watermelon with family. Such a nice day, right? Well, most of it!

I had the whole evening planned out. I was going to finish some blog posts, work on laundry then read the book I am into right now (Enough Already!: Clearing Mental Clutter to Become the Best You by Peter Walsh). Right before we left to come home after the yummy watermelon feast, a huge downpour of rain began, complete with thunder, lightning and a tornado warning. We NEEDED the rain BADLY so that was a welcome occurrence (sans the tornado warnings). We have been in a drought for months so I don’t think the electricity knew what to do. We got home and, you guessed it, no electricity. This wouldn’t be too bad, except we hadn’t eaten dinner yet and we were all hungry and it’s very hot here.

You are probably thinking this is a complaint post. Not at all! Actually, it was a blessing, not only because we needed rain, but because it forced us to spend more family time together. We headed to a local fast food place and enjoyed watching the boys eat their kid’s meals. We chatted with other families in the same predicament (no electricity) and had a nice time. Blog posts, laundry and book reading can wait, but family time is precious and my boys won’t always be this easy to please.

I am learning to find the good, the blessings, and little gifts in things that, at first glance, seem like inconveniences.

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

Rick and I have been going back and forth about buying Tristan a puppy. He loves dogs and the Ceaser dog food commercial. When Tristan hears the start music he rushes to the tv. I am not sure we are at a place in life where we have the time for a dog. I don’t want to be the type of person who is never home and I feel that is neglectful to an animal. The other issue it my husband is highly allergic, about the only dog he can be around is a poodle. If we do get one then we have to decide what size. We live in a three story 2300 sq ft townhouse; I don’t feel that a big dog will have the room he needs.

Sometimes I think that Tristan wants to be a dog, he crawls around with everything and anything in his mouth. He also steals things from my mother and sister in laws dogs. My sister in law has a dashund, Missy is very territorial with her things. The only person that can take things from her is Tristan. Missy is so protective and loving with him, I love to watch them together. The other day Tristan took a toy out of Missy’s mouth and stuck it in his mouth. Missy looked so sad and followed him around until he dropped it. She was super nice to him. 

I think we have a lot to go over, getting an animal is a big decision and its not something we are jumping head first into. I have attached a picture of my sons favorite dog, his name is chase and he belongs to my mother in law. In this picture he was being shown at a local dog show by my nephew.

Chrystal
www.everydayoates.blogspot.com

It’s so weird to think about how time just really flies by. And I mean, REALLY flies by. For instance, July 4th 2008, we were in Missouri at a couple’s house on base watching the fireworks display they had going on and for each loud one I would feel Shaughn jump in my belly. The couple that had us over were also expecting their first child and her & I were taking photos of our big ol bellies together laughing at how these were the first official photos of our children together. Now, exactly one year later I was playing in the pool with him and later sitting in a lawn chair with Shaughn, 10 months old on the 4th, on my lap looking up at the fireworks. I was so surprised at how calm he was and would look at all the pretty colors without crying or making a peep.

A couple of the super loud ones made him jump but he never reacted with a cry that I thought would be inevitable from being startled. I swear, my husbands thunder like sneezes has helped Shaughn to get used to surprise random noises. He’s tried to sneeze quietly but its just not in his system to do so, and its never one sneeze, its at least 3 in a row. His whole voice is used during a sneeze and for the first 3 or 4 months Shaughn would jump and scream after the 1st sneeze, and would get louder until Brent was done. At about 5 months, he wasn’t even phased.

I said something to my husband about just how fast time does go by, and used the forth of July’s comparison as a perfect example. I think it even surprised him when you look at it that way. Now we’re even planning his 1st birthday! There are so many themes, I have no idea which one to go for. A traditional “first” theme with the number 1 everywhere, or a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme since he seems to enjoy the songs, but I think I am leaning

-Krystle

Today is Louis and Anthony’s FIRST birthday!  This has by far been the fastest year of my life.  My boys have gotten so big, so fast, and have hit so many milestones!  They are about to start walking any day now, they have said their first words, they have gotten their first teeth.  My boys are beautiful, playful little guys, with such awesome personalities, and I am starting to see them become each other’s best friends.  There really is such a thing as twins having their own language that only they understand.

Here they are when they were first born:

Being on bed rest from early June until they were born on July 22 of last year was not fun.  Being pregnant with twins through those scorching hot early July days, while desperately trying to maintain my water intake so as to avoid dehydration, was not easy.  As it was, by the time I was admitted the morning of their scheduled C-Section, Paul and I had made 7 trips to Labor and Delivery.  I would get hooked up to monitors, get IV fluids, get examined, and go home.  And how I wished time would fly, so I would no longer be pregnant with these two little precious boys!  Silly Mommy!

Ironically, a year later, I wish time would slow down!  I cannot believe my oldest child is now seven and a half, and I know in the blink of an eye these boys will be also!  I want to enjoy and remember every second of those slobbery baby kisses, babbling sentences that I wish I understood, their gigantic pride every time they stand by themselves, the funny faces I get when I give them a new food for the first time, how they squeal with giggles when their big sister dances with them, and how they look at Daddy in delight like he is a rock star when he walks through the door every evening!

Before I know it, Paul and I will be walking them into their first day of Pre-K, watching their first baseball game, buying their First Communion suits.  But for now, I am going to enjoy every second I have of them being one, and I am going to hope I can slow time down just a little so my baby boys will stay babies long enough so that I can blink and they will still be one. 

Happy First Birthday, Louis and Anthony! Mommy and Daddy (and big sister, Juliana) love you very much and hope you both have a great day!  Now on to the party!  We are having a big party with a petting zoo and costumed characters later on today! (And I promise I will share pictures and tell you how it went!)

Jennifer
Mom to Juliana (7), Louis (11m) and Anthony (11m)
Expecting #4 in September!
www.nevaland.com

Jayce’s 6 month birthday is fast approaching!! I can’t believe how fast time is passing. I am trying to catch every single moment. Everywhere we go I am equipped with my Kodak, my Flip & our Handycam. You should see me trying to snatch them out when the kids do something cute. With Jayce having such a low birth weight (5.2lbs.) I tend to worry too much about EVERYTHING, especially when it comes to hitting major milestones.

I guess it’s time to put my worrying aside, because my little guy will be taking off any day now. He pushes up on all fours like a super hero, all smiles!! He is not exactly moving forward yet, but he has a little bounce with it, and it is “toooo cute”.

He rocks back & forth with an
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can attitude!!!!

I am very proud to witness my baby reaching his milestones, but it’s still a little bitter sweet to see him growing so fast. It is so true what they say “Cherish every moment, it goes fast!”

He is such a happy baby, I wish I could bottle that smile up and sell it on EBay. I am not looking forward to his upcoming 6 month well check!! Pray for me,

Please take a look at his feature film debut  :)

Shanta

I like to experiment with recipes during naptime. The boys eat around 11:30 a.m. and then take their nap at about 12:30 each day. That’s usually when I take the time to make mommy something to eat. I am a big fan of grilled cheese and recently had a bunch of farm fresh tomatoes from family members. In addition, we are growing a pot of basil on our front porch, so I try to incorporate tasty fresh herbs into as many recipes as possible.

Taking all those ingredients into consideration, here is the jazzed up grilled cheese sandwich I came up with recently.

This picture shows it grilling up in the pan. I took a generous pat of butter and melted it in the pan then added a slice of white bread. On top of that, I stacked a piece of sliced Colby jack cheese, several freshly cut tomato slices, another piece of cheese, a few dashes of lemon pepper and then freshly picked and freshly sliced basil was added last. After it sizzled for a bit, I added the top slice of bread, flipped the sandwich to coat thoroughly in butter then finished cooking on each side until golden brown and the cheese melted.
Here’s the finished sandwich…

Mmmmm yummy! NowTHIS is comfort food. On days I really want comfort, I’ll dip my bites in ranch dressing.

Since I am from the south, I also highly recommend washing this down with a big glass of fresh brewed, sweet iced tea. I do all sorts of variations on this, so you can change this to suit your tastes. I have done this same recipe as an open faced sandwich that I broiled in the oven with feta cheese instead of Colby jack. Since I didn’t need butter for the oven version, I drizzled a bit of olive oil over the top for added flavor.

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/