A Few of My Favorite Things

It's a slow day in blog world (although Leah did decide to put pieces of string cheese in both ears at lunch today), so I thought I would post some of my favorite "Mommy" things.  These are things that I don't know what I would do without and that I think all mommies should have!

Munchkin Snack Catcher

This thing is wonderful!  We have three of these so that we always have one available to load up with snacks to take in the car or shopping.  It's also great for Leah to have in the playroom!  It's perfect for her little hands to carry around and pull out a snack!

KozyPal Shopping Cart Cover

I am a total germ freak so I don't know what I would do without this thing!  It works on both shopping carts and on restaurant highchairs.  It protects both Leah and I from germs as I don't have to touch the cart handle either when she's with me!  In fact, I cringe when she's not shopping with me and I don't have an excuse to cover the cart handle with the cart cover.  It is very well made, folds up nicely and washes beautifully!

Summer Infant Tiny Diner Placemat

Love, love, love this!  Goes back to the germ thing!  This little placemat has suction cups on the bottom so that it sticks to the table, it rolls up nicely and goes right into the dishwasher!  I have two of these so that there is always one in the diaper bag!

Robert's American Gourmet Smart Puffs

Think Cheetos that are actually good for you but taste way better! 

Leah and I can both finish a bag in a single day! 

Available in the organic/health food section of the grocery store!

Trader Joe's Applesauce/Apple Carrot Crushers

What could be more fun than squeezing a healthy snack out of a Capri Sun type thing!  These things are wonderful for the car and even better for snacking on the airplane!  If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you (I'm so sorry because this place is amazing for healthy/all natural groceries), never fear because I just picked up something similar at Toys "R" Us yesterday!

Sony Portable DVD Player

We originally bought one of these for the plane ride to Texas last Thanksgiving so that Leah could watch her beloved "Wiggles".  We then bought another one for the plane ride to Iowa at Christmas so that Luke and I wouldn't be forced to watch Leah's beloved "Wiggles".  The best part, they each have a five hour battery!  That will get us through any plane ride!  You're probably wondering why this is one of my favorite things!  Well, this is where Leah now watches all of her movies in the playroom so that Luke and I can still have control over the big tv.  I love Leah to death, but I really don't want to watch "Wiggles" all day long!  We keep one plugged in at all times so that when the other battery gives out, the other player is ready to go!  No "Wiggles" meltdowns in this house!  I make it sound like all she does is watches tv!  I promise, she doesn't!  I also throw one of these little guys in the diaper bag any time we head out just in case someone gets bored in the car!

Gerber Organic Juices in 4 oz. Bottles

I don't give Leah alot of juice at all so these guys are perfect for when I do.  If you buy the big bottles, they have to be used within seven days of being opened; therefore, I would be throwing away ALOT of juice!  I just keep these little minis on hand in the pantry for that special occasion (or lack of poop) that Leah gets juice.  They're perfect to throw in the diaper bag and they even slide right through airline security with no problem at all!  They do cost more than the big bottles, but if you do the math to see what would be going down the drain, these are a much better bang for your buck!

Aquaphor Baby Healing Skin Ointment

This works great to clear up a diaper rash and is multi talented in that it even works its magic on dry skin and on a chapped nose!  The best part.....it doesn't smell at all like other diaper rash creams!

Now for a few of Leah's favorites.....

Avent Pacifiers

Nothing would make this girl happier than to find her Valentine's mailbox full of "pa pa's"!  Avents have been her favorite!

Minnie Mouse

Minnie Mouse has become her favorite toy lately!  She carries her with her everywhere she goes and even let her take a nap with her today!  Mommy and Daddy have a big surprise for Leah in just a couple of weeks!!!!!

So these are some of our favorite things.  What are some of your favorites?  It's so fun to learn from other Mommies!

Family Day

Coming to you from my new laptop!  We (I) have put off getting a second computer for years now, but I finally caved and gave in to Luke's insistence.  He's always telling me that if we had two computers he would take one with him when he travels, but he doesn't because he knows how addicted I am to my blogs (and everything else (shopping) the internet has to offer)!  Ha!  Well, I finally agreed because I don't want to be without one all of next week and I'm now loving my new Dell!

Today was "Family Day" for the Hendricks!  Luke leaves on Sunday for a week in Vegas for market (sounds brutal doesn't it), so he hung out with Leah and I today.  We slept in (only because Leah slept in) and then went to get Leah's 18-month/Valentine pictures taken.  I'm so in love with the outfit she wore.  I bought it from my beloved etsy.  As she gets older, picture taking sessions get a little more difficult but the sweet girl did get a couple of good ones!  The photographer tried to get some with her sitting on a little stool, but Leah just wanted to carry the stool around as she was holding it with both hands underneath her (as if she was sitting on it and walking at the same time).  We then enjoyed lunch at our all time favorite Cheesecake Factory.  I did venture from my normal order of Road Side Sliders with cheese and a side of fries or Cajun Chicken "Littles" and went with the Baja Chicken Tacos.  CF did not disappoint!  Leah had lots of fun collecting all of the spoons on the table and shaking the sugar packets!  Note to Mommy:  throw in crayons and a coloring book for next time!

(Almost) 18-Months-Old!  Sorry, these are pictures of pictures. 

Our scanner's not cooperating! 

Is this not the most adorable outfit (and 18-month-old) ever?

This is a picture from our Best Buy excursion on Sunday.  I just had to throw it in because she's super adorable and to show that I'm totally digging the animal prints right now!  Looks like we (I) got a little carried away with the zebra AND leopard print here!

Leah's spoon collection!

The brown bread was yummy and the other bread was yucky (according to Leah)!

If she's addicted to Cokes by the time she's three, it is not my fault!  Here's proof!

Dinner & A Playdate

Tonight our good friends Jason, Lindsay and Zoe came over for dinner.  We always have such a good time with them, talking, laughing and drinking our wine shandies!  We made our awesome fajitas that were just as yummy as always!  We got tortillas from On The Border this time which made them better than ever!  Leah and Zoe had sooooo much fun playing together!  The hot toy of the night was a necklace that they both wanted, of course at the same time!  Leah showed Zoe all of her fun tricks.....jumping in and out of the playhouse window and diving into the tent.  Thank goodness Zoe didn't give in to an older girl's peer pressure tonight!


For dessert, Lindsay brought Leah a Valentine cookie with lots of red icing.  Her mouth broke out, just as we thought it might, everywhere that the icing touched her face, just as it did when she ate her birthday cake.  I get the feeling more and more that it's eggs that she is allergic to.  I don't eat eggs and didn't eat them when I was pregnant with Leah either.  Just the thought of an egg, scrambled or sunny side up, makes me want to gag!  She does fine with things baked with fully cooked eggs (muffins, pancakes, waffles) but anything with raw or lots of eggs (icing, french toast) breaks her skin out everywhere that it touches her.  We haven't given her scrambled or hard boiled eggs yet because we've had a fear of her allergy (and I never ever cook them because, again, I'll gag).  The doctor said he doesn't like to do allergy tests this young because they aren't very accurate at this age so we're going off of process of elimination.


Back to tonight.....Leah was the one who decided when to end the evening.  Around 8:00, Leah pushed her grocery cart down the hall and disappeared.  I went to look for her and found her shopping cart parked against her dresser in her room and she was sitting in the rocking chair, waiting for Mommy or Daddy to come read her her night night book.  Gotta love routines!

Going for a cruise! 

Feeding her baby a baba!  I can't believe I caught a picture of this!

Taking turns wearing the necklace!

 

Even Daddy got a turn! 

Zoe is funny!

Watching "Wiggles"!

 

 

 Wanna come in?

Showing off some of her "tricks"!

This cookie is yummy!

Watch out!  It's Thelma and Louise!

"It's getting bright out!  Here, put these on!"

"We're outta here!"

Tanner

Tanner is a two-year-old little boy who goes to Leah's daycare on Wednesdays only.  He's actually the only boy there at all!  Leah only goes on Tuesdays and Fridays but last week Luke had an appointment on Wednesday so they didn't get to have "daddy daughter day" as Luke calls it, and Leah went to daycare instead.  Well, apparently Tanner really liked Leah!  Pam was telling me today that Tanner doesn't talk a whole lot and doesn't know alot of words, but last Wednesday after leaving Pam's house he went home and couldn't stop saying Leah's name!  His mom called Pam that night to ask who Leah was because Tanner wouldn't stop saying her name!

Escape Artist

Today as I was driving home from work, Luke called to tell me that he had picked Leah up from daycare and that he had a story to tell me.  I could only imagine!  I arrived home before the two of them and anxiously waited in the garage for his car to pull in.  As soon as he was home I went to grab Leah out of the car and before I could even get her out of her carseat Luke told me that Leah needed to tell me a story about how she was a big girl today.  I started to try to guess what she possibly could have done.....she went tee tee on the potty (nope, bigger he said), she went poo poo on the potty (nope, she was an even bigger girl he said), she climbed out of her bed (B-I-N-G-O)!  That's right!  Little Miss Le Le decided to CLIMB OUT OF HER BED during nap time today at daycare.  Pam said that Leah had been down for about 45 minutes (versus her normal 2 hour nap) when she very quietly walked from the office (where she naps in a pack 'n play) to the living room where Pam found her.  Who knows if she even closed her eyes or spent the entire 45 minutes scheming her escape!  Pam said this is something that the two-year-olds do, not the 17-month-olds!  Leave it to my little monkey to find a way out!  Any bets as to how long it'll take her to escape her crib?

Leah Stories

Here are a couple of recent Leah stories that I want to remember.....

Leah loves to play in the pantry.  The other day she was playing in there and discovered a mini-Twix leftover from Halloween.  I was watching her every move and wanted to see what she would do with it.  She sat down in the pantry, opened the wrapper in one swell swoop and took a bite.  She immediately said "Mmmmmm" and continued to eat the Twix.  I ran off to get Luke and when we returned she was out of the pantry and was standing in the living room watching "Wiggles" and enjoying her snack.  We asked her for a bite and took huge bites each in hopes of making the Twix disappear.  Luke took the last bite and she didn't like that at all so he spit out a little piece to give to her.  She was happy with getting the last little bite!

Leah has discovered the mini-fridge in our bar.  She likes to open and close it all the time.  The other day I was in the living room and heard the fridge door close while she was in the playroom.  I went to see what was going on and she was holding an open Sprite (big 'uh oh' on Mommy and Daddy's part there).  I took it away from her and put it in a much safer place.  Not too long after this I heard her in the fridge again and found her holding another open Sprite can.  Before I could get this one away from her it made friends with the floor!  I've mopped the hallway in front of the bar twice now and our feet are still crunching when we walk there!  Looks like I'll be mopping again tomorrow!

Uncle Chris ("Cis") & Aunt Kylie ("Ky-yee") Are Here

Uncle Chris and Aunt Kylie are visiting us from Texas this weekend!  They flew in Friday night and will be here through Monday afternoon!  We are so excited that they are here!  We've stocked our fridge full of all of their favorites and have planned to cook all of their favorite meals this weekend.  This morning I made Chris's favorite chili breakfast whirls (dog mush) for breakfast and we made our world famous chicken fajitas for dinner.  Today we spent our afternoon walking around Old Sacramento and had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  Leah's having so much fun with her aunt and uncle!  Aunt Kylie got to read Leah her bedtime story and put her to bed tonight!  We have another fun filled (full of food) day planned for tomorrow!

Uncle "Cis" & Aunt "Ky-yee"

All bundled up, ready to shop!

Having a little snack!

Hi horsie!

Enjoying our day on the river!

She had so much fun coloring during lunch!

Helping Mommy blow on her macaroni-and-cheese!

She LOVED the broccoli!

Two Is Better Than One

I know Leah won't be starting Kindergarten for another three-and-a-half years, but I can already picture it.....

She and I will walk together, holding hands the couple of blocks to school, through the park.  She'll be a happy girl, smiling ear to ear and I'll be a little sad because it will mean my baby girl is growing up.  We won't talk much, we'll just walk.  When we get to the front door of her classroom, she'll spit out her pa pa and I'll put it in my pocket, ready to give it back to her when I pick her up that afternoon.  When I do pick her up for the day, she'll hold out her hand asking for the pa pa and we'll walk home, holding hands, again not saying a word as her mouth will be plugged by the pa pa!

This is one of my motherly fears as Leah has gotten so attached to her pacifier ("pa pa")!  I know that she'll be fine without it, but we haven't taken it away from her just yet because I need her to have it when we fly so that her ears won't pop!  Since we fly ALOT, I haven't found the right time to start breaking her.  It seems like we get off of one airplane just in time to get on another!

We try to keep the pacifier away from her during the day but if she sees it (or finds one in her toybox or bed or spots it from a mile away on the kitchen counter) she demands it!  You all know what I mean by a toddler demanding something!  We do make her take it out of her mouth to talk if she's telling us something which she always does.  As soon as she's said what she needs to say, it's right back in her mouth with the pa pa!

This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that she is now waking up a couple of times a night crying out for her pa pa.  I don't have the strength the let her just cry it out because she starts to cough if she gets too worked up.  This means that Luke and I are taking turns, usually one each per night, to walk through the maze of our house to find (in the dark) and reinsert the pa pa.  She is usually sitting up at this time and as soon as we put the pa pa in her mouth she falls over immediately and is back asleep as if nothing ever happened!  We've tried putting a couple of pacifiers in her bed at night, but they all seem to fall out of the bed. 

We have gotten smart (when we remember to do it) and put a back-up on the cabinets outside of her room for those late night replacements.  The only problem with this is we were outsmarted by little Leah today when she spotted the back-up pacifier as she already had one in her mouth.  I heard her giggling as she was running down the hallway but wasn't sure what she was up to.  When I finally caught up to her, this is what I saw.....

Sleeping Beauty

Just because she looked so cute in her new nightgown from Aunt Rachael.....

*Please ignore all of the dishes on the floor!  We get a little messy when we cook!

Leah LOVES to dance, especially to "Wiggles", and she loves for us to dance with her.  If she's in the mood to dance and we're sitting on the couch, she'll come and get us, grab our hand and say "da, da" until we join her.  On Tuesday, Ms. Pam told us that Leah and her friend Maddy were standing by the tv watching "Wiggles" and Leah grabbed Maddy's hand and asked her to dance with her ("da, da").  Tonight I had my camera in hand trying to snap pictures of her in her new nightgown, and I caught pictures of her asking Mommy and Daddy to dance with her!

Go Hawks

Iowa in Pictures

We are home sweet home!  We had a wonderful trip and look forward to going back in May!  Here are some fun pictures from the rest of our week in Iowa!

She insisted on wearing this jacket with her jammies!

Eating New Year's Eve dinner at the kids table!

Helping Daddy open a present.  She thought the bow was for her hair!

Taylor and Leah pushing their babies in their strollers!

Having a tea party with Taylor!

Leah and her cousins in their Iowa Hawkeye gear!

Giving Grandpa his birthday present.  Again, notice the jacket!

She LOVED dancing to these singing snowmen at Aunt Rachael's house!

Cheering on our beloved Red Raiders!

Eating dinner with Uncle Hendu!

I had to get a picture with Grandma and Grandpa!