Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice laid back weekend.

Cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons.

Lance had to work Saturday but my mom cam and spent the afternoon with us.

Any day we can spend with her is a win.

Sunday we all slept in then went to the mall.

Then sun finally came out & we headed to the lake.

Mexican for supper.

Monday was more of the same!

The little's love the lake.

Easton just wants to step in the water in his Crocs when Lance puts the boat in or takes it out.

And eat snacks.

Emerson is so content.

She gets comfy in my lap or her seat and she's just along for the ride.

Me? Give me sunshine, happy little's & my boo driving the boat and I'm good to go.

{{Bag from The Cherry Tree}}

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Protein Pancakes

We're on a mostly health food kick around here.

After starting (and completing!!!) The 21 Day Fix, I've been thinking a lot more about what I eat.

Now, I still like some cookie dough or a sweet tea, but they have been very limited.  

So, Lance healthied up a pancake recipe a few weekends ago.  

And, they don't even need syrup!

If you wanna add syrup I wouldn't blame you, but try it without syrup first.

You'll be surprised!

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

1-1/2 Cup Bisquick Heart Smart

1/3 Cup Quick Oats

1 Scoop of Protein Powder (this was chocolate)

1 Egg

1 1/4 Cup Milk

1 Apple finely chopped

1 mashed banana

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Pour 1/3 cup of batter on warm griddle for each pancake.

Flip when bubbles form in pancake.  

I put a little bit of Coconut Oil on mine in place of butter, and I didn't even need syrup! 

Makes 12 Pancakes

Each pancake contains 115 calories, 5 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein.

ENJOY!!!  

Emerson Sloan:: 6 Months

6 Months Old

And ever so delightful.

She's sitting up now, and leans forward to get on all fours and rocks.

She's either ready to crawl, or trying to go from all fours to sitting up on her own.

I'm not ready for crawling just yet!

She was 19 lbs at our last geneticist appointment.

We haven't started food yet.  We'll see the cardiologist and nutritionist on Friday.

I assume they'll give us the green flag then.

We are still nursing and I pray that can continue for a long time.

She's finally sleeping in her bed.

Most of the time.

We've been given the ok to go 4-5 hours between feedings so that makes night time sleep more attainable.

I typically nurse around 8 or 8:30pm and lay her down after that.  Then about 1:30am (or 2/3am if I sleep through my alarm :/)I wake her to eat again. She's up again around 5:30/6:00am and I'll nurse her again and let her sleep & snuggle with me until Easton gets up.

This took some work.  We had to do the cry-it-out method last weekend.

Night one was 2 hours of crying. 

It was torture.

But it was worth it to get her in her bed.

Nap times are still a challenge.  

We've had a few crib naps, but she still prefers to be held.

Cry it out is a little more challenging at nap time.

Laying her down without nursing is a bit harder for her to get to sleep.

We work on it but not too strict with it.

We like to be on the go anyways, so naps on the go are fine by me.

She's definitely a momma's girl.

And I'm just fine with that.

She loves Easton.

Her face lights up when she hears his voice or sees his face.

He's pretty crazy about her too.

Sister loves the lake.

We've been on the lake several times and she is out like a light when she gets on there.

She's laid back and chill on the lake.

It's relaxing for everyone.

She fits just perfectly into our little family.

Indeed, our cherry on top.

My sweet little Apple Dumplin.

Recently

Life recently has been good.  

Busy, but good.

Our days are mostly spent outside.  

Sister has started sitting up so she's enjoying life a lot more now.

Easton is all baseball, all the time.  

We are sure enjoying the sunshine after that extremely long winter.

We busted out the water table the other day.

It was warm, but I didn't want him to get soaking wet.

I specifically said "Easton, don't get your hair wet."

So he comes out with 2 goggles.

"One so water doesn't get in my eyes and one so my hair doesn't get wet."

Genius.

Thankful for these days home with my babies.

Looking forward to lots of park, swimming pool and picnics this Summer!

Rainy Day Cookies

Today was a rainy day.

We did absolutely nothing fun at all.

We stayed upstairs and between loads of laundry and feeding and changing diapers, we watched tv.

Before I knew it, it was lunch time, then nap.

And the whole day was a wash, just like the rain outside.

It was nice to be home all day, but I felt like Easton was bored out of his mind.

So, cookies it was.

I was trying to redeem myself from a day of nothingness.

It worked temporarily.

He told me I was his favorite friend and that he loved me all the way behind his back.

{you know, when you open your arms THIS BIG...all the way behind your back is as far as you can go}

But Daddy came home and off he went.

I was left finishing the cookies on my own.

However, he was happy to help eating them.

Happy Rainy Wednesday!

Mother's Day 2014

How does one sum up what it feels like to be a Mother?

It's the hardest, yet most rewarding job on the planet.

I've heard it a million times, but I can't think of a better way to put it.

To have the honor of teaching these children to be respectful, Jesus loving children.

To teach manners.  To have fun.  To be silly.  To make memories.

Being a mother is my greatest joy.

It doesn't come without its fair share of hard days, but at the end of the day, these 2 are my world.

And I'm so thankful to be able to be home with them every day.

Thank you Jesus for a mother who showed me the ropes.

She's my glass half full.

My lemonade maker when life hands you lemons.

My laughter when the times get hard.

My everything.

Oh, to be half of the woman she is.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Annual Strawberry pickin' on Mother's Day

We didn't actually pick this year, they were all picked over, but we did buy farm fresh.

And the ONE that made me a momma.

The one that asks a million questions a day.

The one that has a million requests a day.

The one that can find good in anything.

My bird watcher.

The one that loves hard.

My sunshine lover.

A tender sensitive soul.

My rule follower.

The one that can talk a blue streak.

His daddy's carbon copy.

With a little touch of OCD (like his momma).

This one,  he's mine and I couldn't be more thankful.

Easton's FIRST Baseball Game

I'm not sure there's ever been a more exciting day in this child's life.

He's been Baseball Ready since Lance signed him up to play!

He woke up knowing that TODAY was THE DAY!

We had team photos first then game time!

He was so excited.

When he went up to bat, he walked from the duggout to the plate all grins.

He waved and grinned just like Ham on the Sandlot when he walks past all the hotties at the pool.

I loved it. 

He was so proud of himself.

He had so much fun!

I see many many more years at the ball park in our future!