currently #4

Go link up with Harvesting Kale & Ot & Et!

THIS WEEK'S THEMES: Coveting, Imagining, Asking, Saving, Fearing

Elliot and Emmett are currently...

Coveting his rubber ducky collection- Elliot is, anyways. He insists on taking his rubber duckies (usually in a bucket or basket) everywhere we go.

Imagining that he's a dragon. He yells, "Giant Dragon! RAWWWWRRR!" Multiple times a day now. It's pretty funny- except when it scares Emmett.

Asking for "more snackys" "more snackys cheeeeeeeese" (that's how he says please). The kid is always eating, but somehow isn't gaining any weight. I guess he got his mama's metabolism? Emmett has also now mastered how to ask for "more" food. But if he's thirsty it's a different ball game. If he sees a cup that's out of reach, and he's thirsty, he proceeds to FLIP OUT until it is retrieved for him. He has two levels of thirst- 1. I'm not thirsty at all, and 2. GIVE ME WATER BEFORE I DIE!

Fearing his new speech therapist. Elliot's beloved speech therapist has been replaced by a younger (fresh out of college) woman, and Elliot spends at least the first fifteen minutes of every therapy session hiding on the couch under his blankets. I can't figure out why- she's really quite nice.

  

Elliot and his duckies (crappy instagram pictures, sorry)

I am currently...

Imagining how blissful our life will be once we finally leave the states and arrive in Costa Rica! I really can't wait. I know you're not supposed to wish your life away... but really, I've never anticipated something  so much in my life. I just cannot WAIT to finally start living our life there. (ps: we are also discussing possible plans of having baby #3 in Costa Rica. Maybe a home birth? Shhh.)

Asking myself how I am ever going to weed through all of the boys clothes, and toys, and (in Elliot's case) blankets to decide what we will/will not bring to Costa Rica. We are going to be limited to probably about 6 suitcases... and I expect four of them to be for them. They have A LOT of stuff. I'm nostalgically attached to many of their things, so it's going to be sad to sell/give away what we can't take. Sigh. Small sacrifices, right?

Saving every extra penny for our upcoming move.

Fearing the unknown, a little. I wouldn't be human if I didn't, right? I'm always worrying that something will go wrong.... like we'll really struggle with the language barrier, or we'll end up lost somewhere on the side of the road, or what if we get there and absolutely hate it? That's highly unlikely, but you never know! Most of the time, I'm filled with anticipation and excitement, and thinking positively. It's only every once in awhile that my mind wanders to the "what ifs". Then I remember that God has a plan!

can we just be in Costa Rica already?

Yesterday, Aaron found our dream home in Costa Rica. I've never seen him light up so much while talking about a potential house in my life. It's actually not the house itself that we're so excited about, although it meets (and exceeds) all of our criteria- it has three bedrooms, each with a balcony, and two bathrooms... with a stone shower and a jacuzzi tub! It's what lies outside that's so exciting. The house sits right on a river and is surrounded by lush, tropical vegetation. All kinds of fruit trees and gardens fill the property. Seriously, guys, you've never seen so much green in your life!

I can just imagine going on long walks, picking fresh fruits from fruit trees along the way. What little boy wouldn't rather learn to swim in a refreshing river than a chlorinated pool? I can already see Elliot throwing a tennis ball and watching our dog chase it and disappear briefly into the jungle of green. After a day of learning and exploring, once the boys were tucked into their beds, Aaron and I would sit on the balcony, drinking te caliente and making plans for the next day, while nature hummed in the background. Or, I could escape for a bit and catch up on my reading in the jacuzzi tub. Doesn't that sound so blissful? All this for only $500/month! Crazy, right?

It's not the exact area we have been looking in- the house is near the small, quiet mountain village of San Gerardo de Rivas, which borders a nature reserve. Although my husband would probably love living in the middle of nowhere, I'd be more comfortable a bit closer to a larger town with shopping and restaurants and the amenities... but we could make it work.

This is just one of many houses we have fallen in love with in Costa Rica. It still amazes me that in just a few months, we will be living a life we've always dreamed about! Now, if only the VA/Army could pick up the pace a little... all this waiting and wondering is aggravating.

for now, we'll just pretend this is Elliot exploring the rainforest instead of our apartment complex, okay? ;)

weekly menu plan

Monday: chilaquiles casserole (vegetarian)
Tuesday: asian chicken lettuce wraps
Wednesday: pizza margherita, with thin whole wheat crust (vegetarian)
Thursday: sauteed broccoli & cauliflower over rice* (vegetarian)
Friday: skinny savory superfood soup (vegetarian)
Saturday: garlic cauliflower "mashed potatoes" & steamed veggies (vegetarian)
Sunday: chicken burrito bowls with avocado cream sauce
{this weeks' recipes found at 365 Days of Crockpot & Disney Family & skinny ms}
meals marked with * = my own recipe

Goal & Focus this week: slowcooker meals & only two non-vegetarian meals

currently #3

Go link up with Harvesting Kale!

THIS WEEK'S THEMES: Borrowing, Dancing, Building, Throwing, Buying

Elliot and Emmett are currently...

Borrowing they both like to "borrow" toys from eachother... which really means Emmett tries to take whatever Elliot is playing with, and then Elliot says, "No No! Ellie's toy!" and takes it right back. He's stronger than Emmett, so big brother wins this battle... for now.

Dancing on poles. Well, Emmett is anyways. I have no idea where he learned this from, but anytime he finds something remotely pole-like, he grabs onto it and dances like a maniac, while squealing with delight. He does this with the rails on our balcony, lamp posts, and most recently the pole that sticks up out of Ross shopping carts. I have to admit, it's pretty amusing!

Building elaborate trains. Elliot's new thing is lining up all of his blocks into a long snake that winds around his room, and calling these creations "choo-trains." To his dismay, Emmett's favorite thing to do with said trains is destroy them. 

Throwing fits, occasionally. Emmett has started throwing mini-fits when he gets mad. He throws himself onto the floor and whines... then gets up two seconds later like nothing happened. It's pretty cute... for now. Elliot also throws fits sometimes, but his are FAR less cute.

Buying ... nothing, but if they had it their way, probably all the goldfish and multigrain cheerios in the world. They just can't get enough!

I am currently...

Borrowing nothing, really...  but I should be borrowing library books! I'm sad to admit that in the almost two years that we've lived here in Texas, I haven't borrowed a single book :( That makes me sad, guys! I checked out books from the library on post in Arizona all the time! I just haven't had the time to read, lately. Now that I finally have some free time in the evenings, since the boys go to bed pretty early,  I've been using those couple hours to relax with my husband or get online. Hence my recent blogging streak!

Dancing with Elliot while I clean. In the mornings, when I get down and dirty to vacuum, scrub the floors, etc (and let's face it, I have to do that every day because toddlers are messy) I put on a music choice channel on TV and we all boogie. Elliot gets excited when I get out the vacuum now, because he loves when I chase his silly little dancing butt around the living room with it.

Building up my music collection- again. I've gone through three laptops in the last six months, so I lost my music a few months ago. Well, thanks to flvto's music downloader, I'm slowly building up my music library again! And that makes me one happy woman, because I can't live without my music. 

Throwing away a whole bag of trash a day. I don't know how we do it, but somehow we are filling up a whole kitchen garbage bag each and every day. It's nuts! I need to invest in some eco-friendly garbage bags. Any recommendations? 

Buying a lot of new bras. I've always had small boobs but MAN! Since Emmett is only nursing once or twice a day now, and only in the evenings, all the bras that I bought while pregnant with him no longer fit. It seems like my boobs are smaller than ever! I remember reading somewhere that the fat cells in your breast tissue are replaced with milk glands, and that the fat cells don't return until several months after weaning. Untl then, I guess it's back to an A-cup for me, lol! Oh well... at least I don't have to worry about sagging boobies when I get older ;)

name this puppy!

This is Cinco- or that's what we've been calling him, anyways. He will be the first four-legged addition to our family once we get to Costa Rica (he's already there waiting for us). 

He was born on Cinco de Mayo, which is how he got his current nickname. I'd love to give him some sort of lovely/creative Spanish name, but we'll see... I'm nearly as indecisive about pet names as I am about baby names so... I'm definitely open to suggestions.

things I don't want to forget

Elliot, 29 months:

• Elliot likes to refer to himself in the third person ("Elliot carry it, Elliot have banana? Elliot walk! Elliot yikes this!")
• he is also fond of adding "too" to the end of everything he says, even if it doesn't make sense. ("Elliot snacky, too? Elliot carry it, too. No bye bye, too")
• he is obsessed with cupcakes, sailboats, and trains. Whenever we're building or drawing, that's waht he wants- a cupcake, a sailboat, or a choo-train. I'm not sure where he picked these up (especially the cupcakes?) but it's pretty cute. A couple days ago, at the sandbox, he sculpted a whole bunch of little round "cupcakes" and was so proud of himself. :)
• he hates the camera. HATES it. Hence the lack of photos of him lately.
• Whenever he needs something, he says (in a very pathetic voice) "Help, Mama! Help!"
• if we're outside, he insists on holding my hand. If I forget, he will say, "Hand, Mama! Hand!" until I grab his adorable little hand in mine. It's absolutely endearing and I know it won't last, so I'll treasure it while I can.
• he says please like: "cheeeeeese!" and usually without us asking
• Elliot is very into organizing and sorting his toys. He likes to gather up all of his rubber duckies into a bucket and carry it around, or line up his blocks along the wall, etc. It's silly. I wonder if he's going to like organizing like I do when he gets older?
• Whenever little brother even so much as touches Elliot, he says "ow! ow! OW!" Yeah, the big brother is commonly "beat up" by the little brother. Except luckily for Elliot, Emmett is the nicest baby there is so, really, nothing ever happens. Unless Elliot gets in the way of Emmett's food... then there may be a problem.
• His favorite animals are cows 
• favorite foods: broccoli (bwok-wee), rice (ice), graham crackers (big cwacker), & apples
• He's wearing mostly 12-18m shorts and 18-24m shirts. Occasionally, depending on the brand, he wears 2t shirts, for the length. He wears size 3 disposables and Flips snapped to the smallest rise setting. We recently started selling off our cloth diaper stash in preparation for our move to Costa Rica (because they would take up way too much valuable suitcase space)... hence why they are sometimes in disposables now, too, whereas they were exclusively in cloth for over 8 months. Once we get to Costa Rica, and get settled into a place with a washer, we plan to cloth diaper again. 
• He weighs around 24 lbs and is 35.5".

Emmett, 12 months: 

• Emmett has 9 teeth (he just got his first molar!)
• he likes to randomly squeal and dive onto unsuspecting pillows and blankets
• he is all about the random snuggles. Oh my Emme, I don't think his life would go on if he couldn't get his snuggles in every day.
• when I go in to get him in the morning or after his nap, as soon as he hears the door open, he jumps up, throws his arms out, and either laughs or squeals. Then the first thing he does once picked up is give me a good long hug. ♥ 
• words he says: "more", "mama", "dada", "uh-oh", and I swear he says banana, but I might just be imagining that one? He says something that sounds just like it every time he sees a banana, though. 
• favorite food: bananas, but really he loves and will devour ANYTHING. And then he proceeds to eat about an adult-sized serving, far more than his big brother ever eats, until his little round tummy sticks out and is hard as a rock. What can I say? He's a piglet. 
• he takes two naps a day (3 hours in the morning + 1-2 hours in the afternoon), is in bed by 8pm, and usually wakes up between 8-9am. He is waking up for one night feeding still, most nights.
• whenever I'm doing laundry, he loves to help. His favorite thing to do is stand in front of the dryer and hand me each piece of freshly-dried clothing, one by one. Time consuming? Yes... but oh so adorable.
• every evening, before his bath, I start filling up the tub and take his diaper off while he stands and waits. EVERY time I take his diaper off, he looks down and checks out his "boy parts". I don't know if he's making sure they're still there, or just amazed that he's naked and free, or what, but it totally cracks me up.
• he is still nursing- but I'm not sure how much longer I'll get to treasure this last part of babyhood. He only nurses before bed and usually once during the night now. Although a few months ago I was somewhat eager to wean, I'm in no rush at all anymore- I love nursing him to sleep. It's our special bonding time.
• he's wearing 9 & 12 month shirts, sometimes 18 month onesies, for the length. Mostly 9 month shorts, and size 3 disposables and Flips snapped to the smallest rise setting. 
• he weighs around 21 lbs and is 30".

Lately I've just been thinking about how quickly time passes- it seems like just yesterday that Emmett was born, and we became a family of four. Suddenly, he's already one year old. They are each their own person,  developing their own distinct personality. They each have their own little quirks that I don't want to forget. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time. I stopped doing monthly updates on the boys awhile ago, but I wanted a way to record and remember the little things forever. This is just my way of doing that. This "things I don't want to forget" post is probably the first in a series. I'll  post a new one every month or two. 

"Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet." 
-Sarah Louise Delany

memorial day

Wishing a very happy Memorial Day to all soldiers- past, present, and fallen, but especially my very own soldier, Aaron Patrick. Elliot, Emmett, and I love you so much and are so glad God decided to keep you here on earth with us ♥ 

... so God made a soldier.

weekly menu plan + a recipe

I meant to post yesterday, but our household got hit with a serious 24 hour stomach bug. We're talking about the kind of bug where you can't even keep water down and spend hours laying on the bathroom floor by the toilet. It started with Emmett on Thursday, then hit me Friday night, and hit my husband yesterday evening. Sooo... the only one left is Elliot. Oh, poor Elliot. We've never experienced a toddler vomit around here... and I'm really hoping to just skip over that lovely horrendous milestone completely, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. You never know, right? Maybe the kid has the immune system of a superhero... after all, he was a miracle baby. Heh. One can hope.

Well, as I got ready to post this salsa recipe, I was thinking, wouldn't it be kinda neat to post our whole meal plan? I mean, not only does it hold us accountable, but it could also give all you lovely readers some new ideas! So, that's how we came to a new Sunday feature here at my blog. From now on (I hope) every Sunday, I'll be posting our meal plan for the upcoming week, along with pictures and comments about last week's meals. My facebook friends are always asking where I get my recipes so- I think they'll be quite happy about this. :)

Monday: basil lime chicken

Tuesday: skinny slowcooker savory superfood soup (vegetarian)

Wednesday: spinach & bean burrito wraps (vegetarian)

Thursday: squash & zucchini stir fry* (vegetarian)

Friday: asian chicken salads* 

Saturday: southwestern black bean casserole (vegetarian)

Sunday: basil artichoke chicken bake

{this week's recipes can be found at skinny ms & my kitchen escapades}

meals marked with * = my own recipe

Goal & Focus this week: at least 3 vegetarian meals, black beans

Favorite meal from last week: black bean & corn salsa. I made this for lunch on Friday- the day that I got sick. But nevermind that, it was delicious!

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans

1 can of corn

2 cans of Rotel

1 medium chopped onion

freshly chopped cilantro

a dash of lime juice or one squeezed lime

Instructions:

- open can of black beans, place in strainer and rinse, dump in bowl

- open can of corn, strain excess water, then dump in bowl with beans
- open cans of rotel and add to beans and corn
- chop onions and cilantro, add to bowl. Notice how I didn't give a measurement for the cilantro? I LOVE cilantro- it gives the salsa such an invigorating, fresh taste. So I used a lot. The original recipe called for 3 tbsp- you can add as little or much as you want

- add lime juice to your taste

- LASTLY: once it's all mixed together, cover and chill in fridge for at least a couple hours before eating. This allows the flavors to meld and makes it that much more delicious.

- enjoy :)

{original recipe from spark recipes}

Google Friend Connect disappears July 1st, so let's find eachother on BlogLovin'! 

fab friday

What's fab in our lives lately: 
Welcoming new babies into the world: I was lucky enough to be chosen as my friend Nicki (from Mostly Average) to be her birth coach and also to photograph her labor and delivery. Now, playing both of those roles at once was a little tricky, so I didn't get any pictures of the birth itself. But I still managed to capture many other wonderful moments. To see more, visit Patton Jakob's birth on my facebook page.

Our diet is still going strong:  We've been dieting now for about a week and a half, and I'm happy to report that Aaron has lost 5 pounds, and I've lost 3. More importantly, I have so much more energy and enthusiasm! It just feels so great to be eating healthy again. And I've been cooking up all sorts of delicious dinners. On the menu this week? Chicken & wild rice casserole, skinny savory superfood soup, spinach & black bean burrito wraps, baked basil lime chicken, baked tilapia with peppers, skinny southwestern black bean casserole, and an asian chicken salad. For lunch today, I made a black bean & corn salsa, which I'll be blogging about tomorrow. (So check back!)

Our puppy, waiting for us in Costa Rica: Emily's dog gave birth to a litter of 6 puppies on either May 5th or May 6th (which also happens to be both Emmett's and her son's birthday). Unfortunately, stray dogs and accidental litters are common in Costa Rica. One of the things we hope to do there is to catch and spay/neuter as many street dogs as we can. Emily has already lined up families for most of the puppies, who will be spayed/neutered before they go to their new homes. Mama will be spayed soon, too. She is being kind enough to care for one of the puppies for us until we arrive. We picked #5, the black and white male. We want to give him a spanish name, but for now, we're calling him Cinco- not only was he the fifth pup in this picture, but he also may have been born on Cinco de Mayo, so it seems to fit. We had to rehome our beloved cat Charlie and our husky mix Luna before moving to our current apartment last summer, and we are VERY excited to have a dog around the house again. The boys both absolutely love animals and Elliot is fantastically well behaved with our friends' dogs. The added fact that Cinco will have grown up in a family with two young children before coming home makes me very happy.

Rubber duckies & rain: It doesn't rain here very often, so when it does, we get a little excited. It makes things green(er) for a little while- and by a little while, I mean a few days. There really isn't any nice green grass in this area of Texas, just prickly crab grass and weeds that hurt your feet if you try to walk barefoot... and soon even the crab grass will dry out. (Another great thing I'm looking forward to about Costa Rica- lush green vegetation!) It's raining today, and before it started raining, they pumped all the water out of one of apartment complex's pools so they could renovate, so Elliot took full advantage by taking his rubber duckies (his latest obsession) outside to play in the flooded playhouse and sandbox. It was sort of like a redneck water park. 

Google Reader/Friend Connect is going away on July 1st, let's find eachother on BlogLovin!

Currently #2

Go link up with Harvesting Kale!

THIS WEEK'S THEMES: eating, loving, missing, moving, talking

Elliot and Emmett are currently...

Eating broccoli & cauliflower... and lots of it. They are definitely not complaining one bit about Mama & Daddy's diet. I'm so glad my boys are veggie lovers like me.

Loving their Mama, and sometimes I swear only their mama. Elliot especially is going through what started off as an endearing but is now extremely frustrating "mama only" stage. He only wants me to do everything- not daddy. Mama has to make him his food, cuddle him, pick him up, wash him in the bathtub, fill up his cups, build towers with him, etc. No matter how many times Aaron asks "can Daddy help you?" his response is always the same- "No, Mama. Mama, help!" Emmett has always had a special relationship with me, but neither I or Aaron are surprised, seems how I'm the one with the boobies. (ha!)

Missing their "Gumpa!", Aaron's dad, who came to visit for Emmett's birthday. Elliot sure did keep him busy, that's for sure!

Moving allll the time, especially Emmett, who is fully walking now, and getting rather fast! Oh boy!

Talking more- both of them. Elliot is coming up with new phrases, questions, and statements every day. He's currently obsessed with colors and counting, and insists on pointing out the color of everything. The other night, we had an... uh... interesting conversation about the color of his peepee. He ended up deciding it was yellow.


I am currently...

Eating amazing labor & delivery crunchy ice. Oh man guys, I can't get enough of this stuff.

Loving the fact that my dear friend trusts me enough to choose me as her labor/delivery coach, and also gave me the wonderful opportunity to photograph her labor, delivery and (eventually) birth. I am so beyond excited.

Missing my babies, especially Emmett, who went to bed tonight for the first time in his entire life without nursing. Since I have been in the hospital with my friend, Aaron had to put him to bed. He has been going down for his morning nap without nursing, though, so hopefully it wasn't too hard on him.

Talking my friend through labor, and we've also been talking a lot about baby names (this is a little dangerous). I even added names to our baby name list. I'm battling some serious baby fever right now! Ahhh! I don't know if it's because I'm living vicariously through her, or because I'm a bit nostalgic since just a tiny bit over a year ago, I was in the same place she was, about to welcome a new baby boy into the world...

hh!