Kitchen Help

Zane has been a great cook for some time now. He has gotten to the point where he is actually helpful, chopping things, doing a great job of stirring, adding pinches of salt, cracking eggs into a bowl, and he knows the basic safety of the kitchen. He understands what's hot and that it will burn him, he knows to keep his fingers off the cutting board and out of the mixer, and usually does a great job listening to my instructions while we are cooking. 

 (Photo NOT from today, he was not this excited about Mamma cooking with someone else.)

Of course I knew this set up would be changing soon. Recently Rowan figured out how to get into the tower and has started wanting to be part of whatever is going on in the kitchen. Today was the first time he actively participated, mainly I think because he was hungry (which he is always hungry) and thought this was his way to food. His thinking was mostly correct, but I'm not sure it was exactly the kind of food he was looking for, Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna isn't on the top of most one year old's recipe list. Rowan's presence and participation in dinner prep was not met with excitement from his older brother who had to share his cooking duties. Zane tried pouting and telling me he was sick, neither of which garnered him any attention, so he finally caved and came back to help with the stirring.

 Taking his tasting very seriously

 Trying to pick off every last piece of artichoke

 

 This was the point that Zane's true first childness shown through. "Mamma, he tasting it, we not taste it till the BERRY end." "Mamma, he put his hand in the bowl, we not put our hands in the bowl Rowan!!!!" "Why he so messy Mamma? He not wipe his hands after he get messy." He got really upset about the whole thing and we had to spend some time talking about how Rowan is little and still learning all the rules. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Rowan will most likely be a middle child and not care about the rules, that's a convo for another day.

 

 I love how seriously Rowan is looking at Zane in this picture. Zane is teaching him how the salt and pepper shakers are magnets so they stick together. I'm not sure Rowan is buying it.

Adding another set of hands, especially one year old hands, into the mix of things was difficult and made our dinner prep take, what felt like, forever. It's ok, everyone got a turn, everyone had their own spatula to taste from, everyone got extremely messy, and everyone was sad when it was over. Well... I might not have been that sad when it was over. Rowan definitely has no clue about cooking safety, or the rule of "we taste at the berry end mamma." Oh no Rowan's hands were in all sorts of pots and pans, every step of the way. We are back to first day stuff, like don't put your fingers in the mixer when it's going. Yes, for some reason this particular lasagna recipe required the use of the Kitchen Aid mixer, the little food processor, and lots of chopping on the cutting board. I'm happy to report both boys still have all their fingers and there was no blood involved. I consider that a huge success!!

"Mmmm... ymmmy"

 Spreading some sauce on the tower

At least by the end he was sticking his little spatula in the pan not his entire hand, progress.

Rowan, of course, loved the tasting and wasn't quite sure at the end why he couldn't take handfuls of it out of the pan and eat it. Luckily everything was already cooked in this dish so he technically could, but was devastated when the pan disappeared into the oven and all he was left with was a tiny spatula to lick. Oh yeah, he doesn't ven know how to lick a spatula, we have lots of work ahead of us. The tower worked out much nicer than the one year old on the counter that you're terrified might bail off at any point. Both boys can stand in it comfortably, though Zane opted for sitting on the counter, and can easily bail off without killing himself. This also made reaching into the various bowls slightly harder for Ro, though he managed to get into most things just fine.

This was the sad face I was met with when I came back from putting the lasagna in the oven

 "Oh, but there is still some on my fingers, score!"

It was quite the team effort this evening, but by the time I was buttering the garlic bread I made it clear I would not be requiring any help and Zane should take Rowan to his room to play. At some point you need just a little space, though I adored both my helpers. It's great to see how much Zane has learned and wonderful to watch him help his little brother, all be it slightly under protest today. I'm sure their future wives will thank me when they both grow up to be amazing cooks! For now Rowan has lots to learn and I will pray for patience so that I can teach him and cook with him with as much enthusiasm that I had when Zane was his age. Wish me luck!

P.S. Rowan ate a piece and a half of lasagna, a piece of garlic bread, and would probably still be eating had I not finally cut him off. So I think it's fair to say he enjoyed the fruits of his labor! Zane at s tiny piece, under threat of not getting a malted egg for dessert. If Zane isn't careful Rowan is going to be bigger than him soon and that is going to be dangerous.

After I had cleaned everything up and had set down to rest, Rowan got back in the tower and found these colorful measuring spoons mom had left here. She had said she bought them for a baby gift and they worked just as she had planned, he played with them in his tower and on the ground for a solid thirty minutes. We might need to keep this set Grandma!!!

Ten On Tuesday

1. Zach and I are back from our weekend in the STL. We had a wonderful time and were so happy that we got to be part of Adam and Rebecca's big day. The wedding was gorgeous and we had lots of fun seeing old friends. Here is the happy couple. I actually had never met Rebecca before but she seemed like a wonderful person and obviously adores Adam, which is all that matters.

 

2. Of course the other couple of the weekend was Zach and Adam, best friends since grade school. It was so touching to see the two of them celebrating this huge event in Adam's life. Adam was the best man in our wedding and Rowan's Godfather, so he is very loved by all of us. The two of them are like brother's and I love seeing how much fun they have when they get together. Apparently Fayetteville Arkansas is only three hours from here so maybe we can hang out with The Kingrees more often.

 Theses two were possibly going a little crazy after five hours of pictures!

3. Zach did take his groomsmen duties seriously, including taking part in the forced Village People YMCA dance. The DJ left quite a bit to be desired, but all the guys were great sports about it.

4. Of course Zach and I took our customary wedding picture together. Not really sure why, since we look exactly the same in every one. But we had a great weekend away from the boys, though we missed them dearly and wished we could have been part of the Blakley Farm fun. Next time I guess.

Here we are with our personalized champagne bottles. Very cute!

5. I got to see all my St. Louis girls as well which was beyond fun. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I love them all and miss the daily comedy that came with working with them. I do not, however, miss the stress and drama of that floor. So I guess I'll just be taking some weekend trips to St. Louis!

6. I still feel terrible, actually this has worsened over the past few days. I completed my antibiotics last week and a course of steroids. I was feeling better when we left, but now I feel horrible, my head feels like it might explode, I can't stop coughing, my chest hurts, everything hurts, and I am miserable. I have acquired a primary care physician and will be seeing her tomorrow, so hopefully we can get all this under control. I work Thursday and Friday which is going to be rough, but already didn't work Monday so going to have to suck it up. Very sick of being sick!

7. Rowan continues to have green snot pouring out of his face as well. He is almost done with his second round of antibiotics. I don't know, I guess it's just his baseline now. He also has a molar coming in, which is just silly since all his front teeth haven't come in yet. The poor kid cannot catch a break and continues to be pretty miserable. I wish he could just feel better at some point, well that and get use to his new routine. Being one is really hard.

8. Today we tried to power through my feeling terrible for an afternoon of fun in the backyard. It was a little chilly, but just right in the sun. We had snack time outside, Zane pushed Rowan in the car, and they actually played fairly nicely together the whole time. It was much needed fresh air for everyone

 As cute as this  below picture is a fight broke out over the car shortly after, obviously.

9. Rowan is starting to try to talk more, in his own little one year old way. Today he tried to say ball, pretty adorably. Last night he said "blast off" amazingly well while we were watching little Einsteins. He babbles or yells pretty much all the time now so I'm sure he'll have a burst of vocabulary soon.

10. Today was the first day that Rowan has shown any interest in books. With my utter lack of energy I decided that I could maybe pull off a trip to the library (p.s. why do they need two forms of picture ID to get a library card? I threw a huge fit so they let me get one without a second form, but seriously America, the people who need the library have zero forms of ID, except possibly a freaking library card if you would let them have one!!!) Ok I'm off my soap box. Anyway I took them to the library in hopes of them being calm and reading books so I could rest. It worked perfectly. Zane loves all the books he got and Rowan now has started bringing me books as well. Rowan is violent with them, usually hitting me in the face with them multiple times, but he has sat and listened to a few books and has entered the "take all the books off the shelf" phase. He likes turning the pages and wants to be part of book time when I read to Zane. All good things, now we just need to practice being gentle with Mommy's poor pounding head.

Here's hoping I get some good drugs tomorrow so I can feel better soon! Happy Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday

1. My little baby Ro is now becoming a chubby bubby. He eats continually and when he isn't in his high chair eating he is bringing me Go Go Squeeze Apple sauces, fruit squeezable pouches, mandarin oranges, or his new found love, animal crackers. I had never really gotten animal crackers before, but we had some left over from Ro's bday party. Rowan is now an addict, searching them out all the time.

 

Here he is with the bag of animal crackers. "Dat, Dat, Da, Mamma."

  I think he would eat continually if I let him, but usually I cut him off an the hour point. His favorite foods, besides the one's listed above, would have to be broccoli. Absolutely loves it!

2. Zane found Daddy's CAT hat the other day and these adorable photos ensued. So funny! Zane was naked in these pictures, all but the hat, which makes it that much better. 

In this picture Zane looks just like Zach did as a little kid. It's his smile, dimples, and that Blakley head/ears that makes him look like me, well like my Dad.

This one on the other hand, looks just like daddy, all the time.

 Hi Mamma!

3. The boys were back in daycare yesterday after four days off, with mixed results. Zane seemed to have a good day, with no reports of crying for hours. However, I found Rowan laying on a pillow staring off into space, looking quite miserable when I picked him up at four thirty. His teacher told me he was pretty crabby all day and still isn't drinking. We came home and Rowan ate pretty much non stop until he went to sleep. So the struggle and sadness around that continues. 

4. Monday was St. Patrick's Day and my boys did rock all their Irish green at school. They looked very festive, though not really excited about getting their picture taken. Here is the best I could do.Check out Zane's terribly fake smile, so funny.

5. We have started trying to take Rowan's pacifier away while he is awake in hopes of him only using it while he is asleep. This has been a disaster and Rowan somehow manages to find it or his brother gets it for him (how thoughtful of him). His recent illness and starting daycare hasn't helped either. We shall press on soon. 

 Oh and have I mentioned he has a huge gut!

6. Recently Mr. Ro has also started throwing some little baby fits when he can't have what he wants. And by 'what he wants' I mean food of some sort. Usually the baby fits are in the evening when he wants to eat applesauce continually and we try to get him to drink milk. He throws his little head back, cries the most pathetic cry, and sometimes even puts his face in his hand for effect. He is definitely a strong willed little guy who knows EXACTLY what he wants and when he wants it. "Dat, dat, dat mamma" is his new favorite phrase. 

7. I am getting excited about Zach and I's upcoming weekend trip to St. Louis. I can't wait to be back in the STL, which I have missed so dearly. I didn't realize how much I loved that city until I left, isn't that always the case. I really miss the scenic view of the sun rising over the arch on my way to work. The Devon Tower and the Oklahoma State Capital are no where near as beautiful. I also cannot wait to see all my SLCH girls. I am trying to plan out all the places I want to eat, which is going to be hard since we only have so many meals there. Oh and I'm also very excited about Adam getting married too! Should be tons of fun. 

8.Today was the long awaited release date of Disney's Frozen. Zane literally had me mark the day on the calendar that it was coming out and we have had a count down. for the past two weeks. This was partly because during my orientation week a presenter falsely claimed it was coming out that day and we went to get it only to find that it really wasn't available. That is a three year old's nightmare for you. I still find it strange how much he has fallen in love with the movie, purely based on the soundtrack. He was not a big fan when we saw it in the theater, but this evening I arrived home to a Frozen party. We didn't quite make it all the way through, but that just means more Frozen fun for tomorrow.

9.Other fun happenings this past week include a wonderful find at the dollar store, a helmet. He doesn't ride a bike yet so doesn't have a real helmet, so this dollar version has been working great for things like, keeping  dragon fire and swords out of his eyes. You know all the normal hazards of the backyard. We also got out the dinosaur train set he got for his second birthday, almost two years ago, and he loved it! He can actually put it together, load up his dinosaurs, help the train up the hill without pushing it off the track. Much more fun now. I wish he had loved his train table this much when we had a big basement to enjoy it in.

 

10. Also this week I started trying to save money on groceries, our biggest expense (outside of our two house payments of course). I made my grocery list, per usual, after finding recipes I wanted to cook for the week. Then spent about thirty minutes finding coupons online and researching some money saving apps on my phone. So far I've used them on two shopping trips and saved about ten percent each time. However, this does make the shopping trip take a little longer, since I'm trying to stay closely to my list. Here is the end result of our longer shopping trip.... little brother sleeping on big brother's shoulder. So adorable. I was at a smaller grocery store so it was the highlight of all the shoppers. Have I mentioned I love these boys?

 Yes, we had to break into the Minion Cheese Nips midway through the trip.

Friday Round Up

So thanks to my new full time job I have no time or energy to blog, but thought I should post an update on the past two weeks. My orientation period is over and next week I start "on my own" as they say. The patient care is much calmer and easier than where I came from, but the archaic charting system is taking some time to get use to. I worked my first three in a row in about four years this Monday - Wednesday. It wasn't that bad, since I wasn't running all day long. None of my patients had an IV, for all three days, which was unheard at my last job. I welcomed the calmer environment. I guess at some point I'll learn how to use their IV pumps. A lot is different with staffing, and the floor I'm on doesn't have a lot of core staff, people who work only on that unit, so it looks like I won't be seeing the same people very often. Anyway, the job is fine, early mornings not seeing the boys, then late nights, coming home to very sleepy boys that I put in bed as soon as I walk in the door. It hasn't gotten any easier.

The change has probably been hardest on little Rowan, who immediately got sick on day three of daycare. I knew that would happen, but just makes everything that much harder for my little baby who is already struggling. He has ear and eye infections again, so back on antibiotics and off liquids. I don't know why  he hates drinking so much, but that is the battle I fight with him daily. It seems to have gotten much worse with this current illness and his new medications. Rowan and Zane have been very tired, but have both taken good naps the past two days. As I write this Rowan is in the midst of a much needed three hour nap. Of course Zane and I followed suit with the illness. Zane actually seems to be doing the best out of all of us, just a little cough and runny nose, but not as much energy.

Other than the family illness, which Zach somehow always avoids, there isn't much to report. The weather is nicer so we've spent the past two days outside, playing in the sand box, and unpacking all our yard toys. The yard is now covered with all sorts of fun things. Poor little Rowan just wonders around aimlessly, usually returning to me to be held and have the snot wiped off his face. Grandma joined us for some outdoor fun yesterday, which is always lots of fun. There continues to be a lots of work being done trying to get Zane to not hurt Ro all the time. Some days are great, then some days he knocks him over repeatedly. There are lots of conversations about him being the big brother and needing to protect Rowan, not try to kill him. I can't wait for them to get along, surely they will eventually.

Here are some pictures of our past two days of outside fun. We drew some ghost decorations, pretended it was Halloween and we were camping. There was lots of fun playing in the sand box, with Rowan of course tasting the sand. When Rowan wasn't wondering around aimlessly he sat in his little car, doing nothing, practiced sliding down the big slides, but mainly needing to be held.

 This is Rowan checking out the ghost village and looking so cute in his little boy Nike Shocks! So freaking cute!

 Don't worry his brother came and gave his a little push down the slide. It didn't end well, obviously.

 About the time I think I really have blue eyes I look at a picture of me and one of my boys and am reassured that my eyes are actually green. This was my attempt at a selfie with my big camera. Ro is not impressed!

 There were lots of rides on the "train" as well. Of course.

Next weekend Zach and I are flying back to the STL for Zach's best friend's wedding. The kids are staying with Grandma, who hopefully can call in some help from the Aunts and Uncles over the weekend. I'm slightly concerned about it, since Rowan isn't a big fan of sleeping at night currently. I haven't broken the news to Zane that this means he will be in school four out of the five days next week. He has definitely asked how many days he has to go to school next week, but I'm trying to be terribly vague about it.

I saved the best for last, which is the picture of the boys in their new "Imagine World Peeps" shirts. I saw these in Zulilly the other day and could not pass them up. They are so adorable and the picture of the boys together turned out amazing. It's next to impossible to get a picture of both of them, so this is by far the highlight of my day! Love these boys!

That's the update from here. Hopefully we all getting feeling better soon.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Well today is over, so that's good. It was pretty much the worst day ever. Actually my day itself was fine. Orientation lectures, online classes/tests, learning a new (and I by new I mean incredibly old) charting system, figuring out where to park, missing SLCH and all my friends.

2. I got done at four fifteen and got excited that I was going to get to go pick up the boys. Oh wait... that was the saddest thing in the world. Zane was happy and had a good day, I think. He was very excited to see me and had lots of stories. But everyone, from the lady at the front desk, to Rowan's teacher, told me that he had a rough day, cried all the time, and was "sad :(" per his take home paper. So I balled my eyes out the rest of the evening and have set forth researching how to sell my soul or something to be able to not have to work. If only my house would sell I think we could be close.

3. Zane did have lots of fun things to tell me such as, he danced, jumped, ate strawberries which the other kids said were "nasty" but he informed them they were good for your body. He got a sucker for being a good helper and told me he made friends but doesn't know their names. He also told us that people in his class say bad words when talking about the potty, but couldn't tell us what. So pretty much what I had expected.

4. I had a lonely day since I am the only Pediatric Contract employee. Most of the time I'm somewhere by myself since I don't really have a group to fit in. I'm ok with it I guess, since I hate chit chatting about nothing. But it did make me miss my friends and the beautiful setting of SLCH.Things here are quite a bit older and less colorful, but in search of a highlight of my day the tater tots were amazingly crunchy, which all at SLCH know is of great importance.

5. Monday I did have a good snow day with the boys, though it started off pretty rocky. Zane has taking to hitting not only his brother, but myself. So that is no fun and he had lost screen privileges, of all kinds, by 1100 AM. We rallied after nap time, learning the letter U, making cookies with Grandma, and getting lots of cuddles in.

6. Zach had fun in the STL for Adam's bachelor party. I dare not ask what all they did, but I'm sure Mardi Gras in STL was world's of fun. He finally made it home safely Sunday evening, after a tense day of driving through rain, sleet, and snow.

7. On Friday, before the crazy cold and snow came back, the boys and I headed to the farm to enjoy the beautiful weather. There wasn't even crazy wind, so it was actually an amazing day to be at the farm. My Grandpa, who I believe is 89 years old, came over for fun as well. Zane ran up and gave him a hug when he arrived, like they were old friends, which was so adorable. You never see little kids not be at least a little shy around old people they don't know. We cooked hot dogs, ran on what few hay bales are left, gathered the eggs, Grandpa made peach cobbler, and I think had good time watching my crazy boys. I had a great time catching up with him and am so glad we made the trip up. Zane was pretty appalled when I told him that my Grandpa (who he kept calling my Papa) was Grandma Blakley's Dad. The look of utter confusion on his face was priceless. Doesn't really make sense since he thinks his mom doesn't have a dad.

We forgot tennis shoes so Zane got to run the hay bales sans boots, which are too slippery.

 Cowboy Zane, who kept finding random pieces of straw to chew on, without any prompting from me.

 Rowan thought seriously about falling off the porch, like you do when you are one, at the farm.

 Then it was bon fire time. Zane helped me start the fire, complete with his hard hat. Grandpa even came out and ate hot dogs and marshmallows. Zane did a great job with the marshmallow roasting.

 8. Other highlights of the week was Rowan getting his first Daddy horsey ride. I wish I wasn't so lazy and would just walk across the house to get my good camera for these moments, but such is life. Rowan was a natural, hanging on quite nicely during his ride around the couch.

 And then Zach became a ladder for the boys to get on the couch.

9. Zane was suppose to go to the dentist in STL today. They called to remind me yesterday, oops, we don't live there anymore. So instead Zane's T-Rex took a trip to the dentist instead. He got his teeth cleaned and a full bath, quite the dentist appointment. Zane was surprisingly excited about the idea of going back to the dentist, now we just have to get him another dose of antibiotics so we can actually get his teeth cleaned.

10. In search of something else positive today, I found this adorable thing happening. Rowan slowly, but surely, taking all the silverware out of the dishwasher and handing it to his Daddy to put away. He would toddle over to the dishwasher, get spoon (actually he was quite drawn to the knives, of course), get it out, slower toddle back to Daddy and say "da, da." "Thank you Rowan." This was repeated until all the silverware was put away. Of course big brother helped too. What can I say, it was a struggle to find bright spots. Wish me luck for tomorrow.

***Zane just came out of his room, about forty five minutes after I put him to bed, to tell me he had a bad dream. A monster came and stool the iPad. Well actually the monster just took all the little kid apps. Now that is a nightmare. #FIRSTWORLDNIGHTMARE