31 August 2010

Solid Food Schedule

I love to stay organized and I love to make spreadsheets! I opened an Etsy shop to try to make some extra money... but after praying about it I realized that The Lord doesn't want me trying to make money. After more prayer I decided to figure out how to post them on my blog and share them for free. 

The first that I am sharing is the one that is the most useful around here.


   (I'm trying to figure out why the letters are all squished.. if I figure it out I will post a new one that is not all funky!) 

 Thanks to this schedule we are able to ensure that we are spacing the introduction of foods far apart enough and able to determine which ones are causing issues. 

I hope that the link works!

Peace!

Nikki

GratiTuesday

I've decided to Jump on the GratiTuesday Band Wagon. I need to stop and think about the things I am grateful for... if not I worry that I will just forget about it and waste it.  So my plan is to join Heavenly Homemakers (My favorite blog ever) and share a piece of awesomeness. 
Join us for Gratituesday at www.heavenlyhomemakers.com


I feel like I have so many things to be thankful for... today I will cover the basics!


 I have an amazing husband. He and I are such an amazing team. I seriously think that together we are an unstoppable powerhouse! Tony is such a hard worker and he takes a lot of pride in providing for his family. He loves the Lord with all of his heart and when I'm struggling in some area Tony builds me up... I'm so lucky to have him!







Together, we have 2 awesome boys. Bastian has the coolest sense of curiosity! The dude loves to learn and we have so much fun with him. He seems to be slowing down a bit and he loves being a big brother. He is also becoming the most encouraging little guy ever! Today he told me good job for stopping at a red light! And then he wanted to give me a high five for it! I love to see such an awesome trait develop in him!  Gabriel is the most mellow baby dude I've ever met, and after having a wild card like Bastian that is a huge thing to be grateful for! He loves to watch, and he rarely voices his opinion and he is super happy just being in the arms of his mommy! It's also nice having a guy who likes to snuggle. The boys are exact opposites but it seems to work for us and  We feel so blessed that the Lord chose us to be the parents of our boys. 









We also feel super blessed for Tony has a great job that he loves and that we are in a pretty good place financially.  We just bought our second home and we think that we will be in a good place to purchase #3 soon. We are grateful that we are in a position to be considering another home purchase rather than losing ours...   We know that God has a plan for us and the fact that he's not giving up makes it easy for us to stay involved in Real Estate as well!


So basically- We have our God and we have our family... I'm super grateful!
Happy Gratituesday!
Peace!
Nikki 







30 August 2010

VA Beach here we come!

Connor, Tony and Gabriel


 Summer = Visitors! Which is awesome, we love the excitement of guests! This time we were lucky enough to have our friends from the Michigan ANG spend some time in our neck of the woods! The best part was that they didn't stay in our house! We all stayed in hotels! I didn't have to freak out about cleaning, I didn't have to get annoyed that they didn't put the lid to the toilet down or used the wrong soap... It was great!

Bastian, Brandon and Connor playing WOW.

Gabriel has a thing with hair...


We woke up in our hotels in Norfolk and had breakfast... All was good until Bastian puked all over the floor in the breakfast room! He acted like he felt ok off and on, but spent the rest of the day randomly throwing up and not eating. Poor dude, but the next day he was good as new!
 We went swimming in the ocean with everyone and we saw the biggest jellyfish I've ever seen in my life... which also happens to be the first jellyfish I've ever seen! (Not counting those in captivity or on tv)  We did occasionally see some jellies in the water... but apparently this is a mild Jellyfish season.
     The best part about swimming away from a huge tourist trap was that we were lucky enough to see a giant pod of dolphins swim by. They swam about 100ft from the guys in the water... Bastian loved it!  Gman and I watched from the shore... but that was enough to convince us to get our buns in the water! We went to VA beach after naps to check out the boardwalk and play in the sand. And eat at a rather questionable Mexican Restaurant.
Bastian, Evan and Connor playing in the sand on VA Beach


The next day was reserved for Busch Gardens! Tony and I are not big ride people, so Elmo's Forest of Fun was all the excitement that we needed! We hung out with Bob and Connor all day.  Tony, Bastian and Connor dominated the rides while Gabriel, Bob and I watched. We met up with everyone else for a few rides and then had dinner and then we got to see  The Illuminights Show.

Connor, Tony and Bastian on an "Elmo Ride"
Connor and Bastian walking to the next ride! 


Tony and Connor waiting to ride a roller coaster! 









After we left the park we parted ways in the parking lot... we had to go home and prepare for our trip to DC and The Llewellyn clan was headed to Myrtle Beach- to be stung by the jellies!

We had a great visit with them... and it was a good reminder that there is still some good in Michigan!

Peace,
Nikki

29 August 2010

The Joys of Good Teething Gear!

We have had our share of teething issues in the Whitehead home. Along with pretty much everything else, that we aim to be "natural" in this aspect of our lives. We do not like to medicate- although we do offer the occasional Hyland's Teething Tablet. It seems to work pretty well for us... don't give me any junk about the stinking Belladonna. It's a great pain reliever! We have had to give Gman ibuprofen once or twice, but we save the hard stuff for an "in emergency break glass" situation!

One thing that has worked well is a wooden teething necklace.  Yes, they do make some super cute rubber ones... but I don't think we'd ever offer rubber for Gman to chew on! So wood it is!

We love the necklace by Stones of Healing. I love that it is a nursing/teething necklace. Gabriel loves it as well! If mommy has it around her neck you can guarantee he will be chomping  away at it!

Another necklace that we love is by TarynStuff. The necklace is super cute and reversible. My first necklace had a dent in it and the seller sent a new one to me at no charge within 24 hours of my message to her! I was super impressed!

We have finally bit the bullet and ordered an Amber Necklace. I'm excited about it, I hope that it works as well as I've heard that it will. I've heard some great things from multiple people, I'm excited to see if it works for us. I found This seller on etsy and I liked the necklace because it looks pretty manly! We bought an unpolished Sea Amber necklace...(here she is) I'm super stoked about it! I wish I would have seen that the seller was from stinking Latvia! Sometimes I think I need a more calculated approach rather than just willy-nilly amber necklace shopping! It could take a month to get here!

Lucky for us Gabriel is such a mellow fellow and nothing really seems to bother him too much... the only rough night that we've had was the night before his first tooth broke through.

We are so lucky to have "alternative" methods for pain... I'm glad that we are learning more and more about everything. Maybe by baby #20 we will have this Natural Living/Parenting down!

Peace!

Nikki

Grams & Grams Whitehead come for a visit!


We recently had a visit from Tony's parents! They were on an anniversary getaway and made a stop at our place for about 4 days.  The trip was non-stop action right from the gates!

We started the visit with a trip to the beach. Even though we went in August we were lucky enough to not see any of those pesky jelly fish! Trust me, I was watching out for them big time!  



<






<< Gramps and Daddy with the boys!
^^ Sandy Buns after playing in the sand!



^^ The boys playing in the sand together, eating shovels that don't belong to us 
and are covered in sand!

 
Our next stop was  The Michie Tavern in Charlottesville. Which is a really cool place to check out right by Monticello. They had great food and great shops. They serve the drinks in Stainless steel cups, that we loved so much that Tony bought me a set of 12 for my birthday!! Whatta guy! (Back of you cougars, he's mine!)

We didn't get to do much after our trip to Charlottesville, it was "Man- Night" and pretty much every man we know was going to eat at Quaker Steak and then going to see The Expendables. 
Tony's mom and I stayed home and talked about gardens and how to convince Tony to let me raise my own chickens! 



Our next stop was back to VA Beach to check out the Aquarium. We haven't been there since the brazzillion dollar upgrade! We definitely liked it more than before. That being said, I find it funny that the aquarium in Newport KY is still the best! (We haven't taken the family to the aquarium in Baltimore- but don't get me started on my feelings about the training of Marine Mammals!)  


Bastian still loves sharks, sea turtles and puffer fish! 



Speaking of Sea Turtles... how cute is this little dude! He was trying to bite his filter (filter thingy?) off.



Bastian and I were exploring some hydrothermal vents... 



Bastian was able to pet some horseshoe crabs!



And we wore out the grandparents!

Then on Sunday we went went to church and played cards and relaxed! 


Grandma reads lots of books Bastian (We usually like to get a bunch from the library since Grandma is such a good reader!)




And Gramps snuggled with Gman!

We had a great time and we look forward to seeing them again for Gabriel's first birthday!

Peace!
    Nikki

13 August 2010

Finally a Cracker Recipe!

I have searched high and low for a good cracker recipe! I have tried the recipe from Nourishing Traditions and for some reason we do not seem to love it as much as everyone else. I've tried making up my own recipes (I try this way to often and fall on my face... way to often!)
Of all the recipes that I have tried this one is the best AND the easiest! Whoo Hoo!

My main motivation for finding a good cracker recipe is so that I have a quick and easy snack that both boys can have while we are out. I hate Goldfish crackers,I hate cereals, I hate baby puff things... I think I'd rather hand both of them a snickers bar! So this seems to be a good compromise! It's not the best and I haven't tried to soak the grains before I made them, I'm not sure if I will because that takes more work and I'm not sure I feel like dealing with more work!
For those who are interested ... here she is....

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup plus 1 tbs olive oil

1 cup applesauce

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt 

Mix salt, cinnamon, flour and oil until mix resembles coarse meal. Add applesauce and mix well. Form into ball (add more flour if too sticky - knead in well) and split into halves for rolling. Roll out 1/8 to 1/16 thick on floured surface. Use sharp knife and cut 2" squares from dough - place on baking sheets and prick 2-3 times with fork. (optional - top with sugar and press sugar in to get it to stick into dough). Bake in 350 deg oven for 10 minutes, flip crackers and bake 5- 10 mins more until crispy.



It is really good tasting to me, hopefully Gman will agree. He seems to be my toughest food critic right now!!


Enjoy! 

04 August 2010

Bastian's Well Child Visit



Basarooski-doo also had a 3 Year Check-up recently.

He weighs 39 lbs and it 38 inches tall. (Less than 10 inches taller than Gabriel!)

He had to get a few vaccines as well. He didn't cry, but he did yell. He was fine as soon as he saw the bandages and got the stickers! He also enjoyed having a War story to tell anyone and everyone who would listen for the next week!

Gman's Well Baby Visit




Our Little Gman had his "6 month Check Up" a few days ago. (it was delayed because of vacation and a vaccine delay)

He weighs 17lbs 6oz and is 29 inches long!

He is in the 50% percentile for height and off the charts for length!

Not too surprising since he is super skinny and super long!

He reacted to his shots much better this time. We didn't have 3 days of a grumpy baby dude like last time.

Still no teeth! And no sign of them.