Free Range on Fairview

We are getting ready to add a third boy to our brood and life is already full of wrestling, weapons, sports, super heros and dirt. My boys just seem to gravitate towards all things rough and tumble. Bruises and battle cries are commonplace. "All boy" is a term I've heard thrown around and definitely think that describes them (although Lincoln's curly hair had had several people call him "her" but that's not where I'm going with this). I love that my boys are active, creative and protective of each other. As we finish up final preparations for the arrival of Warner I have started pulling out the bigger baby items. A swing, bassinet and car seat are now taking up space in our home again. My oldest son has been through this before and at 7 understands that the baby stuff is for the baby. The issue that keeps coming up is how to keep my baby now (wait he's a toddler or pre-preschooler ) out of the things that aren't really his any more. He loves...

Lately I have not been very good with defrosting food efficiently. On Monday I made the honey sauces chicken in the crock pot like I planned. Only I didn't put in fully defrosted chicken, it was all sort of still clumped together but I've cooked chicken in the crock pot before and it's always cooked pretty fast. Except I forgot to account for that when I timed the recipe so about 5:15 rolled around when my boys thought they were starving and I come to find that the chicken is still a little raw in parts. That just won't work. So I ended up making homemade lunchables for dinner for them and eating the chicken later when Shane got home. It turned out really good and we ate it again the next day for our real dinner but it was disappointing to not be as easy as I had planned.  I think the boys would rather have these any day.  Then today came... Yesterday we rearranged the chest freezer because it was becoming a black hole and I couldn't find things I was looking fo...

Yesterday was one of those days. Lincoln was really grumpy yesterday, whining, scowling and taking an extra nap. Maybe he's growing, not feeling great or becoming a terrible two year old... I don't know. He's also started throwing things when he is mad. I know I have to stop that one before it gets out of hand, yikes. Needless to say I was already dealing with my raising agitation levels when later that evening I ended up giving Dylan a hair cut and it did not turn out like he planned. I gave him the usual cut with the fancy new hair cutting system that my dad gave me as a Christmas present but apparently after the fact he actually wanted a swoopy to the side hair cut like some of the older kids on the Disney channel have. He actually cried about hair. I thought since I only have boys at home now I would avoid that situation but I guess not. Next time I will have to youtube some videos on how to actually achieve that look. Then as he was showering off Lincoln had a melt do...

1. Getting Free Stuff  This is what a weeks worth of free stuff I get in the mail looks like. Yup I got all of that just by signing up for it online. Dog treats, a whole package of samples from P&G including many coupons, a box of apple cider k-cups, diaper and wipes sample, Better Homes and Gardens and Babytalk Magazines, a free pair of undies from Victoria's Secret (although there is not one nearby so I mailed the coupon to Danielle) and a bunch of high value coupons from Pampers. I contacted them because there was not a coupon booklet in the package of diapers I bought like promised and they sent me more than I probably would have received otherwise. I also got some free things from Target and Safeway just by matching coupons with in-store deals. 2. Brothers teaching each other things. Dylan was putting batteries into the controller for his new awesome remote controlled helicopter and Lincoln loved being there to help with the whole process. The boys also loved hanging ...

Too cute. Lincoln and I visited Dylan for lunch today (getting out of the house give Lincoln a little change of pace and surprising Dylan is one of my favorite things to do) since we live like a mile away it is fairly easy to pull off at the last minute. While we were enjoying our lunch - or trying to get through it with a wiggly toddler - I heard Dylan tell his friend "Did you know my brother is in pre-school?" I though it was so cute. He saw what I had out on the table this morning in preparation for the day and I guess it really stuck with him. Our first activity today was sorting little dinosaurs into an egg carton. Then we put pretzels into the slots for snack because this kid eats all the time. We also had the tv on for less than an hour so far today. Making progress slowly but surely.  I don't know what I did yesterday but my back is killing me again today so I'm really going to take it easy with the heating pad while he is napping and enjoy the quiet house.  ...

With Shane going back to work today I changed up our menu plan a little (ok, a lot) from what I posted at the beginning of the month, but schedules changed, I got tired and came up with some leftover and easier meal nights and so here is what I plan on making this week. Also have I mentioned I am obsessed with food? Yes it's true but I will post on that another time. With Shane gone for dinners again, me becoming increasingly bigger (33 1/2 weeks in!), and trying to come up with a new engaging schedule for Lincoln I am going to try to utilize my new crock pot more and work on meal prep work while Lincoln is sleeping. The pre-meal-time-melt-down-I-want-munchies-and-Mom part of the day definitely makes me feel defeated so I am going to try to be more intentional with that. I had wanted to try to get all the prep work done on Sunday afternoon but it was too nice and sunny so we went for a walk as a family, met some new adorable neighbors (why couldn't they live next to us?) and...

I was reading the April 2012 Issue of Babytalk and they listed three effective uses for baking soda related to baby that I had never heard of before. I'm all for finding cheap alternatives to chemicals so here they are. - Sprinkle a few spoonfuls into baby's bath water to help relieve diaper rash . - Mix baking soda and baby oil into a paste and gently rub into baby's scalp to wash away cradle caps' flaky skin (Lincoln had this bad and because I didn't fully handle it when he was little am still dealing with some residual flaky skin, plus he has so much hair you kind of don't really see it all the time. Our doctor said we could use dandruff shampoo but Lincoln is not good at keeping his head up when I wash his crazy hair so I've been afraid to use it because I didn't want it to go in his eyes. Maybe I'll see how this idea works!) - Combine 4 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 quart of warm water to clean toys , then rinse and dry. Three new idea...