My growing boy!

Can't believe how much Liam is doing now and that in only 10 days he will turn 1 :) 

<3 Liz

Dance Class Fun!

Chloe and her friend, Lillian at dance class :) 

<3 Liz

Homemade Pancakes and Ribs!

Last night I had trouble sleeping, I don't know what it was but I found myself tossing and turning and saw almost every hour throughout the night so when Liam woke up early, very unexpectedly, I changed his diaper, put him back to bed and couldn't fall back to sleep. So I got my work out in pretty early and was feeling good but feeling sore, my hubby and kiddos and the dog were still sound asleep so I had some me time just relaxing on the couch, enjoying the quiet! It was very nice. It is not very often where I find my house full and quiet. I went back into the bedroom a little later and noticed that Chloe was waking up. She said, "momma can I snuggle with you and watch some tv?" sooo sweet! Of course! I love when she wakes up so sweet like that. 
We snuggled for awhile and then decided to make some breakfast


Day 5 Chloe Quote: "momma I am going to be the best big helper ever!"
I've been wanting to try to make pancakes from scratch for quite awhile so thats what we did. First we made the bacon! then moved onto the pancakes. You could definitely tell the difference between the store bought mix and the batter that we made and they were pretty delicious :) Unfortunately I have no picture from our first try because I couldn't find the camera and when I went to use my phone I saw that the battery was dead...but that just means I will have to make them again... and soon!! :) 


The day went on and we got a few errands done and enjoyed the day with Sean. He had the day off which was unexpected but very nice :) 
We've been wanting ribs so he decided to give them a shot for dinner tonight. He put them on the grill around 1 o'clock this afternoon and smoked them all day. He didn't take them off the grill until we got home from dance class tonight which was around 5:15ish. They were AMAZING! I really love ribs but don't order them much if we go out to eat because I don't want to be messy and then unexpectedly have to take of something the kids need so it was really nice to have them for dinner and them be so good. They fell right off of the bones and weren't real slimy, they were PERFECT! And Sean was very proud :) we paired it with mac n cheese and red potato salad! YUM!

mmmm sooo yummy! :)

I feel like my word of the day is unexpected because as I think of what to type next I realize I've used the word a few times in this blog already and was just about to type that tonight we have an unexpected visitor lol. Well it's true, we do. Our friends one daughter is sick and mom needed to take her to the doctor and asked if her older daughter, Emily could stay with us. We really hope that little Hannah is better soon but are very happy to get to see Emily and Chloe was ecstatic to hear that she could finally have a sleepover with her friend. The girls have played, watched movies, shared popcorn, did their hair and have taken pictures and videos with Chloe's Leapster camera. Oh boy I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be at the age where all of this happens but it was fun to see them having so much fun together! 






<3 Liz 

Busy Thursday!

Today when I woke up I knew it would be a busy day because we planned to go to storytime, run a few errands and then go visit and play with Ginger and the kids but it got awhole lot busier than expected. We had to cut out the errands and storytime because at 9:16 I got a call from the company that organizes showings for the house and they said a realator had requested to show our house from 11am-1pm. Of course I said YES! We want to get rid of the house so badly before we head to NY that I couldn't pass up a showing. I called Sean immediately and asked if he could please come home, he did and we cleaned like CRAZY! We have been trying to keep the house perfect lately but its hard when your living in the house and you have 2 kids, we do our best but we got it all done and headed out the door a little after 10:30. Chloe, Liam and I headed to Ginger's house. We had a great time! We had lunch and the kids played. It was a really nice time :) We really love spending time with Ginger, Lillian and Thomas, and I hope to be able to spend as much time with them as we can before me move! Chloe was very upset when we had to leave, she really gets upset when she has to leave a good friend but I kept reminding her that we will see them again tomorrow for dance class :) 

Chloe and Lillian with the dolls... sweet little ladies :) 

Liam was checking to see what the girls were doing with Mickey cup in hand  :) 

Hopefully tomorrow we get to hear some feedback from our showing. I am praying that it went well. and I really am praying for an offer under contract, more showings or even potential renters! Please pray that it all works out for us! 


I am also hoping that tomorrow I am less sore. I started a new workout yesterday and ohhh man I am sore! I love it because I know that my workout is doing what its suppose to but feeling sore is not fun. Our home is just one story so steps are not a problem but getting up and down from playing with the kids on the floor is painful at the moment. I'm going to push through tomorrow and do the same workout! My goal is to keep up with this workout and as the weather gets nicer I will add running outside. I am determined! 


Day 4 Chloe Quotes: "I'm mad that we can't go to story time but I will be your big helper, I promise."
"Momma, I had a dream last night that all my friends from North Carolina came to visit us in New York, can my dreams come true. Where do dreams come from?"
"Mommy I'm sorry that I didn't listen but I just don't understand, I just can't understand this."






<3Liz

Leftovers

In the past year since Sean returned home from Afghanistan, we have started to cook with each other! I love it so much and am so thankful that finally he enjoys experimenting in the kitchen just as much as I do. It even had alot to do with us getting out beautiful Kitchen aid mixer last month :) 

We really like to make our own pizzas and with the mixer we are able to very easily make our own pizza dough! We made pizza's with friends on Sunday but then again last night we made more dough and decided we were going to create our own calzones and strombolli!! Can I say DELICIOUS!! :) 

For the calzone we rolled out the dough and added ricotta and mozzarella cheese, broccoli and garlic. and then for the stromboli we rolled out the dough and added mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and green peppers. They both turned out soo good!! and we are warming it up in the toaster oven for leftover tonight! :) YUMMY!! 

Broccoli and Garlic Calzone

Pepperoni and green pepper Stromboli 

With the Stromboli I warmed up some of our homemade red sauce...DELICIOUS!

Here are some pictures of the finished food, I am planning on adding a section in my blog to include recipes that we experiment with, and I plan to definitely add the recipes for these too. I will have to type it all out because we pretty much just threw a bunch of stuff in and gave it a shot!

Looking at these pictures I think its time to go and warm it all up for dinner and enjoy :) 

<3Liz

Ash Wednesday

Well since today is the start of Lent I thought it was appropriate to blog about what my family and I have chosen to go without for Lent. Sean and I we're talking about Lent at dinner last night and Chloe wanted to know what was going on and wanted to understand what we we're talking about so we explained everything to her and she said she would like to give up something for Lent too!

Day 3 Chloe Quote: " Mommy I am definitely going to give up cookies and candy for Lent, I promise I can do it! Now we need to hide the cookies with the candy"

I was surprised but happy that she was willing to sacrifice something that she really enjoys. 
Sean and I have decided to go without ALL Fast food and I am also going to go without soda. Chloe has decided to go without cookies and candy. I am very proud of her for choosing to do this all on her own. She now thinks that the Easter bunny should be extra good to her this year with some extra candy in her basket LOL and we said we will just have to see what happens on Easter morning :)  


I can't believe that this Easter will be the first holiday that our family will celebrate together, out of the Army and living in NY. And its only 30 days until our big move!! Can you believe it!? I sure can't! The time is flying by!!!


until next time :) ...which if ya haven't noticed will probably be sooner than later...I've been getting alot better at keeping up with my blog now! and I owe it to all my friends, readers and fellow bloggers :) knowing that you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy blogging helps me keep up with it 




<3 Liz

Liam's walking shoes :)

Liam has been cruising the furniture since he was about 7 months old. Then between 8 and 9 months he was taking steps and standing alone, I was sure he would be walking soon so I didn't buy him any shoes. I've seen so many moms that buy their kids these big bulky shoes before they are even walking and no wonder it takes them forever to walk. The best way in my experience, for them to learn to walk is no shoes, no socks, just their bare feet.
During the winter months I had little cloth shoes that he would wear so his feet wouldn't freeze while we were out but other than that he would be around the house bare foot. We even stopped wearing the footed pajamas, because I could tell he was getting upset from falling and they got in the way.
Now since beginning to mid February Liam is walking ALOT and now he is officially a walker for the past few weeks. He's gotten so good that socks don't bother him and I really wanted to find some shoes. When Chloe was a new walker we got these flat cloth, almost leather like shoes. They were almost like leather socks, were great for outside and I loved them. I haven't found anything similar to it until I saw one of the moms at dance class with her son and he has pedipeds. I looked them up and am thinking of ordering a pair from amazon.com but I wanted to check out the stores that are local because the reviews I've read on the pedipeds say they run small and I'm unsure of Liam's size and don't want the hassle of having to send them back. 

We went to Target and found a bunch of cute shoes and a few pairs look very similar, or atleast have the same style and design as the pedipeds. So I tried on a few and it came down to him being a size 4 in these, which is funny because I have size 4 boys shoes at home and many other larger sizes and the 4's are huge on him! So it when the 3's didnt fit I was surprised but the 4's did and we got them. I tried him out in them when we met Sean for lunch at Elizabeth's Pizza (YUMMY!) and he walked pretty well in them. 

After his nap I put them on him for around the house and he did great, they don't affect the way he walks at all!! And now we can go to the park and not worry about wood chips or stones poking him in the feet when he's walking around!! My baby boy sure is growing too fast! It is so exciting and fun, all the things that he does now and can do with us but it makes me a little sad that in less than 2 weeks my baby boy will be 1 year old. 

Liam's Walking Shoes :)

<3 Liz 

Day 2 of Project Chloe

 Chloe determined to figure out the puzzle 

Today Chloe said quite a few memorable things :) 


We were on our way to the community college here so I could get copies of my transcripts and she says "Momma, I want to be just like you one day, you are the best mommy and the best teacher so I want to be a mommy and a teacher too!" 
Melts my heart :) 


Then we we're at Target and she says, "Let's find something special for my brother and then we can find something special for me because I'm the best big sister!" 
She sure is :) For the most part she really takes care of him and is so gentle and loving with him. There are times where she gets frustrated with him, especially when she has her Barbies setup a certain way and he comes over and ruins it, she will yell, "No Liam STOP IT NOW!" Its kind of funny to see especially being the big sister myself, I know I've done that many times, and I know she gets her bossy side from her  momma..one of the names my sisters and brother would call me growing up was MISS BOSS. 


It's only day 2 of the project and I can't wait til the end, reason being is I can't wait to look back at it and see how much she has changed in this upcoming year. It's going to be so exciting! So far I'm having fun taking pictures of her and writing down what she says, and I am praying that over the next 2 months I am able to keep it going because these next 2 months I know are going to be a challenge with our move only 1 month away..so please wish me luck!! 




<3 Liz 

hmm Monday

the day started off kind of crazy today with the kiddos...but luckily once Liam went down for his nap and Chloe had quiet time it got better and I was able to enjoy some quiet and watch 2 of my shows that I missed last night :) I havent had an afternoon like that in quite some time so it was nice to be a little lazy for a bit! 


Last week I sent out my resume to about 15 places up in New York and today I sent out 5 more and guess what?!?!?! I got a call from one of the places. It was even one of the ones I applied to this morning which got me excited! It's a place in Southhampton and they are very interested in me and love all of the experience I have. When I told them I wouldn't be local for another month she said it was no problem just to contact her when I was close to moving or once I got up there and we would setup a time for me to come in and check out the school! The hours are perfect and we wouldn't have to worry about anyone to watch Chloe and Liam until September when Sean starts school. And at that point Chloe will be in kindergarten so we will only have to worry about Liam and hopefully Sean can arrange his class schedule around my work schedule. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying that when we move and I contact them, that they will still be just as interested :) 
I am a little nervous at kind of switching roles with Sean, but at the same time I am very interested in seeing how things would go with him being at home with the kids for 5 months :) I think it will be pretty great for him and the kids to get all that time together too
This next month and beyond is full of alot of new things for our family so I'm looking forward to whats in store for us :) 




Today I started my Chloe project...Quote for today, "Liam it's not so funny, it's so sad!" 
She was in trouble for something and was crying and Liam started laughing, he usually doesn't laugh when she's upset, he usually gets upset along side her so thats what made this a perfect quote for today! 
Chloe is 4 1/2 today...can't wait to see how the next 1/2 of the year goes with her :)






<3 Liz

Fun, Rainy Sunday!

This morning we went to church and it was kind of one of those days where you didnt want to get out of bed, especially since it looked kind of dreary outside. But we got up and got ready and headed to the service. The kids were good while we were there which was great. In the beginning they moving around alot but during the sermon they sat pretty still which was nice. 


On the way home we headed to the commissary quickly to pick up some things for lunch! 
We made pizza dough with our kitchen aid mixer which makes me love that thing even more :) 
Then my friend Ginger and her kids, Lillian and Thomas came over to play and have lunch
The kids played while Sean and I made the pizza's and then we called Chloe and Lillian in when it was time to put the toppings on! They were soo cute and had fun the whole afternoon and of course the pizza turned out great! Here are some pictures from today! I'll have to steal some of the boys that Ginger took and post again later :) 

Chloe and Lillian decorating the pizza with sausage

CHEESE! 

DELICIOUS!

 An old friend of ours has visited with us for a few nights while he was in the area and he got to the house this afternoon right before we started the pizza's. After we ate the girls decided to play restaurant, take their orders and serve them! It was soo cute and soooo funny! The guys ended up complaining, so Lillian as the Manager and Chloe as the Server, kicked them! Told them to pay their bill and LEAVE!! LOL

Sean and his friend Ed, eating at the girls restaurant

After Ginger and the kids left we had some quiet time. Liam napped and is still napping, Chloe had quiet time in her room, Sean and Ed played XBOX and I had some quiet time for myself :) It's been a nice rainy, Sunday! 



<3  Liz