Crib Tent!!

Soo 2 weeks ago we tried transitioning Liam into his toddler bed and lets just say it didn't go well...AT ALL!! He really liked playing in it during the day but when it came to nap time and bed time it was an absolute NIGHTMARE! 
It all started because he figured out how to climb out of his crib so I thought, hmm he is young but maybe he is ready...I was soo wrong, he would cry and scream and bang on the door, I would go in the room every 10-15 mins to calm him down and then it would start all over again until he would finally pass out behind his door or on a pillow that he threw on his floor. Then he would either wake up in the middle of the night screaming or wake up sooo early and not want to go back to sleep. It was awful. My son has always been the BEST sleeper! Never since he's been born, have I had a problem with this kid sleeping, even the first night in the hospital he slept 5 1/2 hours straight and I had the nurse yell at me because I didn't wake him to feed him. He's just a great sleeper and he LOVES his sleep. So this situation just continued to frustrate me more and more. 
I gave it 2 weeks, I hoped and prayed that something would happen and he would get used to the bed and go to sleep nice and easy and calm like he use to.. :( it didnt happen. 
This week I decided we had to go back to the crib, although I was terrified he would continue to climb out and possibly hurt himself, we had to go back to it. So I lined the floor all around his bed with pillows and we went back to the crib. We still had the climbing out and crying at the door and falling asleep on pillows on the floor but I was able to move him in his crib and he would sleep all night. 
I did ALOT of research on what to do and Wednesday I order a Crib Tent from Amazon.com and had it delivered the next day. After all the research I had done and hundreds of reviews I read I was convinced that this would save my sanity and keep my baby safe and give him his sleep back. 

Last night was the first time using it, he cried for a little but within a half hour of laying him down he was sound asleep in his crib, and didnt wake up until 9am!!! HALLELUJAH!! I would say it was a success!! 
But wait it gets better...tonight I laid him down, I heard him fuss a little as I left the room, I walked to the den and back and no noises coming from his room. no crying, whining, fussing, not a single noise coming from his room other than his bedtime music!!! Thats what I call a successful night and back to normal bedtime!!
Now I just pray that I didn't jinx myself and celebrate too soon lol 










<3 Liz

Busy weekend

This weekend was pretty busy for us, the whole week was actually busy but it didnt stop one bit once the weekend arrived. Strawberry picking and out to lunch while Sean was in Riverhead taking the police test, than Chloe and I went to a baby shower on Saturday night. Sunday I couponed, did a small grocery shopping trip and then Sean and I went to a wedding for his riend Tabitha, they went to high school together, and we're in ROTC together. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time! 
It was really nice to get out and do something just the 2 of us :) and can you believe that it's the first wedding that we have been to, together, since our own wedding almost 6 years ago!! 
My MIL and her sister watched the kids for us. They did really good and even got to sleep at their normal bedtime! I was a little nervous seeing as we never really leave the kids, and the few times that we have they were already in bed and we were basically right down the street and weren't gone that long. This time we left at 2:30 in the afternoon and were away for about 9 hours. Now Chloe keeps saying that she wants us to go away for a whole weekend for our anniversary. I don't know where she came up with that idea but she insists! Lol we will see... 




Here are a few pics from the wedding. Congrats again to Tabitha and Jason! 

mother and the bride 

cake time :) 

me and my bayba <3

Sean and Adam

Gianna :) 

Sean and I with the bride! 

Strawberry Picking

Saturday morning Sean had to head out early because he was registered to take the police test. So at home here we all got dressed and ready and prayed the rain would stay away so we could go strawberry picking! 
We found one of the farms that was available for picking so we grabbed our baskets an got picking! 
At first I was too sure that we would get much because it seemed alot had been already picked and the ones we were seeing weren't ripe enough to pick but as we walked further back into the fields we found ALOT and filled our baskets pretty quickly. Chloe was really into it, she was having so much fun and was competing with me to see who could find the reddest and biggest strawberries. Liam, not so much, he just enjoyed sititng in the field, just hanging out there while we picked. And he especially enjoyed when we would put our baskets on the ground in front of him so he could move some from one basket to another. We ended up leaving with about 5 quarts of strawberries. We probably could've found more but they were really small and since its later in the season for strawberry picking we decided we had enough and in a few weeks we would go blueberry picking :) yumm!! 

Liam looking around, wondering what are we doing here lol 

Chloe and Grandma heading to a new spot to look for more

Liam just hanging out

moving strawberries from one basket to another 

he couldnt wait til we got home to have a bite

Chloe and Grandma

Liam and Momma <3

We got home and washed up all the strawberries! There were soo good. Can't wait for blueberry picking! I cant wait even more to get my blueberry bushes planted and starting to give us some berries at home!


Until next time


<3Liz

Freezer dinners

I have always bought things in bulk, divided into portions and put them in the freezer until we needed but I've read alot lately about some other suggestions to help lessen the time of preparing dinner and I figured I would add it to my meal planning. Last week I took chicken breasts, chicken thighs and legs, ground beef and ground turkey, separated it all, made a few marinades, threw the chicken in the bags with the marinades and put them in the freezer.
I also made hamburger patties and a meatloaf, and plan to do some meatballs this week. So far I have 2 1/2 weeks worth of dinner in the freezer and this week I plan to add 2-3 more weeks. Most people would think that its all pasta and casseroles but you really can do some much more. And it cuts down on all the time you spend in the kitchen preparing dinner..which is a bonus for me in the summer! I would much rather be outside with the kids, playing in the sprinkler, pool or going to the beach then hanging out in the house figuring out dinner for an hour or more. 

Here is the start..good thing I have 2 freezers to store everything! 

There's even frozen eggplant patties in there for my yummy eggplant parm recipe ;) 

I'll keep you all updated on how it works and try to remember to share some of the new summer recipes I'm trying! 

Until next time 

<3 Liz