Goals This Week

With my kids:
Repeat mantra to myself - "If I don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". Just keep my mouth shut if I think I'm gonna snap.
Be on time! I don't like my tone with the kids when we're late. ("Come on" "Hurry up" "Get your shoes on", etc., all said in a sassy voice). Being on time will really help with this. I hate rushing, and taking it out on my kids.
Less computer time. More one on one time with my kids. Especially Tyler and Audrey.
Plan Audrey's birthday party. (This one is fun).

With Adam:
Alone time!!! Desperately needed as much of our alone time last week was interrupted by sick kids.
This is a tight week - budget, budget.

For me:
Bring lots of energy to Ladybug Music classes.
Don't order clothes my kids don't need just because the Old Navy baby/kids sale is going on!
Kick these last five pounds of baby weight out the door. So, so close to feeling good again. Stay motivated!

Concert Date

Audrey and I spent the afternoon at an awesome fundraiser/concert for Idina Menzel's A Broader Way girls' summer camp. They're a Ladybug family, and after telling Idina about Audrey's love for song and dance, she generously invited us to the event. So grateful. Laying on pillows and blankets on the lawn of a gorgeous Brentwood home, Idina Menzel singing just feet away, Audrey cuddled in my lap, eating Sprinkles cupcakes = pretty darn perfect afternoon. Idina sings with her heart on her sleeve. So emotional. Very inspiring. We weren't allowed to take pictures at the event, but there was a professional photographer who got some shots of us, and of Audrey chatting it up with Idina after the performance. (Audrey got quite a lot of attention - many thinking she was pretty adorable). Supposedly we'll get our hands on the photos at some point - I hope so!

Audrey all dressed up.

Perfectly lovely afternoon.

Computer Woes

My lap top is all messed up - again. I guess it's old, and that's why - but it's still annoying. Wondering if we'll fix it, or maybe just purchase an iPad or Kindle Fire for me (especially since I won't need to do as much on the computer once this apartment manager job is DONE - in a little over a month, but who's counting). Anyway, in the meantime, posting will be light.

The past few days have been busy. Ladybug Music's spring session began, and it's going great so far. Cold germs are being passed around my house. Cole has an eye infection, poor little guy - what a trooper. And Tyler broke out in hives for no apparent reason. (Shout out to my awesome friend Jackie, who's a nurse and I called twice this week for advice. Grateful for friends in the know). What I'm most looking forward to this weekend? Audrey and I are invited to an Idina Menzel concert. Looking forward to seeing her live, and spending the afternoon sharing that with my little girl.

Breakfast

I just put my overnight oats in the fridge. They're really yummy. I don't think I could eat them every morning, like I can with regular old oatmeal, but they're especially good on a busy morning, and you can add any topping, milk (tonight I did almond), yogurt you like. Also everyone seems to like to make them in cute little jars, but a bowl is just fine.

This acai bowl was a big hit with me and Adam, (a little expensive though). And one morning I made hot brown rice cereal with rice leftover from dinner the night before, and it was deeelish. Just reheated brown rice on the stove with milk, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and added toppings (nuts and craisins). It was like healthy rice pudding for breakfast. Crock pot oatmeal is next, since I've never tried it - and being obsessed with oatmeal, I think I must.

Earth Day

Tyler would love to make a play dough planet Earth! Lately I'm way more mindful of waste, and using what we have. Mostly because we're on our "new house" budget, but I'm finding there's a lot of satisfaction in being resourceful. Reuse if I can, and not buying brand-new if I don't need to yet, (whether it's clothes, food, house items, makeup, etc.). I've also been thrifting, and selling second-hand on Craigslist. Next year we'll plant in the yard. Happy Earth Day.

First Taste of Summer

Today I had Saturday off. So nice! I went to early morning pilates, then took the kids to Alli's house for a "Goodbye Jude" pool party. Kids played in the pool and ran in the sprinklers all afternoon. We're so sad our friends are moving to Las Vegas. We'll miss them so much, but hopefully see them often - as they promise to visit a lot. Here's Bekah and Jude with Audrey in the pool.

Look at these cute kids with popsicles, (it was HOT today). Love all our LA friends.

Tonight is movies and Papa Johns (haven't ordered pizza delivery in soooo long).  Also early bedtimes so Adam and I can spend some time. Happy Saturday.

The House Today

We spent a couple mornings at the house this week. Man, painting is a lot of work - at least for us since we are not professionals. We're almost done except for touch ups, and painting Tyler and Audrey's room, (but it's small). We pretty much went to the paint store and picked these colors without even sampling them - we just committed. I think it turned out really nice, and will look even better with all our stuff inside. (Also I have new respect for anyone who paints a room red! Those touch ups are a pain.) Here's a couple shots, more photos of the house to come.

This was Audrey's set up today. Playing in our tiny apartment balcony pool. Can't wait to buy a big ol' kiddie pool for the back yard. This small one will become Cole's.

I also took Audrey to a dance class, and signed her up for summer, and got Tyler officially registered for first grade at his new school. Now I need to find him a karate class for the summer. Oh, and I visited Super Wal-Mart. Woah - that place is huge and overwhelming and cheap! Best purchase? Found Audrey an adorable bike for her birthday for $40. Nice! A little over a month, and we'll be all moved in.

Lemon Raspberry

These are making my house smell awesome right now. Hopefully taste just as good.

So Far This Week

We are definitely back to ourselves. Man, it really took about a week to adjust back to our old routine post-Spring Break.

Tonight was Open House at Tyler's school. He was soooo excited to show us all around his classroom. His art projects hanging on the wall. So cute how happy he was to show off his work. This clay snake he made. He's reading so well. Completely on his own. Doesn't even need help except to sound out the occasional word. His class had a classroom goal of reading 100 books the month of March. They read 454!!! Amazing. Really proud of this kid, and so happy that he's had a great Kindergarten year. A great teacher, and great families that really support the kids. We are super lucky!

Audrey's dance teacher pulled her out of class this week to show the studio owner how clear Audrey's taps were. They started talking about putting Audrey on their dance team in another year, then we reminded them we're moving. Seriously proud of this little one. Audrey loves dance - really, really loves it. She's sure come a long way since the days she would hit and poke other girls in class. She has a dance recital coming up, and - knock on wood - we make it this year. Remember what happened last year? The night before the recital.

Adam is off this week, and we're trying to finish up painting the house. I'll bring my camera and post some pictures of the progress. Going up to our new neighborhood, driving around a bit and getting to know the area better. Finding classes up there for the kids this summer. We gave our official notice to our apartment manager boss - Ahhhh... felt so good. The move is getting closer. Super exciting and bittersweet all at once.

Happy Rain Day

Rain, lightning, thunder, hail. It's been quite the exciting day here in LA.

Rainy Day Friday

I have a Target list a mile long, but feel bad taking the baby out in this rain if I don't have to (we still have enough diapers to last through tomorrow). Wednesday we even drove to Target, the sky opened up and dumped rain right as we drove into the parking lot. I turned around and went home. Some things can be put off 'til Saturday. Staying inside today, keeping warm and dry (at least until school pick up). Tyler's Kindergarten class is on a field trip to the Getty in the rain - poor teachers!

Note to self: Making homemade playdough on a rainy day is totally easy. Here's a recipe. And a website that has about every playdough recipe imaginable, including glow in the dark playdough, gingerbread playdough, and edible chocolate playdough. Nice! Audrey and I made traditional ol' playdough while baby slept. Came out great. On a tip from Audrey's preschool teacher, Miss Amanda, we hid glitter in the middle of one of our batches. Red (with pink glitter), green, blue, and yellow. In Audrey's class they also do one where they keep it dough colored and add rainbow glitter. Best part - kids will stay busy the rest of this rainy day, I hope.

At the Table

Cole's first cereal. He was pretty happy about it.

Question is, does he look like Tyler, or Audrey?

5 months

The sweetest boy. Very go with the flow. Smiles at everyone. Great-natured, loving, cuddly, chubby, happy. Rolling over is a favorite trick. Trying to sit up. Eating new foods. Crossing fingers to sleep through the night soon. Full of love.

New Day

Fresh flowers make everything better. Especially tulips when it's the beginning of Spring. Purple picked by Audrey.

Here's the thing after I reread my last post. Don't let one bad day with your kids overshadow the many good ones you have with them. At our house there are definitely more good days than bad, thank goodness because that's not the case in every house. We are lucky. We love each other a ton, can dust ourselves off, and move forward. My mom said "it's not about being perfect, it's about being authentic". Hard days happen - they're real, and handling them without letting them swallow you is important. Teaching my kids how to handle them is important. Knowing today is a new day, though, is refreshing.

Some other stuff:

Proteins of the week? Ham and hard-boiled eggs people. This is in the crock pot to use up leftover Easter ham Adam's mom sent home with me. Last night was egg salad. I do love me some deviled eggs. Ideas? Maybe this?

Also, you know you're not a pet person when you have a hard time keeping up with your kid's Butterfly Garden. Those suckers need to be fed once a day and not only do I forget, but it's annoying. Another few days and we will set them free. Five butterflies - they're pretty.

I need to remember to make Chex Mix recipes with my kids. They're totally into the stuff. Somewhat healthy snacking, too.

My baby is eating cereal! And vegetables! (Time to start making baby food again? At least the easy stuff). Cole's 5 months old tomorrow. Stop! Time is flying with this not-so-little guy. Seriously, the fat thighs are out of control. He is for sure the chubbiest Tait baby, and already ready for his 6 month clothes. I look forward to warm weather and putting him in onesies that show off his chub all summer long. Our hefty guy. Love him!

We are slowly getting back in the swing of things. I'm still on break from Ladybug Music for two more weeks. (Want a free class?) Spending the time catching up on apartment stuff, house stuff, and planning Audrey's birthday party (Hello Kitty cupcakes have been requested). Trying to kick the rest of my baby weight outta here! Ready for summer, and to wear clothes that I finally feel comfortable in. Here's to the rest of the week... whatever it has in store.

Spring Break - The End, and Reentry

Here's the rest of Spring Break:

Thursday - Spent time just the big kids and me (shoe shopping, morning at the park, Slurpees). Movie night was Hop.
Friday - Audrey had dance class, we ran errands, Pinkberry, dyed Easter Eggs.
Saturday - Day at the house, painting, kids went to a friend's birthday party.
Sunday - Easter Bunny came. Church - Adam sang a beautiful solo and conducted the church choir. Easter dinner at Grandma Tait's.

Now I was all proud of myself and feeling awesome about how much energy I had put forth to make Spring Break great. I was patient. I enjoyed my kids. We talked, played, I planned - was super proactive with them. Welcome last night and pretty much all of today where I've felt like a lousy mom. Ugh! Can't win 'em all, I guess. Particularly Audrey and I have had some serious power struggles. She is not the best listener, and I let it get under my skin. Super impatient, and the two of us were using an awful tone with each other all day. That just stinks. I wanna expect more from her, and in some ways I do, but she is also 3 1/2 and I am 34. I should be able to hold it together a little better and not have a sassy attitude with her. HELLO --- I am the example - the ultimate example if you ask Dr. Phil (who says, to a child, the same sex parent is the most influential role model in the home). Well, tomorrow is another day. I will get my head about me, take a deep breath (and head to pilates tonight), say a prayer and give myself a good pep talk, and be the mama my little girl needs me to be. Spring Break reentry - take two!

Hunt

This morning's church brunch and Easter egg hunt was a big hit. Chocolate has officially invaded our house! If you can believe it I haven't consumed a single Cadbury Creme Egg this season... must remedy that before it's too late.

Eggs!

They are dyed and ready. Then we watched Hop, which was pretty cute. Dying eggs was so fun, if I can I'm picking up some extra egg-dye kits (preferably on clearance) to dye eggs anytime. Or we'll try Kool Aid Eggs. Great project with kids year round. They looooved it. Now to find deviled egg, and egg salad recipes.

Near and Dear

Team Tait decided not to walk this year, feeling we had a lot on our plates with kids, work, and moving. But in case you're interested and want to donate (or walk yourself), there's still time before Parkinson's Beach Brigade 2012. It's a beautiful walk by the beach (not too far, either), and a truly uplifting morning. We will be donating this year, and plan on walking in 2013.

Photos From Today

Spring Break Day 3 - Travel Town adventures with a bunch of friends.

Easy Dinner for Busy Week

Easiest dinner ever that made me feel like I actually made dinner even though there was basically zero prep. involved.

Sweet BBQ Meatballs

2 bags Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs
1 bottle TJ's Kansas City BBQ sauce
1 jar low sugar/no sugar added grape jelly

Dump it all in the crock pot. Cook on low for 2-4 hours. Make rice, and steam some broccoli. Voila! Dinner. Loved by all. I'd say the sauce is pretty high in sugar, obviously you could make your own meatballs and sauce to "health" it up, but this particular post is about easy and fast. Other than that it was a yummy meal and I think Tyler ate 5 or 6 meatballs. Easy to double, and you could totally put leftovers in lunch boxes (we had plenty of leftovers). Love meals like this when life gets busy - an alternative to sticking a pizza in the oven (which I do often).

Spring Break - The Beginning

Love Spring Break so far. We are having a great time. No school drop-offs or pick-ups for a week is fantastic, and I have a lot of energy toward spending time with my kids (thank you, Diet Coke). Hope I feel this way all week.

Friday - Family trip to the zoo. Finally saw the new Reptile Lair. Tyler was especially impressed.
Saturday - My last day of Ladybug until late April. Nice, short break for me. Happy to have a few Saturday mornings off now.
Sunday - Watched more General Conference - kids did art projects, built a pirates cove under the dining room table. We cooked. Made popsicles.
Monday - Hit the Long Beach Aquarium with Amber and her kids (who my kids loooove). It was gorgeous down there, and I'm so thankful that Amber generously gave us her guest passes.
Tuesday - Stopped at the library to check out tons of books for Spring Break reading. (Have I mentioned Tyler is on fire with his reading?). Met Emily, Penny, and Simon there for a bit, and played at the park. Stopped at Trader Joe's with three kids - reminded me why I don't shop with three kids anymore if I can avoid it. We made it through without any of the four of us completely losing it (although Cole was pretty sad), and with all the ingredients I needed for dinner. Success!

Tomorrow is Travel Town with friends. The weather has been gorgeous this week. And (knock on wood) we've really been enjoying each other's company. Spring break week continues.

Squeezable

Who doesn't love a naked baby? Those thighs. You have to squeeze them.

Little man is already a lover of stuffed animals. Cuddles them. Slobbers on them (baby kisses I suppose).

Chubby fingers. Always in his mouth. Always wet and sloppy.

Cole will be 5 months old in a week and a half. Time is flying.