Elliette turns 2

This Girl.

How we love her so...what she brings to our family is indescribable. 

She has a heart that is well beyond her years, with just the perfect amount of spunk on the side.

She is smart, sassy, confident, sweet, independent and the best little girl we could ask for.

Her personality shines all the time.

She loves her baby dolls and is the perfect little mommy.

She likes to draw and color and won't hesitate to move from the paper on to her own arms and legs.

She eats like a horse! Her favorite lately is steak.

She would spend all day every day outside if we'd let her.

She can entertain herself for days but that usually involves some mischief!

Her imagination is amazing and she loves to play pretend.

She loves "Mimmie Mouse"

She is getting so big! She weighs 28 lbs and is 33 inches tall.

She is potty trained and sleeps all night (8-8ish) in her own big girl bed in her own room.

She is her daddy's girl.

She is a girly girl; she enjoys getting her nails painted and doing her make up.

She is starting to talk so much, putting 2 and even 3 words together to form sentences.

She is super polite! Always adding "pease" and "tank tue"

She likes to keep up with her big Brubba, who she has a big soft spot for.

She is so gentle and helpful with her baby Mey-Mey.

2 years have come and gone before our eyes.

I have loved every second watching you grow and learn, my heart is so excited to see the young lady you will grow into.

I love you sweet Ellie girl.

 

MD 9 month update

My BABY is 9 months old...that's only 3 months away from turning 1 for you mathematicians out there...

How can he be the most smiley, happiest baby...yet the fussiest baby at the same time? Somehow he manages...

 Meyer is 19 pounds even (19th %tile)

&

29.5 inches tall (87th %tile)

He is our tall and slender string bean!

He wears a size 4 diaper and size 9-12 month clothes.

He is finally catching up from being born under 7#

Meyer can CRAWL! 

Although he drools like a faucet he still doesn't have any teeth poking through.

He gives big, open-mouthed, slobbery kisses!

He can throw a ball and seriously might have a future pitching in the major leagues!

Don't let that sweet face fool you...

he definitely does NOT sleep through the night...he wakes up and wants to snuggle in Momma's bed and for some reason I am okay with it and pretty much enjoy every second. He (usually) takes 2 naps a day..the 2nd of which (again, usually) coincides with big sister's nap leaving a nice chunk of quiet time for mommy :-)

He eats 3 solid meals a day plus a snack or two..he is kind of picky and will let it be known if he isn't diggin' what's been put in front of him..mostly by chucking it onto the floor... but other wise just eats bites of what the family is eating.

He does well with a sippy cup and can pick up bites with his little fingers and feed himself too!

He has recently decided he will take a bottle due to momma being out of town a couple of times..

but still nurses like a champ...we are so close to our 1 year goal!

He says "Mama", "Dada" and a variety of other gibberish baby babbling, plus has learned to scream at the tip top of his lungs; a trick he learned from his big sister that could seriously shatter glass!

I can hardly believe that my next update will be for a 1 year old. Time goes by too quickly...

Love you MD!

Our Weekend

I love weekends like this last one. Nothin' but good food, the best family, and relaxation. 

Ahhh the good life!

Monday of course brings us back to a little reality so I am going to reminisce.....

I picked up a potted plant this weekend that I had ordered from a local landscaping company here in town...usually I just buy my flowers from the store and plant them myself but since I received a gift card from my hubby for Mother's Day this year I decided to put it to good use and treat myself to a fancy potted flower arrangement! It turned out so beautiful and I am going to enjoy every minute gazing at it for the next few months of summer! 

Saturday we smoked a brisket on our pellet smoker for eighteen hours! We spent some serious time researching what recipes and methods to use and ended up using a combination of a few..

this one,  this one and especially this one were the 3 that caught our eye and we ended up combining techniques and ingredients from all of them. For our first try it turned out pretty dang good...don't get me wrong, it's not BBQ competition ready by any means but we were pretty excited with how delicious it was and can't wait to try it again sometime...except for the waking-up-at-5am-on-a-Saturday-to-start-cooking part..but we value food over sleep around this house! This makes for killer leftover brisket sandwiches the rest of the week too!

Sunday we spent the entire day at the lake! The weather was to die for perfect and we all came home a little sunburned and a lot exhausted.

We ended the day with a little Father's Day dinner celebration and the most rich, decadent, delicious cheesecake that ever existed.

My husband and dad are always requesting cheesecake so I like to take the opportunity to try new recipes! This recipe for salted caramel cheesecake looked pretty irresistible! I swapped the oreo crust for an espresso brownie layer which was the best decision I've ever made by far. I just used a store bought brownie mix and added a little espresso powder to the mix. I baked the brownie layer for 15 minutes before pouring the cheesecake batter over the top and following the rest of the baking instructions. I am still having chocolate salted caramel dreams about this dessert!

Terrible Twosday

Terrible Two's.

 How bad are they really? I always used to say, "whoever coined the term terrible two's obviously never made it to age 3!" This must be a boy thing...because with G, I vividly remember three being WAY worse than two...now here we are with little miss E approaching her 2nd birthday and I am eating.my.words.

She doesn't look so terrible does she? 

How about when you're trying to leave the park and get all three kids to the car and she takes off running in the opposite direction? Soooo you haul your diaper bag, blanket, and 8 month old back down the grassy decline to grab her. You get to her, grab her to take her to the car and she turns into a friggin limp wet noodle, one that screams and cries "noooooooo!' while being dragged to the car?  

holy. crap. 

How about when get to the car and as I am opening the door and sternly instructing her NOT to move....she books it back down the hill? This time she is headed for the small creek at the bottom. Soooo you literally plop your 8 month old on the sidewalk curb (because you can run wayy faster without him on your hip) and hope he doesn't find a dirty band aid to chew on while he is down there, ask your 5 year old to "watch him"...and chase after her again! 

holy! crap!

 Terrible Two's received a whole new meaning in my world yesterday! Either G was not quite the little spitfire E is..or I have successfully blocked horrific instances such as these out of my mind completely.

Obviously we finally made it to the car and I somehow managed to get us all into the car too...thanks to the help of a nice woman who clearly took pity on me while watching the 15 minute circus and offered to hold Meyer while I tackled wrangled miss E  to the car and into her car seat. 

Thank God for the 5-point harness system!

Never again will I take 3 kids to the park with just my 2 hands. 

Never.

Despite this little stinker giving me the ultimate run for my money yesterday, I love her with all my heart and I am so thankful to be her mommy!

Last Day of Pre-K

How did it happen? How did this little boy (who I swear was born last week) turn into a big, almost 6 year old, almost kindergartener? 

He's got a heart of gold with an attitude that can put even his mother to shame. He is silly, has awesome dance moves and is an outstanding athlete. He has enough energy for 3 boys combined, but loves his down time and snuggles before bed. He loves to explore, investigate and share his new information with anybody willing to listen. He is so smart; his math skills are impeccable and I am amazed every day and the new words he can read. I know he will do so wonderful next year in Kindergarten...I am going to cherish this summer like I never have before because I know we will miss him during the day next year, and we will learn to appreciate the afternoons and our time in the evenings together even more once school starts. He is SO ready for this next step! 

Congratulations on Graduating Preschool mister Griffinn J. You are on the road to amazing things!

Oreo Truffles

These little balls of deliciousness are the easiest, yummiest, little treat ever! Where ever I bring them, people always seem so amazed that I made them and that I didn't order them from some bakery or something...they look like a lot of hard work and taste even better! But they're only 3 simple ingredients and take less than an hour start to finish! Seriously, take these little gems to your next gathering and you are sure to become the most popular person at the party!

You start with one package of Oreo Cookies...you can use any variety! I used original for these pictures but I also made some using golden Oreos too....they were just gobbled up before I had the chance to snap any photos! Put that whole package of Oreos into the food processor and pulse until you get very fine crumbs. Then, dump all those crumbs (you may want to reserve like 1/4 a cup for a sprinkle of decoration on the finished truffle) into a bowl...I use my Kitchen Aid mixer. Add one 8oz block of room temp cream cheese and mix well. It will turn into a sort of dough...use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out equal sized portions, roll into balls and pop them onto a cookie sheet covered parchment paper. Stick them into the freezer for like 10-15 minutes while you melt the coating. I like to use CandiQuik or a similar product like Almond Bark or Candy Melts (Hobbly Lobby actually carries a ton of variety of the candy melts in different flavors and colors)...I have tried to use chocolate chips and they are just a little too temperamental for me. CandiQuik works great every time, it melts easy, hardens quickly, and even comes in a disposable, microwavable tray = no mess! You just coat each ball in the melted chocolate and put it right back on the same tray. Once all the truffles are coated, pop them back in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes and they're done! Sometimes I drizzle some melted CandiQuik of a different color on top to make them look pretty, or you can sprinkle some of the crumbs you set aside on top while they're still wet, that gives it a nice, finished look too!

Make sure you store these treats in the refridgerator! ;-)

Enjoy! XO

Thursday Thoughts..

Nothing exciting has been going on around here lately...We have all been kind of sick and busy with regular stuff like school and activities...

I don't have anything specific to blog about this week so I put together a little list of just a few things happening this week...

1. Griff man started spring soccer! He gets moved up this year to U6, so he gets to play with the big kids. He so needs this..his birthday being in August puts him right on the brink of everything.. he is either the oldest by far or the youngest. He is definitely too big, strong and competitive to be playing with 3 year olds anymore...this season should really challenge him! I am so excited to watch his games! 

2. Elliette had her first dentist appointment this week! We tried out a new office in town called The Smile Academy and it went great! She was so brave! she didn't cry, she didn't fuss and she opened her mouth biiiiig and wide for the dentist to check out her teeth. Everybody was commenting about how her awesome behavior was not typical for a kiddo her age..cue beaming proud momma moment! We kind of dropped the ball with Griff when it came to early dental care so we are getting Ellie in early and often to start a positive experience with dental hygiene!

3. Meyer has learned how to patty cake! Watching him get all sorts of super excited and clap his hands together when somebody starts to sing the patty cake song just makes me grin from ear to ear. I love little milestones like this..it makes him seem so big! 

4. Scott got me a fitbit for an early birthday present and I am seriously obsessed with it. Nobody probably cares that I've walked 13,000 steps today but you better believe I'm going to tell you all about it! And also all about my heart rate, the calories I've burned and lots of other useless information that I am strangely proud of haha. I did some light research before we purchased and I decided on the fitbit Charge HR because I really liked that it kept track of my heart rate all day...even resting. The most interesting aspect of it so far is when it tracks my sleep...it is so weird to see how many times I was awake or restless in the middle of the night (thanks Meyer) and how many hours of sleep I actually got. Love this thing!

5. For the first time in about 3 years I have started "working"...although it is an independent business and done mostly from home, I am excited for this new adventure in my life and to see where I can take it and where it might take me! I have joined the Mary and Martha team selling unique and beautiful products for the home. I will be having my launch gathering soon, so keep your eyes peeled! Feel free to visit my personal consultant website to browse, discover and shop...you will not be disappointed!

6. I have subscribed to Hello Fresh and ordered some delicious meals for us to try next week. Our first shipment should arrive tomorrow and I am looking so forward to cooking our first round of meals! Is anybody else a Hello Fresh subscriber? I would love to hear some testimonials!


Thanks for stopping by and catching up with the Kuglers!
Have a good weekend! XO