A full day at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Much thanks to all of you for your well wishes and advice! I'm finally on the mend and feeling much better. Matt's also feeling more energetic and recovering quickly.

Now that we've got more energy (and the sun has started shining into our previously rainy area), we are jam packing these last few days with Matt's folks. Today we visited the national historic landmark, the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, built by Goodyear founder F.A. Sieberling. It's a 1917 mansion built in the Tudor style with expansive gardens, fountains and conservatory.

Since this is the 50th anniversary of the museum, a special treehouse exhibit including 12 different structures was built. As you'll see from the photos below, the treehouses vary greatly in design. The coolest part was that each treehouse was totally sturdy and kid-friendly so Chloe could get out and play.

We had a wonderful wonderful time! The Lord gave us a beautiful sunny day and He helped Chloe to behave well despite a much-delayed naptime. And God protected all those expensive antiques in the mansion from Chloe's curiosity. :)

In good hands

For the last 4-5 days I've been a coughing, sneezing, nose-runny, weary pregnant lady. After taking some useless Tylenol Cold medicine, I decided to tough it out and let the cold run its course. I walk around the house with a constant tissue in my hands to capture my cough and sneeze germs in a desperate attempt to keep the rest of the household cold-free. Pretty picture, eh?

Since I've become the germ-leper of the house, I've been banished from cooking and doing dishes. My gracious mom-in-law has stepped in like a trooper! And besides doing all the cooking, she's also endeavored other household projects. She reupholstered our living room chair (it looks AWESOME!), hemmed some of Matt's pants, and sewed a nightgown for Chloe. This lady is fire of productivity!

My hubby has taken charge of getting up with Chloe in the mornings (since I've not been getting much rest at night), bathing her, and keeping her distracted and away from her sick mommy. He even grilled us a lovely supper two nights ago! And he didn't break any dishes - bonus! :) Besides that, Matt has graciously slept downstairs the last two nights so I could have the entire bed to get comfortable. Did I mention he's battling a sinus infection through all this?

My dad-in-law has been just as helpful. After each meal he pops up from the table and washes all the dishes with the speed and efficiency of a busy bumblebee (don't ask me where that metaphor came from). He's an incredibly hard worker also. Though we've had rain off and on all week, he's taken it upon himself to paint our front porch (a project we've been wanting to do all summer). He takes our portable cd player and listens to an Agatha Christie mystery while he paints. Yesterday he had the back-aching job of painting the bottom trellis part of the porch white. It looks fabulous (I promise to post pictures in a future post).

Last but not least, my Chloe-pie has been a very good girl while I've been down and out. Yesterday though, I could tell she's been missing me. After her nap we sat on the couch and read books for 45 minutes! That's a long time to read, folks. Though I had to keep taking breaks to cough and refill my hot-lemon-water-with-honey mug I enjoyed that special time with her. We'd finish a book and she'd say, "Another book" and hop off the couch happily to fetch one. Then she'd hop back on the couch and snuggle up to me as close as possible, holding my arm around her. After supper we watched a Bugs Bunny video together and during Elmer Fudd's war with the ants, I had a coughing spell which reduced me to tears. I tried to get up for some water and a cough drop, but Chloe protested, "No, no, mommy stay!" and she cuddled up closer on my lap throwing her arms around me. (Matt rescued me with the water and cough drop).

Today I got to stay home and sleep in a bit while the crew went to church. Since I'm feeling a tad better (hurray!) I walked over to the drug store to get them some thank you treats. I'm so thankful for such a caring loving family to care for me while I'm sick!

Hope you all are well and enjoying the blessings of your family today!

Chloe's first ear infection

This morning while Chloe practically choked on her phlegm, we made an appointment to see her doctor. This cold was just hanging on too long and looking severe.

After a very quick perusal by Dr. Kline (the world's fastest pediatrician), he informed us that Chloe had fluid behind her left ear. Antibiotics were prescribed and now Chloe is a happy camper again! I'm AMAZED at how quickly those buggers work! What a miracle drug!

Now the only issue is my health. I've been coughing hard, sneezing, and blowing my nose constantly today. I feel lousy. I'll be forced to call my doc tomorrow if things get worse (I'm anti-doctors for things like this but with the pregnancy I want to be sure all is ok for baby #2).

I think Matt must have felt left out because he came down with the beginnings of sinus infection yesterday. So, we made an appointment for him and he's on some strong meds to get him well again. He's feeling better already - yay!

A trio of sickies we are. Now we're all praying we can refrain from infecting Matt's visiting folks!

Sharing colds

Achoo! Poor Chloe has been suffering from a horrible cold these last few days. She's been on cold medicine for two days and if things don't look better today, we'll be visiting the doctor.

In the last week our weather has turned from summery sunshiney 80 degrees to a cold wet rainy murky muck. I'm sure the drastic change in temperature has caused this icky bug. Any of you midwesterners experiencing the same thing?

I've come down with the cough and sore throat too. Boo-hoo! I'm certainly not going to take any medicine due to the pregnancy and I'm so very thankful to have my mom-in-law here to give me her "home remedies". Right now my throat is enjoying some hot lemon water. Ahhhhhhhh.

Needless to say, we've not been getting out of the house much with all our spreadable cold germs. My mom-in-law ventured out to a yard sale with Chloe yesterday (at which we accidentally shoplifted two little stuffed animals that Chloe had put into the diaper bag!) and that was nearly disastrous. Chloe started crying for no apparent reason and I had to carry her massive 32 lbs. for most of the sale shopping. It was worth it though; we got some great deals.

Stay well and take your vitamin C all of you!

Sheer joy

Matt's folks arrived Friday for a visit and we are loving every moment of it! We only get to see them in the summer time so we relish our time together.

Chloe is all smiles and giggles now that her buelita and gramps are here. You can see the pure joy written on her face. Buelita sings to her and plays with her. Gramps reads and tickles. No wonder she's having such a good time!

Yesterday we had an outing to our favorite cupcake-selling town, Hudson. We also toured the farmer's market and ate a pleasant picnic lunch. In the evening we ransacked our local Joann's Fabric store which is going out of business so everything's on sale. I snagged some fun patterns and material at great prices.

Today was church and that occupied most of our day. Chloe looked darling in a homemade buelita dress and received many compliments on her cuteness.

Tonight we watched another awesome Horatio Hornblower dvd. We are addicted to this series! Ioan Gruffold is the perfect Mr. Hornblower. Has anyone else out there seen these?

Tomorrow's agenda includes the legendary 50 cent sale at the Village Discount Outlet. Woo-hoo! Bring on the deals!

I most likely won't do much blogging this week; hope you all have a marvelous week enjoying the last bits of July!

Company Coming!

We've been in frenzied cleaning and preparing mode the last few days as we have two different sets of company coming in beginning today. I finally feel like everything is ready. I have a lasagna in the fridge, french bread rising, and everything that can possibly be cleaned has been cleaned.

This afternoon my old high-school pal Jackie will be arriving with her daughter (3 yr. old Madeline) and another friend. They're on a road trip to Niagara Falls (who knew we were only 4 hours away from them?!?) and our place will make a good stopping point.

Then tomorrow afternoon, Matt's folks are coming in for a longer visit. We've only seem them a tiny little bit this summer so we're pumped about having them all to ourselves for a few weeks.

All that to say, blogging won't be a high priority for me in the coming weeks. I'll try to post photos of our visits and adventures! Enjoy your last weeks of July!

Do any of you have family visiting this summer? Or any vacations planned to enjoy the last bits of summer?

A baby blessing to cheer me

After feeling flabby and sorry for myself this morning, God gave me an exciting blessing this afternoon. I felt our baby kick!

I was just waking from a nap and laying there comfortably. I turned over to twist my sore back and put my hand on my tummy. Then the baby started swimming and kicking gently!

The baby did much more kicking and poking but it was all fairly faint. By the time I raced downstairs to tell Matt, I couldn't feel the movement anymore. I can't wait until the kicking is strong enough for Chloe to see and feel. What fun that will be!

When did you first feel your bambino move? Do you remember where you were and the emotions you felt?

Resigned

As I looked through my closet this morning (in which I've already hung all my old maternity tops), I realized that I had no choice but to wear one today. I can no longer hide this belly (calling this a bump is only cute the first time around) under regular large-sized shirts. So, with a sigh I chose a white knit maternity shirt to wear today.

I must admit, it is comfortable. I'm feeling that it's too soon to pull these shirts out but my body isn't giving me a choice anymore.

I must be carrying twins.

Two reasons why I love my library

There are scads of reasons why I love our local library, but the biggest two this summer have been the summer reading program and summer story times.

You're probably thinking to yourself, this Alicia is wacky; how can Chloe participate in a summer reading program? Welllll, for every 15 minutes that I read to Chloe, we mark off a box in her reading booklet. After 12 boxes are checked, Chloe gets a prize for the week. (If you're doing the math in your head right now, I'll help you - that comes out as 3 hours of reading a week.) So far the prizes have been mostly coupons to dairy queen or mcdonald's. It's been nice to have those little treats during the summer and we make it a family outing to use a coupon. Also, the investment of reading to Chloe so much this summer is invaluable!

Since Chloe will be 2 next month, I've put her in the 2 yr. old summer story time to get her used to it for the fall. The teacher does lots of interactive singing and action rhymes with the large group of kids. She also reads a few stories and blows bubbles at the end. At home and in the car we sing the story time songs so Chloe is prepared to fully enjoy them at the library. Since she's younger than most of the other kids, I like her to feel confident about what to expect.

Do you participate in your library's summer programs? What kinds of activities are offered for your child's age group?

Here's a video I took of Chloe last week as we practiced her wheels on the bus song. Enjoy!


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Painting toenails and eating popcorn

On a whim I asked Chloe the other day if she'd like her toenails painted. She agreed so we got out my bin of nail polish. Don't ask me why I have 23 bottles of nail polish when I only paint my toes once every 4 months or so (don't quote me on that 23, just an estimate).

Chloe was delighted to be able to choose a polish color and she selected a silvery shiny blue. The wiggle worm of a girl sat unbelievably still as I painted her toes and kept saying "I see it! I see it!" in her primitive toddler-talking way.

Of course this is just one of many Chloe and mommy activities, but this was a special one to me. It reminds me that my little girl is growing up into a big girl too quickly for my liking. And that I need to grab on to these fun moments and enjoy them to the fullest.

Another blossoming tradition Chloe and I share is eating popcorn while watching a movie together (more like part of a movie - I don't like her to watch more than 30 minutes at a time). We only do this rarely, maybe once every two months, so it's become a special ritual for us. Chloe takes her designated popcorn bowl and we both cuddle up together on the chair. Tonight we viewed the beginning of Curious George (way cute flick!) and we laughed together at Georgie's antics. When I turned it off, Chloe kept saying "sit, sit" and she climbed up on my lap to snuggle even though no movie was playing. It was a a precious mommy moment.

What special activities do you share with just you and our little ones?

So far, so good

The transition from crib to big-girl bed was a smashing success! Thanks to all of you for your advice and support. We decided not to do away with the pacifier just yet. After all of your wonderful experiential comments, we thought forcing two transitions at once would be too difficult for Chloe to handle.

All day long yesterday we talked up the big-girl bed and its sheets, pillows, rails, etc. When the time came for bed, Chloe practically jumped in! Then I did all of her familiar bed-time rituals (story, lullaby, prayer, kisses) and tucked her in.

I thought it wise NOT to warn her about getting out of bed. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it; I'm not giving her any ideas. Instead I advised her when she woke up to call for mommy and I'd get her out of bed. It worked like a charm!

This transition was a piece of cake! Next month we'll deal with the passy and start riding the potty train. I have a feeling those transitions will be a big rougher. Get ready with more advice for me on those topics, moms out there!

Needing a new profile pic

I'm in dire need of a new profile picture! This one is from May and it's not my favorite, but it's better than the much outdated current photo.

I don't know about you, but we have a HORRIBLE time getting family photos taken. I'm not very good with the self-timer and Chloe's a super duper wiggle worm who doesn't smile on command (how is she my daughter?!?).

How do you do family photos?

I need some advice, quick!

The Lord provided a FREE (I heart freecycle) twin bed frame for Chloe last week! It's a simple bed but the huge blessing is the drawer space underneath the mattress. Our old home has virtually no closet/storage space.

Now we're in hurry up mode to get her ready for the transition to big girl bed. We bought a new mattress last night and I'm washing her sheets as I type. After we buy some bed rails and a mattress cover, we'll be ready to move her over.

Chloe uses a pacifier to sleep (it's part of her sleeping ritual) and I'm wondering if we should ditch that when we move her to the big girl bed. What do you think?

Any tips or suggestions from you moms who've done this before?

A sewing spree!

Tonight I finally completed my 3 transition shirts. Whew! It feels good to be done with them and I plan to take a much needed sewing break this week.

I made MANY mistakes on this first shirt the biggest error being size. I took my measurements hastily and over my clothes (very bad idea) so I ended up making this shirt an entire size too large. Adding to the sewing adventure were the darts (my first time ever), lining, and ruffly sleeve things. And of course I didn't realize until the shirt was done that I was swimming in it. Then came my not-so-ingenious alterations. All of that totals up to a lllllllllong time for Alicia to get this shirt sewed. I'm pretty happy with the results though. And it seems that I learn through making mistakes so hopefully I won't repeat my errors. I'm usually creative enough to make brand new mistakes with each project . . .



Here's shirt number two. It's amazing how much nicer a shirt fits when it's made in the correct size! I ditched the lining and ruffled straps and opted for Jenny Muth's amazing zipper shortcut. I highly recommend her zipper method; it's fast and painless. Thanks, Jenny! (If any of you sewers out there would like the zippery secret, email me at aliciahorn@hotmail.com) Paired with a new-to-me sweater and my yard sale black beads, this makes a cute outfit.







Shirt number three is a recent 25 cent yard sale find. The neck line was a bit too plunging for my liking so I sewed in a quick modesty panel this evening. Not quite straight but it'll do.




I feel like I have a new wardrobe! I can't wait to wear these shirts out and about this week.

What sewing projects are you tackling this summer?

Transition

Now that I'm in the 13th week of pregnancy, I'm in a self-proclaimed transition. For the last 3-4 weeks I've felt that my size medium shirts were getting too tight around the belly area. After purchasing some large shirts from my local thrift store, I thought I'd be all set until month 5 or so. Well, I'm finding that while the large sizes fit my burgeoning belly better (check out that alliteration!) they don't fit well on top. Sigh. Is there no hope for a transitioning woman?

Reluctantly, I lugged out my old bin of maternity clothes thinking I'd have to bite the bullet and start advertising my pregnancy. I was getting to the point where I really didn't care, I just wanted to be comfortable. After pulling out shirt after shirt and I realized that I'm still too small for actual maternity wear. Another sigh.

So, I had a light bulb moment. What if I sew myself a few shirts that will give my belly more room and fit me on top? One wally world trip and $6 later, I was in business! I just finished my first shirt and am almost done with my second. I'll post modeling pictures (and my sewing adventure story) when they're both completely done.

This got me thinking, why isn't there a line of clothing out there for the woman in transition? The woman who's too small for maternity clothes but too big to look good in her regular wardrobe? If any of you have money to invest in my idea, let me know! We could create a whole line of clothing called "transitions". I can envision it on the racks at Target now . . . .

I've experienced a HUGE attitudinal difference in this second pregnancy. During my pregnancy with Chloe, I was ansy with anticipation at being able to don my first maternity clothes. I was proud of my belly and felt aglow with the privilege of carrying a new life. This pregnancy is a completely different story. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very excited about harboring life, but I'm not feeling the glowing beauty I felt with the first pregnancy. I feel like hiding rather than proclaiming my belly protrusion.

Do any of you feel this way too? What secrets to you have to share for this transition phase?

A fun-filled fourth

No fireworks for us this year (or last year for that matter) but we still managed to have a fun-filled fourth.

Chloe and I headed out early for a local parade. It was a long ordeal (ever notice how much down time there is in parades?) but Chloe got excited about the bands, clowns, and a fellow dressed in a leaf suit. :) And of course there was candy thrown so it was well worth the two hours of watching.

After a long walk to the car while I balanced Chloe's plastic chair (which does not fold up and she only sat on once - that's a lesson learned for next year!) on her stroller and toted the diaper bag, I was thoroughly beat and ready to get home. Chloe and I both crashed for some well-deserved naps this afternoon.

This evening we're off to my pal Melinda's house for a cookout. Even though they only live 6 houses away, we haven't seen them much lately! It should be a nice visit and Chloe always is thrilled to play with and laugh with Melinda's kids. I attempted to make the infamous kraft wave your flag cake. Didn't turn out exactly like the picture but it tasted good!

What did you and yours do for the fourth? And here's a fireworks question for you moms out there: at what age is it appropriate to take your child to see the fireworks? Chloe's bedtime is between 8-8:30 and I doubt she'd last until the traditional 10 p.m. fireworks time. Plus I think she'd be afraid of all the loud noises.





















The best self-taken shot I could get of me and Chloe at the parade this morning.
















My flaggy cake.

This short little video depicts Chloe's excitement about trombones.


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Some yummy recipes

Since our recipe swappers blog has died, I thought I'd share some yummy recipes I've tried in the last few weeks.

The first is an absolutely delicious glaze for bbq chicken which we've used twice now and we've been very pleased with the result!

The second recipe is for some nutritious whole-wheat peanut butter waffles. These are yummy with honey and fresh fruit on top. It makes a huge batch so we ate some and then froze the rest. It's so convenient to pull out a few and pop them in the toaster for a quick healthy breakfast.

Enjoy!

So Easy BBQ-Glazed Chicken

1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing, divided

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

1/4 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

2 Tbsp. orange marmalade

PREHEAT grill to medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of the dressing over chicken in shallow dish or resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate 10 min. or up to 24 hours to marinate.

MIX remaining 1/4 cup dressing, the barbecue sauce and marmalade; set aside.

PLACE chicken on grill; cover. Grill 12 to 15 min. or until cooked through (170°F), turning occasionally and brushing with sauce mixture during last few minutes of cooking. Let stand, covered with foil, for a few minutes before serving.

Whole-Wheat Peanut Butter Waffles
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. salt
cooking spray or melted butter

1. In a bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients
2. Preheat the waffle iron. When it's hot, spray its surface lightly with the cooking spray or brush it with the butter.
3. Fill a medium-size ladle with batter and pour it onto the waffle iron. Cook until the waffle is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot with honey or butter and fresh berries.

Chloe sure is trendy

Yes, we've given in to the crocs trend. But unlike those folks who are able to spend $25 a pair, we opted for the $5 Sav-A-Lot generic version for Chloe. They look exactly the same but they just don't have the little smiling white crocodile.

When Chloe and I got home from our Wisconsin trip a few weeks ago, a package was waiting for us. Jibbitz for Chloe's genero-crocs! My mom bought them online and had them shipped to us. What fun! Chloe has a big green flower, a penguin, a lamb, a ladybug, the letter C, and a turtle. (Check out the jibbitz website; you'll be amazed at all the fun embellishments.)

These shoes are so convenient for the summer time! As Chloe's not even 2 yet, she can't put most shoes on by herself. But these genero-crocs she can do totally alone!

I'm curious, how many of you have crocs or generic-crocs for your kids? Do you have jibbitz on them or are they plain?

Dancing Queen

Chloe and I love to watch videos you all post of your little ones. In fact, that's what Chloe thinks the computer's main purpose is. She'll see me on the computer and say "babies! babies!" (indicating her desire to see some babies in action in your videos).

So, to provide you and your little ones with some video fun, here's a cute one I recorded of Chloe dancing to her new favorite cd. The cd is great because it's all in spanish so it's an excellent learning tool. BUT, after 5 times hearing it in one day, I find myself singing these songs in my brain and becoming annoyed anytime I heard the familiar first song (Matt taught Chloe how to work the cd player so she can start it by herself if I leave the cd in the player). So, we're mixing things up and putting the spanish cd away for awhile.

Do your kids have any cds they like to hear over and over and over and over again?

Enjoy our dancing queen!


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The bee that got away

Many thanks to all of you for your positive comments on my spelling chances at our library bee last night. I feel as though I've let you down. I hate to break this to you all, but I didn't win the bee last night. But I could have won the bee, unfortunately, to state it in my hubby's words, I was totally shafted. All because of the picture at left. Let me explain . . .

This year's library bee had only 11 participants and I thought my odds of winning were pretty good. Here's where the shafting comes in. The library guy who organizes the bee is an odd character named Rex. He's an older guy who has an unassuming and awkward way about him. In order to make the bee "more fun" he announced that he wasn't going to just use regular words in this year's bee. He thought it would be interesting to use proper names of musicians, movies, celebrities, countries, and cities in the bee.

Boy, did my heart sink when I heard that he was going to ask us to spell musicians' names. We don't watch TV (with the exception of an occasional Elmo's World or PGA tournament) so I'd be a total loss in that category.

So, the musician category came to my turn and I was given the name Rudy Vallee to spell. Looks like an easy enough name to spell, but I had never ever seen this guy's name in print. Sure, I've heard of Rudy Vallee and had the vague idea he was a crooner a long time ago but I was clueless as to how to spell his name. I guessed and guessed wrong. I spelled his name V-a-l-l-i-e and was eliminated.

The funny thing was that I knew how to spell every single word given at the bee! Grrrr. Another fishy thing was that the older gentleman who won the bee actually misspelled two different words on his first tries. But Rex wasn't paying very close attention and he asked him to repeat his spelling and the gent spelled the words correctly on his second attempts.

Oh well, Matt says next year's my year to take it all. And I'm truly glad this older fellow won, he was so pleased and proud looking when we all clapped for him. I felt much better about my spelling loss after Matt treated me to a Marx brother's movie night (A Night in Casablanca - hilarious!) along with some yummy buttery popcorn.