Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas from my family to yours!

Ianisms, and Baby B's name....

Ian is the sweetest little guy. And the things that he says are precious. The things that come out of his mouth as a two year old are so innocent, and unpredicatable. I want to share a  few  things I think are funny, cute, and just too much not to share. Enoy!

"I did it , Hooray! That's Better" -after going poo on the potty.

"I wash hands, That's Better"

"Too hot mommy, ok, I cut it", he walks to my breakfast plate and cuts my pop tart with his fork, blows on it and says, "There that's better!"

"When he goes in the bathroom to do his bussiness he says, "I shut the door, ok, shut the door!"

"Daddy, ear boogies" -he says to Mr. as they are wrestling and he sees wax in Mr's ears.

At dinner, ..."I pray...Name of Father, son, holy spirit, amen, bless us oh lord, I hungry, father, son, holy spirit, A-MEN!"



"E, I, E, I, O.....he has the whole world in his hands"

Everyday Mr. and I drop him at daycare he says, "Love you Mommy, Love you Daddy, Have a good day, ok?"- It's so cute!

He currently calls Santa, "HO, Ho, Ho"..and when you ask him what he wants Ho, Ho ho to bring him, says he NEEDS him to bring paints, p-please!

"When anyone sneezes he says, "Well, Bless you." and after you say, "Thank you", he says, "welcome".

After he does something to help out for example putting a dish in the sink he says, "TA-DA!", or after feeding the animals, "TA-DA!", or putting napkins on the dinner table, "TA-DA!"

and my favorite, "Mommy..my brother", lifts my shirt and kisses, pats, or sings to Brennan. Yes there it is the big Reveal Baby B will be called Brennan Robert Murphy!!!

What cute and precious things do your little ones say?

When your Boy (or Girl) is all Wiggly...

.....and you want to avoid frustration....here are 25 things to do! T-4 days until Christmas Vacation! I am overly excited and my anticipation to have me time with e-man is growing,  however 17 days straights tends to get a little overwhelming at times.

So here is the savior list, the list I will use to entertain, distract, have fun, laugh, giggle, and get out the wiggles:

1. Put him in an empty bath tub, give him water colors and let him go.


2. Put rice in a cake pan and let him pour from cup to cup.(inside a large storage bin)

3. Put him outside everyday regardless of weather.

4. Give him a small spray bottle of water and a rag. Set him loose on the fridge front, bathroom tile, linoleum, etc.

5. Make homemade play dough; give him a rolling pin.

6. When reading aloud, ask him many questions. Get him pointing, naming, giggling over each picture.

7. Have him run and tag the front door, run back and give you a high five, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

8. Find an empty box we can fit in; stay in the room with him to ensure safety- but get that book you’ve wanted to read for a while, because he’ll be busy for a while.

9. Teach him how to build a fort with the cushions.

10. Let him spread the PB and J.

11. Play with him for at least 10 minutes at a game he loves. (In our case Hungry Hungry Hippos!)
This will satisfy much of the need for attention that leads to naughtiness.

12. Bubbles!

13. Boys tend to be tactile learners; stacking cups and plastic containers in an accessible cabinet can be fun.

14. Fill the kitchen sink with soapy foam; get out a big ladle and some cups and let him go at it. Let him “do dishes.”

15. If you have a play house, let him throw a safe ball out of it.

16. Find an old spoon and let him dig in dirt.

17. Music facilitates learning like no other activity. Make up silly songs to everything- be silly and tease your children with music.

18. When he is feeling mean and you are feeling mean, tickle him.

19. Don’t be afraid to repeat activities often; if he is getting restless, immediately choose a “go-to.”

20. Let the little guy “help” you in all of your tasks until he discovers his blocks or trains again. You’ll be teaching him valuable skills. This one can be hard because we want to get things done, but the boy will be grown soon and might now want to help anymore. This may be one of the most special times of your lives.

21. Play a favorite dance song of yours; let loose and dance around. Your boy will either laugh or join in; both are fun.

22. Use your pull up bar low on the door frame- and let him swing. (Need to bring home from classroom)

23. Find markers and a notebook; let him go to.

24. Assess his needs- is he hungry, tired, needs to use the potty, overstimulated, bored, or lonely? Help him fulfill that need.

25. Replace every negative thought immediately with a positive one. Instead of, “My kids drive me crazy” think on purpose “This is a phase; Johny really is a good kid” or “My kids must be bored. What can I do to help them?” See an article on this here: http://powerofmoms.com/2009/04/thought-replacement-therapy/


Bonus (our newest time passer): We have a basket full of alphabet letters. We let Ian dump them in the foyer, and then ask him to find us.."H", and run it to the basket, and on and on!
Any ideas to add to the list? Please Share!

23-25 Weeks!

Here they are they big bump reveals! I have been so busy with other things I have yet to document my bump, feels, ect about baby B. The pictures are not top notch because they are taken with my phone, however you can see the difference in 2 weeks!!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 23-25 Weeks

Size of baby: B is the length of an ear of corn

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 11 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity jeans and pants but everything else is regular.

Gender: It's a boy!!! Brennan.Robert.Murphy.

Movement: I've been feeling the baby a lot  lately!

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good!

What I miss: Nothing really - and being able to pick up Ian without my stomach muscles begging me to put him down. It breaks my heart when he says, "Mommy Hugs", and I have to bend down instead of swoop him, and squeeze.

Cravings: Surprisingly None

Symptoms:  A few Braxton Hicks, a growing tummy, some tiredness

Best Moment this week: Feeling B move from the inside, and out!

I'm 23 Weeks!

and now i'm 25 weeks!

Holiday Kisses

There are lots of holiday recipes floating around, and I have been guilty of pinning lots of them! I finally tried one, and love it. It's the perfect mix of salty, and sweet, and christmas! I thought I would share it with y'all, becuase it is the season of giving, and I know you, or someone you know will love it too!

Holiday Candy Cane Pretzel  Kisses
(Adapted from Katie Cupcake/Pinterest)

What you Need:

2 bags of Holiday kisses (or your preferred flavor)

1, 1 pound bag of waffle pretzels

What you Do:

Preheat Oven to 300

Line a Large Baking Sheet w/ Parchment Paper

Place about 120 Pretzels (you may need to use 2 baking sheets) about 1/2 inch apart.

Place unwrapped Kisses on the Pretzels

Bake in the Oven for about 2 minutes or until they appear Glossy, and are Soft all the way through

Sandwhich them by placing another Pretzel on Top

Place in the Frig for about 15 minutes

Enjoy!

Weekend Adventures...

We had a very busy weekend! Saturday morning we went to the Train Museum in Duluth. While there we go to look at all the old trains, walk though them, as well as the buses. We took a train ride, watch the model trains, and saw "HO Ho ho." (This is what Ian calls Santa.) Last year it was a disaster when we took Ian to see Santa, he is screaming in the picture, this year I told then I wanted no picture, just to let Ian visit. To my surprise he walked up , and gave Santa a hi five! He would not sit on his lap, but when Santa asked Ian what he wanted he replied, "a boat", Mr. agreed! After this is went to Bass Pro Shop to do a little Christmas Shopping and see the fish. Ian passed out cold, until we got to the fish, then he lit right up, of course. After this we attended Ms. Hayden's Cowboy/girl themed party! Ian go to ride a pony, and have endless hours on the jumpy slide.

Sunday Mr. went fishing, so Ian and Momma had some bonding time. We started our morning off with fudgesicles, and The Polar Express. Then we went for a walk in the woods, and explored for rocks. When he returned home we painted, and worked on a little Christmas project for GiGi, Great Grandma-Grandpa Kihl, Apa & Nana, and Grandma and Grandpaa! (We will post about this later this week!) After lunch we snuggled and watch Nemo. While Ian napped, I got to edit some photos, and enjoy watching my sweet angel sleep.

I love our weekends. Sometimes they are busy, sometimes they are slow, but what matters is that we spend it together making memories! What was your weekend adventure?

looking anywhere but...

After almost a year of launching my photography business, I figured that I could do our photos this year for our Christmas Card. Ha Ha Ha. For some reason working with others children to capture a great moment works for me, but with my own child I get anything but the perfect capture. No of my tricks work with him, none. Usually I have our cards ordered by now, addressed, and ready to send out the 8th, only becuase 8 is my favorite number, and this year I have nothing. Perhaps I should just send what I do have so all our family and friends can see what a handful a two year old is! All Momma wanted was for Ian to look at her, he didn't even have to smile, I would of taken a silly face, or silly face, but Ian looked anywhere but at momma.

          Here is the outcome.......

Maybe I should go ahead and send these out, what do you think?

I'm Two!

Ian turned 2 on November 13th! We kept it small and family oriented since his 1st birthday seemed very overwhelming. He is very into trains and dinosaurs, and so we kept a dinosaur theme, and had an amazing ice cream cake made for him! We also visited the zoo! Happy 2nd birthday sweet boy!