January 28 = Catch Up Day

Well... I haven't taken any pictures since the baby shower.  Oops!  But I do have some notes to share.  I have this really awesome calendar- This one- so there's a column for each day and then rows for me and then 5 areas of my choosing.  The top one I have dedicated to Liam/Malia.  Malia doesn't have too much on her schedule at this point so they can share a row.  Zachary gets the next row so I can keep up with his classes and meetings.  Then I have a row for planning our meals and then another row is devoted to planning out exercise whether it be a time to aim for to go to the gym to do cardio and/or weights or when a yoga class is.  I've been leaving the last row blank but decided this week that would be a good place to write down cute things Liam and Malia do or milestones they reach.  Here's this week's pages so far:

I put everything in pencil because I am very aware that things change... pretty often.  I'm tempted to start using colored pens so I can add some color to my life but... I like being able to erase and rewrite things so I'll probably stick to the pencil.  So on Monday, Malia ate some scrambled eggs and Liam let me read him a whole book (This one) for the first time ever!  Also, I have been working on getting him to clean up after himself.  Believe me, it would be much quicker for me to put his things away but teaching him to clean up after himself teaches him a little bit of responsibility and also helps with our routine.  So he will take out his blocks and pour them out on the floor but before he moves on to the next toy that he will undoubtedly just make a mess with, he has to put his blocks away.  He's been doing a great job and I'm thinking it's starting to stick because we got home from the gym and he took his hat off while standing in the middle of the living room but walked to the closet where his hat goes and waited for me to open the closet door so he could put it away.  Success!

Tuesday, Liam had speech at 10 am and one of his therapists from the county school system came at 2:00.  His speech therapist excitedly told me that he has started saying a lot more two-word phrases which is the main thing we are concentrating on in speech and that one of them was "all done."  We have a sign for all done but I've never heard him say it before so I told the therapist that came at 2:00 about it and she got him to say it!  So now if we do the sign and say "Alllllll..." and wait for a second, he'll say "Done!"  He also continued his new interest in books by bringing me a book, letting me read a page or two and then disappearing to bring me another book.  He brought me four books total- I'm loving it!  I also wrote down that Malia ate some ham!  I wrote this down because it's fun to remember what foods she's been eating but it'll also help me in case of an allergic reaction which I hope she doesn't have.  

Today was Liam's last day of preschool- his teachers don't know that yet because I'm going to let Zachary do the dirty work- he's going to go in Friday and talk to them.  But I also wrote down that Malia ate some kiwi and Liam brought me books again today!  I love that he makes me sit down and then gets in my lap before we can read- it's really the only time he shows me affection (unless his Daddy bribes him with food in exchange for giving mommy a hug or kiss) so it's now my new favorite thing to do!

So that's what's been happening- I hate that I have no pictures- I'll probably overcompensate these next few days!

January 25 = Baby Shower Day

So the actual Duke game that Zachary was so excited about yesterday actually happened today!  The bad news is that a couple weeks back we planned a baby shower for one of Zachary's classmates and his wife for the exact same time as the game.  So, being the incredible wife I am ;), I put in a plug for the game being the sporting event shown during the shower at the hosts' house.  There is a new trend of men attending baby showers and I'm not sure they are happy about it.  We had to promise sports and beer to get any of them to show up.  But they did and we all had a great time and the parents to be got some great gifts that they will definitely use!

The artistic host of the shower made these calendars and each guest paid a dollar to choose the square representing the day when said guest guessed the baby will be born.  I chose the day before the due date and Zachary chose the day after.  I'm super impressed with this expecting couple's decision to wait until the baby is born to find out if they're having a boy or girl so the guessing was two-fold because the color sticker you chose indicated if you think it's a boy or girl.  Whoever guesses closest to the actual time wins the money in the jar.

 I always love me a good banner.

 We decorated onesies and bibs with markers and paints letting everyone's creative side come out!  Here you can see ones that say "Spit Happens," "Feed Me," "Spit, Spitmate, Self," "Don't give up the ship," a really cute whale, and in the left corner there's one that says, "Keep Calm, Sleep On... please!"

February 24 = A Little Early Day

Zachary woke up this Saturday morning thinking Coach K was going for his 1000th win later in the day.  We found out, after I dressed both of my children in Duke fan gear, that that would be happening the next day.  I've always said (actually, I don't think I've ever said this but it works with the story) Duke fans are crazy- here's proof:

Liam has those devil horns in his hair and has no pants on.  So there's that.

January 23 = Lunch with Friends Day

I started off today right- meeting a friend, Amy, for yoga!  It really is the perfect way to start off your day- by 11:00am I had already exercised, talked with a friend, did something for myself, took time to relax (the five minute svasana at the end of yoga) and showered- that's a lot more than I get done in some days.  Then I got to meet Amy and two other friends (and wives of guys Zachary has class with) for a birthday lunch at the Mexican Cafe super close to our house.  Zachary took Liam and Malia to Liam's OT appointment and all of their husbands kept their babies too so while we mainly talked about our babies, we were able to have those conversations and focus on them and not feeding and entertaining little ones- what a gift!  We had the beef lo mein I made last week that I loved and just had a nice relaxing evening at home.  This is what it looked like:

And there's nothing better than that.

January 22 = Turn 27 Day

I've been thinking I was already 27 for the past few months- so now I'm right.  Zachary wished me a happy birthday and headed out- I thought it was a little early for him to leave but didn't say anything.  He came back about twenty minutes later with a carrot cake cupcake and flowers!  Liam shared my cupcake with me and Zachary put the flowers in front of the kitchen sink where I happen to spend a lot of time.

 

When he got home from teaching he took us to chickfila for lunch at the mall and I got a cookie- their cookies are so good.  I also got cards from Zachary and the babies.  Then we came home and he didn't have long before he had to head back to GWU.  But what was super exciting is that my neighbor, Anne, had invited Liam, Malia and I along with two other neighbors- one of which has two kids- for dinner.  She didn't know at the time that it was my birthday so it was a welcomed surprise that I got to have dinner with friends on my birthday since Zachary had class.  So we headed over there and had a delicious dinner- she even made chicken nuggets for the kids which Liam loved and Malia even had a few peas.  And then she brought out a strawberry cake she had bought for the occasion!  So sweet!  I brought home a slice for when Zachary got home but Malia decided to have a taste.

Then we watched some of our favorite show, The Newsroom, and went to bed.  Nothing terribly exciting but a good day complete with love from family and friends and lots of sweets- exactly what I wanted!

January 21 = Snow Day

Liam went to preschool for the second time since the New Year today.  Zachary is pretty frustrated with the way things have been going with preschool.  If the schools are closed- no matter what reason- the preschool is closed and if there is a two hour delay preschool is closed.  You pay the same amount whether they go every Monday and Wednesday or if they don't make it all.  In December, they barely went because the school system's Christmas break is pretty long and so in the last two months, he really hasn't gone very often at all.  But he did go today!  And it's kind of surprising because today we got a lot of snow!

Zachary had class in Washington, DC tonight and I was bit nervous about him driving back when it was dark and cold but it all turned out alright.  Well... Malia was grumpy.

Until Daddy came home and gave her a basketball.

And then Zachary surprised me as I was writing this with a early birthday ice cream cone!

January 20 = Orange Chicken Day

Most of the time I feel like we eat a nice variety of meals.  This may be compared when we ate the same 5 things every single week.  However- it seems like every time I sort through my recipe cards, I don't get excited by five to six already existing options so we have started trying a new recipe most weeks.  I came across a recipe for orange chicken which is our favorite from Panda Inn.  At the commissary they have a tiny food court made of Panda Inn and Subway so sometimes when we don't have a lot of groceries (hence the need to go to the grocery store) and I'm too hungry to wait until we get home, we stop at Panda Inn- this probably happens once a month.  We were excited to try the recipe and see how close it was to the food we get in the food court.  And it was pretty darn close!  We served it with fried rice that Zachary learned to make that we usually pair with our crockpot honey sesame chicken.

We also got Christmas presents from Aunt Pat today and Liam had a blast taking the paper out of the box and dragging it all over the house.  Here's a blurry picture:

January 19 = Comfy Day

I finally made it to a yoga class today- I'm pretty sure this is the first time of the new year- shameful.  I went straight from my class to find Zachary lifting weights and asked him, "Why don't I do yoga every day?"  It is so very good for me.  It gives me 60 - 75 minutes where I have no responsibility.  I love these teachers- every class starts with the setting of an intention.  Mine is almost always one of two things- "move with your breath" or "be easy on yourself."  Even if you're super flexible and super strong, yoga can still be really challenging because you are supposed to breathe the whole time.  That sounds obvious and easy but it's tempting to hold your breath during a difficult pose and it's easy to get distracted with thoughts of schedules and to do lists and forget to breathe.  So if I'm feeling distracted, my intention is to move with my breath.  The instructors are great in that they lead you but you are always invited to listen to your body.  So if they say to move on to the next pose but I'm not ready, I can take my time.  But on a day like today, when I haven't practiced- that's what yogis call doing yoga because you can always stretch further or breathe deeper- in a long time, my intention was to be easy on myself.  Not to get frustrated if I couldn't hold the pose as long as everyone else and to take child's pose if I needed to.  It's interesting that when I set my intention to be easy on myself, my body usually responds by letting me do exactly what the instructor asks.  I'm lucky that I've done a lot of yoga in the past and I'm pretty knowledgeable about modifications I can do so that each pose works for me but I didn't really have to do that today.  It was a really good class and I left feeling calmer and empowered.  So again- why don't I do this every day?!

Anyway, on an unrelated note- Malia has started pulling covers up and enjoying the comfort of a good blanket.  More power to you girl!

January 18 = Pomegranate Day

So Liam casually snacked on raw zucchini the other day- today he snacked on some yummy pomegranate seeds.

What a cool kid.  Then Malia did some working out on our bed while I was pumping. Here she is pushing her body up using her hands.

And then she gave it a rest but still was propped up on her elbows.

She took a break and then continued her workout in the living room- here she is on her elbows and knees!  Eventually she started rocking a little bit- a sign that crawling is coming soon!  And then she fell asleep.  It's hard work being a baby!

January 17 = Zucchini Day

I have talked before about how important it is for me for my kids to healthy from the start- I think it's one of the most meaningful, important gifts a parent can give a child.  Never did I ever think I would have this on my stove one day:

 It's cold up here which makes chicken and rice soup a perfect meal!  Here is chopped up carrots, onions, celery and zucchini being sauteed in preparation for my soup!  I've made it several times- the first time I couldn't get enough and then the next few times, it wasn't as good.  I've figured out the key is to let it sit for a while.  So I sauteed the veggies, boiled some chicken and shredded it, mixed that together in chicken broth with some leftover wild rice and we left for Dick's Sporting Goods and let it sit while we were gone- looking forward to eating it when we got back.  Before we left though, Liam had some last minute chores to take care of.

 Zachary got a gift card from my parents for Christmas so as he looked around, I let Liam wander around the store, following closely behind.  At first he was just so thrilled at being able to do whatever he wanted, he was walking up and down every aisle.  And then he found the kayaks.

 Zachary found a Washington Wizards t shirt he liked and Liam found an ice scraper that will probably come in handy before too long.  So we reined Liam in and headed home to enjoy our soup!

Liam always eats what we eat.  Sometimes he will fight us but we just save his dinner for when he realizes he's hungry and that usually works.  Unless his geographic tongue is acting up but that's a whole different story.  We have been a little remiss in feeding Miss Malia solids.  When we were in Jacksonville, towards the end, Liam's occupational therapist told us about a theory of feeding solids to babies in which you just give them tiny pieces of the food instead of pureeing it.  In this way you are able to give the baby whatever the family is already eating and it helps them get used to different textures while giving them a great variety.  Zachary fed Malia a few tiny pieces of zucchini that were super soft having been sauteed and then soaked in the soup and she loved it!   I don't have photographic evidence but Liam loved it too!!
 

January 16 = Malia's Half Birthday

My how the time has flown!  Miss Malia Mae has been a part of our family for six whole months!  Pops has officially taught Liam how to say his version of "Go Duke!"  Zachary and I had discussed who we would encourage our children to pull for- Carolina or Duke.  He wanted Malia to definitely be a Duke fan and wanted Liam to decide for himself.  I find this incredibly unfair as I am a UNC graduate.  His Dad being a Duke graduate and being a lifelong Duke fan himself gives him a bit of a claim but I feel that my claim is a little stronger.  Regardless, I was willing to let him have Malia as long as I could have Liam.  Well- Liam has been lost.  So my work on Malia begins with her 6 month picture.

 In fear that Zachary would destroy the pictures of Malia wearing her UNC onesie, I snapped some back up pictures too.

At six months old, Malia is still such a sweetheart.  As long as she is fed, dry and not really sleepy, she has a smile on her face.  She adores her brother and the way she looks at him melts my heart.  He adores her and would do anything for her.  She's got rolling from her belly to her back down and is working on rolling from her back to her belly.  She's starting to put a lot of weight in her hands and holds her head up really high and just looks like she wants to move.  Considering Liam somehow got out of his crib the other night and has learned to open doors of all kinds, I am about to be in big, big trouble when my Missy Mae starts crawling.  But I won't complain because I couldn't even imagine having sweeter, funnier, cuter kids than I have.

January 15 = Delicious Dinner Day

We are back to Zachary being gone on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and nights.  For Wednesday, I had planned a super easy dinner- one where you put some stuff in a baking dish and throw it in the oven.  I had a similar meal planned for Thursday night but when I looked in the pantry for one of the main ingredients, it wasn't there so I had to pick a different meal.  The only other meal for which we had everything we needed was a new recipe and a pretty time consuming, detailed one.  However I had to choose between making this meal or packing up both kids and dragging them out in the cold to go get either the missing ingredient for the planned meal or something not so healthy so I decided to go for it.  I am so glad I did!  The recipe was for beef lo mein and as I always do when the recipe calls for broccoli, I substituted zucchini.  Liam was signing, "I want" so I handed him a piece of zucchini, fully expecting him to spit it out but he surprised me and worked on it for a few minutes and only spit out the skin.  I cut the skin off of a couple more pieces and he ate those so he ended up eating about 5 slices of raw zucchini.

That kept him occupied and in my sight as I navigated the new recipe.
First, you just cook eight ounces of spaghetti and while that's going boil 1/4 cup of water.  Then you mix in one tablespoon of beef bouillon and two tablespoons of brown sugar.  You stir that until everything dissolves and then stir in three tablespoons of soy sauce (my favorite).  You set that aside and then start browning the meat.  The recipe calls for "a pound of beef" which is not very specific so we picked out some stew beef since it's already cut up!  You brown that and then add the sauce mixture and let that cook together.  Take out the meat, leaving behind the yummy juices which you will use to saute carrots, onions and zucchini.  Add some garlic after the vegetables are soft and then mix the meat, veggies and spaghetti all together and you're done!  I let mine sit for a while on low before serving and I think that made it even better.

I made Liam a bowl and was just planning on throwing the spaghetti noodles away because he never eats pasta but he liked the meal so much he ate the noodles too!

Zachary got home around 10 and heated some of the leftovers up and loved it too.  I had some leftovers the next day for lunch and concluded as good as it is for the lunch the next day, it's much better freshly cooked.  I've already decided it's going to be on the menu this coming week!

January 14 = More Danger Day

I was sitting at the computer working on something- looking over every thirty seconds, keeping an eye on Liam.  I watched him get in the chair and then climb right up on the table.  He has no fear.

January 12 = Danger Day

As I was changing Malia's diaper, I heard a crash and was waiting to hear Liam cry.  The cry never came but I very quickly got Malia's diaper on securely and ran out to the living room, where I heard the sound... and saw this:

Well when I encountered this situation, Liam was on the other side of it having just pushed it over.  The hooks on one side broke off but he wasn't hurt thank goodness.  Looks like Liam will have to accompany me while changing Malia's diaper from now on.

Here's some more cute pictures from today:

January 11 = Hair Bow Day

There's not quite enough hair to hold this bow in place yet but it's definitely coming!!

January 9 = Happy Girl Day

I will spare you the picture of Malia's blowout.  Let's just say there was poop on her foot.  After she got a bath, a new diaper and a new outfit- she was as happy as could be!

January 8 = Too Tired Day

Well the sickness continues but Malia is done fighting sleep I think:

January 7 = Teething Day

Liam is feeling a lot better, Malia is definitely less miserable but today has been the roughest day for me.  Zachary had asked me a few times if I had a fever to which I quickly replied no but when I started shivering today, I checked it and sure enough, 101!  And my temperature is usually low so 101 is pretty bad for me.  So I laid down while he made dinner- Malia has not been sleeping at night and barely any during the day so taking into consideration with just her lack of sleep I'd be exhausted on a good day, I'm extremely exhausted also being sick.  So I was very relieved that dinner was taken care of- I didn't eat very much but it was worth waking up for to get to see this:

Liam never used any teething toys which was disappointing because he had no relief for his teething pain so I'm super excited that Malia does and when a teething toy isn't available, she'll find a way!

After dinner, Zachary took the babies to the gym and I got a little cleaning done around the house.  I checked the mail and there was something from Amazon.  Zachary had told me not to look at recently placed orders on Amazon so I figured it might be an early birthday present.  I waited until he got home and eagerly opened it, hoping it would be Joshua Radin's new CD and it was!!

Speaking of presents, Uncle Matty had gotten Liam and Malia Duke outfits for Christmas and because I'm a good sister-in-law, I put Malia in hers during the Duke v. Wake Forest game.  Even though it wasn't televised she still showed her spirit and it made for a great photo op!

January 6 = Snow Day

Now Liam, Malia and I are all sick.  Zachary woke me up to tell me it was snowing and I immediately felt absolutely awful.  I am not a huge fan of snow.  It's pretty to look at for the first 10 minutes before people and cars travel through it, making it a dirty, wet mess. 

 

Malia woke up around the same time that Zachary had to go to class so I went to feed her and could tell she felt about the same way I did.  When I went to get Liam out of bed, he just looked up at me with these sad eyes like, "Nope, not time yet."  So I gave him a cereal bar in his crib and let him take his time getting up.  After checking on him five times, he finally seemed willing to get out of bed so I changed his diaper but kept him in his warm, comfortable PJs and we, all three, sat on the couch.

 

We survived the morning- mainly because both babies felt so terribly, they didn't give me too much trouble and because I knew before Zachary came home, he was stopping by the drug store to get me some much needed medicinal relief- we were completely out of all cold medicines.  He surprised me by also coming home with these:

Liam had a few days on me and Malia so he started feeling better that afternoon and, completely on his own, started rocking Malia in her rock 'n' play while we were making dinner- such a sweet moment!