On Toddlers (+ Play)

Toddlers are a strange bunch. They look and act like little people but with one caveat, they are completely insane! One moment, they are clinging to you and screaming because you dared to put them down so you could pick something up and the next moment, they are running down the hall away from you and yelling in joy.



I'm really enjoying Molly as she goes through different stages. The toddler stage is exciting and exhausting! The biggest difference I'm finding between Baby Molly and Toddler Molly is that I now need to keep her entertained. Baby Molly found the ceiling light to be fascinating! Toddler Molly demands something a bit more stimulating.

We do a lot of outside activities such as story time at the library, swim lessons at the local pool, tot gym time at the rec center and a ton of visits to the Zoo!



However, we can't spend every moment outside of the house. Naps need to be taken at home or they just aren't very good and I have stuff I need to do around the house (so much stuff to constantly get done!). Toward that end, I've been gathering activities that we can do at home, activities outside of the usual reading of books, playing with toys and torturing the cats kind of activities.

Here are some of my current favorites (and a few we need to try):

Activities to promote fine motor skills (because play while improving skills is important!)

Cornstarch Sidewalk Paint

Indoor Activities for rainy days

Hallway House (I'm planning on making one of these for Molly! We have the perfect hallway for it and I think she would LOVE this)

Activities for children all the way down to infants!

Activity Bags (this is intended for car rides but I think you could make them for certain times of day or particular kinds of weather)

How do (did) you keep your toddler entertained without going insane yourself? What kinds of activities do they enjoy? 

Pinterest Thursday - 30 Minute Workout

This week, I decided to take on an exercise challenge from Pinterest! Molly decided that napping was for suckers and I still needed to get my workout in, something I usually do during her morning nap.

I found this great 30 minute workout from Undressed Skeleton and decided to take on the challenge!

Since Molly wasn't napping, I turned the 15 minute mile jog on the treadmill into a 15 minute mile jog with the stroller. I was feeling pretty good about myself until a woman resembling a gazelle ran past me pushing a DOUBLE STROLLER! The good thing about her was that I was just about to give into a walk but couldn't once she passed me, I had to solider on.



Once we got home, I took Molly out of the stroller, set her up with some toys and began the rest of the workout. By the time, I got to the 3 sets of 1 min. wall sits, my legs were JELLO! It was awesome! I did cheat on the jumping jacks a little bit because I basically hate jumping jacks and decided that doing 40 of them was awesome.

The best part of this was that 15 minutes is totally do-able while Molly rampages around me. She had a great time watching me and thought I was pretty silly when I groaned about my legs falling off during the wall sits.

If you only have 30 minutes and no equipment, I'd highly recommend this workout. It gets your heart pounding and leaves you sweaty. Nothing better than that in my book!

The Wednesday Links from Around The Web 1.16.13 Edition

Polka Dot Cake - This looks like so much fun!

Weekend Soundtrack

25 Food Trends for 2013

46 reasons my three-year-old might be freaking out - Hilarious and oh so true!

Have It All Wallet Pattern

Helping Tower 

8 in 2013

I've been thinking about the 8 in 2013 challenge and how I want to personally tackle that challenge. I've decided that I am going to complete 2 things in 4 different crafting arenas.

• 2 cross stitch patterns (Woodland Sampler and Wee Little Stitches Star Wars people)
• 2 quilts (One for Molly and finish up my Pinwheel Quilt)
• 2 knitted projects (a Year in Temperatures scarf  and my Smitten Advent Calendar)
• 2 photography challenges (Fat Mum Slim's January Challenge and something else that I need to decide on)

I'm really excited about these challenges/goals. I'm a very goal focused person and having plans laid out is quite thrilling for me. I have many more goals and challenges floating around in my mind but I've decided to narrow it down to keep myself in line. Sometimes limiting oneself means that you actually accomplish something instead of just starting a lot of things. I'm very good at starting and only OK at finishing things. 

On Knitting

Even without a calendar and the new year celebration, I can always tell when it is January by my intense need to KNIT ALL THE THINGS, ORGANIZE ALL MY YARN and CLEAR OUT MY RAVELRY QUEUE.



This year I have been stymied by the basement fix-up so I can't organize my yarn just yet but I sense February will bring me a lot of organizing happiness. I have however found time to queue up more patterns to knit and am currently attempting to knit 5 things at once.

It's not going as well as I imagined in my head though. It's hard to knit 5 things at once when you only have two hands and both are needed to knit ONE thing at a time.



So today I'll be taking some time to tidy up my knitting bags and really prioritize my knitting. I have a baby hat that I need to finish for a friend and since it is a quick knit, I might just start with that. Then I'll move on to the hat I started for my husband. It's cold outside and his head would really appreciate the warmth. From there, I'll see what I have squirreled away. The only way to knit all the things is to knit them one at a time. I just need to remember that.

How do you keep control over your knitting desires?

Sunday Favorites

1. Red Head, 2. Sweet wool felt elephant, 3. Untitled, 4. Grain Bread, 5. Color Affection - wrapped around the front, 6. Chapulines, 7. Pudding for the lil puddin., 8. evergreen & cinnamon, 9. January 9., 10. Day 2169, 11. IMG_4763, 12. IMG_4768, 13. January 6, 14. Fall in Annapolis, 15. a dollop of featherweight hummus, 16. 365.5 winter market, 17. Squirrel's #bento today: #onigiri , pretzels, carrots, and homemade creamy Caesar dressing dip. Ziplock has jumped on the bento wagon. Found these containers at the store yesterday. #bentobuddy, 18. Happy mail!, 19. January 4, 2013, 20. Building pressure, 21. 1/52, 22. April and March, 23. January deer couple!, 24. MWS - FPS - Janurary - WIP, 25. #woodlandsampler progress- love it already!

Woodland Sampler

Once upon a time, I was an avid cross-stitcher. Then I found knitting and left my stitching roots behind. Recently though, I rediscovered my love for cross-stitching.



I was surfing through Instagram when I spotted a link to some beautiful and fun patterns from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. Before I knew it, I had signed up for the Woodland Sampler which is a monthly cross stitch pattern. We were given the pattern for all 12 frames in December when we signed up and then at the beginning of each month, we get a set of instructions to fill in one frame at a time.



I ended up having to re-boot my sampler when I noticed that I was stitching in every square and it was coming out teeny tiny on 28ct fabric. I started stitching in two "squares" and I LOVE IT!

The creators of the pattern offered up a sneak peek for February's pattern and I'm so stoked!

I'm so excited about this year long project, that I might have already bought more patterns to make more cross stitch things!

On Running (+ Dogs)

My running group starts on January 20th but I need to get back into running before then so I don't lose a lung at our first session. I decided that I'd follow my former training schedule until we receive our new one so Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays are for running. 

Last Tuesday, I decided to take my brother's dogs out with Molly and I on our run. My brother and his wife just had a lovely baby girl and the dogs need their exercise but their owners are otherwise occupied (as expected!) They aren't used to going out with a stroller (but they did excellent!) and really haven't been run in awhile. And to top it off, it was POURING DOWN RAIN! My goal was to wear them out and get a bit of running in for me. 

I was honestly surprised at how much easier my goal was to accomplish than I originally thought. I thought there would be tangled leashes, flipped strollers and me flat on my back in the middle of the road. Our biggest problem was that Phoenix (the light colored dog) would decide that he was not going any further and would sit down. Way to control our speed, dude! 

If I were to do this again (and I'm sure I will), I would wear a belt around my waist with the leashes so I only had to worry about controlling the stroller. I had things looped around both wrists! Also knowing that you can't go balls out on your running means you can work on form. We took it slow and easy along the trail. That's another thing, doing this on a sidewalk is hard! I'd suggest finding a nice, wide trail where the dogs can stretch out their leashes and roam.

Otherwise, I say don't let your stroller or your dogs stop you from running (or walking). It can be done! Yes, it is much easier alone but exercise is good for the soul so get out there and do it!

Pinterest Thursday - Brown Sugar + Honey Scrub

I'm always on the hunt for all-natural skin care products that actually work so when I saw these tips  on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it out. The concept is simple; mix equal parts brown sugar and honey together before applying to your face.



I highly recommend doing this scrub in the shower as the honey is a bit messy. It is divine though and if any happens to fall on your lips, it is also tasty!



I used this scrub for about a week and definitely saw a difference in the smoothness of my skin. It also just felt really nice. There is no need to use a really nice honey or brown sugar. For this "recipe", I feel the cheaper, the better.



I would however advise against making up a big "batch" of this scrub. I thought I was super smart to do this but the scrub got super grainy and didn't feel as good as when I mixed it up right before using it.

The Wednesday Links from Around The Web 1.9.13 Edition

10 Simple Things to Make You Happier at Home

Make Your Own Ginger Ale (I did this when I was pregnant and it was tasty!)

Bundles of Love

10 Things Kids Want Their Parents to Do With Them

Wee Little Stitches These are some super cute and fun cross stitch patterns.

8 in 2013

Red Stamp Approval

I'm an app-holic! I love finding new apps for my iPhone and iPad and some of them have been quite useful.

My new favorite app is called Red Stamp. It is a an awesome site for creating cards, invites and personal greetings. I recently used the app to create some fun Thank You cards and to send a congratulatory note to a friend who got engaged.



Cards can be sent via snail mail, Instagram, Facebook or even email. I love modern day correspondence!



What is your favorite app? What should I download next?


Shop Amazon - Super Bowl Event

InfantSEE, InfantDO

Right around when Molly was 6 months old, I heard about a great program called, InfantSEE which provides a baby's first eye assessment for free. The baby needs to be between the ages of 6 months and 12 months to participate in this no-cost public service. The American Optometric Association recommends scheduling this assessment at 6 months even if there are no eye or vision problems apparent. This is a great way to create a baseline assessment and to catch any potential problems early on. 

Our optometrist was part of this program so I brought Molly into her. She checked Molly for nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, eye movement ability and looked for any eye health problems. While these problems are not common, it is important to find these issues early as these are easy to correct if treatment begins early. 

Molly has a bit of nearsightness in her right eye. Usually kids are checked again around the age of three but because of this issue, we'll have Molly's eyes checked again at 2 to see if she has outgrown this issue. If not, then we'll treat it as necessary. 

Here is a blurb from the InfantSEE website that describes the program way better than I can: 

InfantSEE®, a public health program, managed by Optometry Cares® - the AOA Foundation, is designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an essential part of infant wellness care to improve a child's quality of life. Under this program, participating optometrists provide a comprehensive infant eye assessment between 6 and 12 months of age as a no-cost public service. Click here to learn more and locate a doctor in your area who can provide the free infant assessment.

Molly quite enjoyed having her eyes checked. She's a very social kid and loves toys. The doctor had a great selection of toys and Molly responded well to them. Molly however did not like having her eyes dilated and would not keep the sunglasses on. She cried quite a bit on the way home because as luck would have it, I had her eyes checked on a sunny day. She was fine once we got home and I closed the curtains to block out the sunshine. 

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

#woodlandsampler progress- love it already!, 2. Jan woodland sampler, 3. Abbotts Harbour slouch, 4. ziggity, 5. January :: WoodlandSampler :: Snowy Deer Couple!, 6. Day 2163, 7. 1.1.2013, 8. Untitled, 9. Almost done, 10. Brealuninner. #onemealtorulethemall, 11. apple pie, 12. merry christmas!, 13. A whale for Dash!, 14. Snowy Sunrise, 15. Meery Christmas!, 16. Morning coffee after #yoga, 17. Wonder Woman + gay Superman cheer bow. This is a gay tree, yo., 18. Coffee and the New York Times. Breakfast of champions. #HonoluluAirport, 19. Sweater, sweat pants, cat, 20. Downward facing dog #yoga, 21. in progress, 22. stripy raglan, unblocked, 23. Kawaii Winter Wonderland, 24. Wrapped the afternoon away. #denbowchristmas, 25. Desserts Stitch-along

Pssstttt... Have you checked out the new Flickr iPhone app yet? You can download it here (http://www.flickr.com/iphone) and I highly suggest that you do because it is awesome!

Little Girl

My little baby is quickly becoming a little girl. I'm really enjoying this journey with her. She's started pointing at things and then at herself. We think she is trying to tell us when she wants something. Now if only I knew what she was saying the other 98% of the time.

Living Cable TV Free

Scott and I get asked at lot about how we live without cable television. It's easy and we still (unfortunately) watch A LOT of television. The first thing we did when we went cable free was to purchase a digital antenna, a RCA ANT1650R Flat Digital Amplified Indoor TV Antenna. The digital antenna is much stronger than the old fashioned rabbit ears (which may not even work now).

 Along with the antenna, we purchased a Roku HD Streaming Player so we could stream shows straight to our television. We also signed up for a Netflix account but I recently cancelled that. We now use our Amazon Prime and the Amazon Instant service to watch movies and shows that are not available on network television (i.e. Homeland or Justified).

 We have found that we are saving a lot of money a month by watching TV this way. We have also focused our TV habits. Instead of mindlessly flipping through 100 channels, we have to search and select a show to watch.

 You can watch a lot of shows and movies a month for WAY less than it costs to have cable. Cable is approximately $75 to $100 a month in my area. Amazon Instant offers an entire season of Homeland for $17.99 which is 13 hours of television. Netflix has a great service of unlimited streaming for $8.99 a month.

 Scott and I once spent A TON of cash watching shows one weekend when I was first pregnant with Molly and on modified bed rest. We watched TV all weekend. At the end of the month, I freaked out and asked Scott how many millions of dollars we had spent to watch TV that month. He told me that we had spent $45 which is still a lot less than $100.

And that my friends is how Scott and I watch TV without cable. We do have to wait a day to see some shows and even months to see others (HOMELAND SEASON 2, I'm looking at YOU!) but the money savings makes it all worth it.

Pinterest Thursday - Salad in a Jar

I LOVE Pinterest! I could easily spend hours pinning my heart out on that site and I find such cool stuff. I thought it would be fun to share what I find along with the results from trying out what I pin. I do a lot of things based on the pins I find on Pinterest. To that end, I'm introducing a new feature called, Pinterest Thursdays where I'll take one thing that I've pinned, actually do whatever the pinned item calls for and then report my results here on the blog. 

 This week, I decided to try the Salad in a Jar idea that I see pinned everywhere.

 

First I gathered my jars (I used gallon sized ones since that is what I had on hand) and poured the salad dressing into the bottom of the jars. Next I chopped, prepped and cooked all the other salad ingredients.



Then I started layering ingredients. I had a nice bag of kale, brussel sprouts and cabbage from my Costco run earlier in the day so I put down that layer first. Then I followed with shredded carrots, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, walnuts, chicken and cheese.





My last layer was butter lettuce. The idea is that the dressing and the lettuce are the farthest apart in the jar to help prevent wilting and slimy greens.



Then I filled my fridge with five jars of Salad!



On day three, I presented Salad in a Jar to my husband who DID NOT LIKE IT. I'm not sure if he didn't like the whole salad concept or that he wasn't lying when he said the chicken didn't taste right because I enjoyed my salad. It was just as good on day one as it was on day three.



Over all, I'd say this is a winner! My only issue is that I made the same salad for 5 days and it was tired and boring by day 5. I'd suggest switching it up a bit and maybe only making a few of the same type of salad. This is a quick and easy way to get more greens in your diet though and cuts down on the daily drudgery of putting together a salad for lunch. 

On Goals

The new year always brings me the desire to make lofty goals. This year, I've decided to fight that desire. I'm making three simple goals. 



My first goal is to run the Vancouver (BC) 1/2 Marathon on May 5. I spent most of last year recovering from having Molly and getting back into running shape. This year I'm going to put that hard work to use!



This will be my fourth time doing the Vancouver 1/2 Marathon and I'm excited to check out the new course. I'm also excited to know that at least two of my PEPS Mamas will also be out on the course with me.



Molly and I will be spending our fair share of time with the BOB stroller which is good as Molly likes to take in the sites and I like to pretend I'm flying along like a gazelle (even though reality is much different).



I look forward to making this face in May. Do you have any running tips for me? Any tips for Molly?

A Photo a Day in December

Last month I participated in FAT MUM SLIM's December's Photo a Day Challenge and I loved it! I'm hoping to continue with these kinds of challenges throughout 2013.

Links to each of my December photos: 1. Peace - Poor Santa had the exact opposite of a peaceful day. #fmsphotoaday, 2. Something you held - I held my favorite yarn today even though I haven't had time to knit yet. #fmsphotoaday, 3. Black + White - Even though Molly was a bit grumpy today due to cutting some molars, she still took some time to ham it up for the camera., 4. Looking Up - It was such a beautiful, sunny day so Molly and I visited the SAM Outdoor Sculpture Park to gaze upon the Eagle., 5. Where I Live - I live in a sea of toys #fmsphotoaday, 6. Out + About - Molly and I headed out to check out the winter festivities today. She helped conduct the orchestra. #fmsphotoaday, 7. Stars - For years I've wanted to go to the Greenlake Pathway of Lights. We took Molly and met up with some friends for a stroll under the stars. It was wonderful! #fmsphotoaday, 8. Someone you love - I made my BFF an infinity scarf for Christmas. She was super excited about it. It was wonderful seeing her this weekend. #fmsphotoaday, 9. 8 pm -- Celebrating the 1st year of parenthood #fmsphotoaday, 10. Under - if one lies on the table, they are under my fabulous chandelier., 11. Light - Molly and I played around with the Christmas lights tonight. #fmsphotoaday, 12. Hat - just two girls wearing their hand knit hats #fmsphotoaday, 13. Something Green - This is my favorite chair and pillow. At Christmas time, my green reindeer doll joins the party. #fmsphotoaday, 14. Outside - The outside was very, very, very rainy today which meant it was the perfect day to watch The Hobbit! #fmsphotoaday, 15. Something you made - I'm making the Smitten Mitten Holiday Garland. Two down, 22 to go! #fmsphotoaday, 16. On The Floor - my Den floor is a toddler war zone #fmsphotoaday, 17. Sweet - Sweet Sugar Scrub presents #fmsphotoaday, 18. Makes You Merry - The Holiday Tree at Westlake makes me merry! #fmsphotoaday, 19. Starts with S - Sweet Potatoes! We have a lot of these around our house because Molly and I love them. #fmsphotoaday, 20. Weather - The effects of weather on my yard are very evident at this time of year. #fmsphotoaday, 21. Decorations - other people's decorations are lovely. #fmsphotoaday, 22. Joy is my hilarious niece and her blinking nose! #fmsphotoaday, 23. Tradition - This year we are starting a new tradition. On Christmas Eve, Molly gets to open one present which will always be Christmas PJs. Then we take a photo of us in our Christmas PJs. #fmsphotoaday, 24. Lunchtime - Around lunchtime we tried to get a photo of my brother's dogs and Molly. It was chaos. #fmsphotoaday, 25. Mess: The after-Christmas scene is quite messy around this house. I've done one sort but will be doing another toy sort shortly. So many toys! #fmsphotoaday, 26. Tree - I'm quite pleased with my Christmas Tree this year. It has a lot of pink lights. #fmsphotoaday, 27. How I Relax - I exercise to relax and it feels so good! #fmsphotoaday, 28. Cold - The ice box is cold #fmsphotoaday, 29. Hot #fmsphotoaday, 30. Something that made me smile this year, 31. Self Portrait #fmsphotoaday