A Morning for the Girls

Zoë and I had a fun morning with Grandma on Tuesday. Since it's her spring break, she took us to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe! We got *delicious* french toast and Zoë had a puppy dog pancake. It was very quiet when we arrived around 8 am and Zoë seemed a little weirded out by the lack of noise. She was very clingy to me and even had me feed her for awhile. Then as the noise level increased, she became more comfortable and finally sat in the high chair and fed herself. Think she is used to more noise on a regular basis??

After breakfast, we went over to Target and did a little shopping. Zoë got a new headband that makes her look like a bunny and picked out a new shirt from Grandma for Easter. It was a fun morning!

A Poem for March

The weather is pretty, the sun is out
But inside we're coughing and sneezing.
The pollen is floating, the flower are blooming,
The kids can't keep from wheezing.

We need a good rain, it's been a dry winter
I'm so glad that Spring's finally here!
Here's a few pictures from our laid back week
Hope your weekend is filled with good cheer!

Last week of Winter

We have had some gorgeous weather for our last week of winter! We've tried to spend lots of time outside taking walks and soaking up the sunshine. Not to mention, with the time change, we can take walks after supper again. Hooray!

Friday Night Food

Jeremiah is a big fan of Chinese Food. I, on the other hand, care for it only sporadically. When we were dating, if I even started the sentence, "I think I'd like Chinese for..." -- "YES!" was Jeremiah's immediate response :D He was always ready. 

As we've been discovering dairy seems to be hard for 3/5 of our family, we have decided to forgo Friday night as pizza night. So I have begun to make Chinese food instead. It takes a bit more effort, but take-out is so expensive, I can't justify getting that every week. So I've been working on getting a few recipes in rotation, so we don't get bored, but also get to enjoy our favorites. 

I plan to share a few new recipes over the coming weeks/months (we'll see how long it takes for me to get around to it!). The first one is Chow Mein. I never realized how delicious Chinese noodles were until we lived in TX and I tried lo mein for the first time. I had only associated rice with Chinese food before. But I've found that I really enjoy the noodles! From Pioneer Woman's Dinnertime cookbook, this recipe is located in the 16- Minute Meal section. The first couple of times I made it, it proved to be closer to 30/35 minutes. Then I decided to prep all my veggies before we went to the pool one afternoon, we came home and I threw it all together, and Voila!, 16 minute meal indeed! So, my word of advice is to prep those veggies ahead of time and you'll be ready to get dinner on the table pretty quick! 

Shredded carrots, napa cabbage, and sliced onions, ready to cook! 

Since this was my main course for dinner, I chopped up a couple of chicken breasts I had cooked earlier in the week and added them to the noodles for protein. I decided to double the recipe (partly because I would never use that second half of the napa cabbage, so I figured we might as well use up the entire thing) I'm going to write out for you below and we ate a good lot of it, but also had some nice leftovers the next day.

Look at my adorable helper! 

Ingredients: 1 T. peanut oil 

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 cup julienned carrots

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 head napa cabbage, thinly sliced (I use the food processor.)

8 oz. thin Chinese noodles, cooked according to the package directions

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes, until it starts to soften. Add the carrots, and half the green onions, then stir and let the veggies cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more, then add the noodles, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Toss it together, then add the rest of the green onions. Serve hot. -- from The Pioneer Woman Dinnertime cookbook. 

Our family really enjoys this recipe! I'm excited to share more of our favorites with you! 

Friday Fotos

My phone likes to shut down when I try to put up a blog post with pictures, but it's the quickest way to get pictures on here! So I apologize for the posts being fewer recently. But this week we:

I took Levi out on Monday morning for his last gymnastics class, then a lunch date at Noodles and Co. for his favorite, spaghetti, and then a dental check-up. He loved the one-on-one time!

Zeke is learning new notes and new songs and working hard on his piano skills. I'm so proud of the way he has improved over the past year. We've been taking things nice and slow and it is paying off! He is reading music and enjoys his *almost* daily practice time. 

I captured this quick shot of Daddy-Daughter. Sometimes when I can't get her to sleep for me, she'll do it for Jeremiah. She never clings to me like a little monkey, but she does with her Daddy! 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Dance Class

Last Saturday morning of Mommy and Me dance class :)

Finally wore my tap shoes!

18 Months Old

Zoë Kayte, you are 18 months old today! You are such a full-of-life girl! You have plenty of personality to turn on or off the charm at the drop of a hat. Here's what you've been up to:

- You have 7 teeth! Teething is not fun.

Looking a bit disappointed that you couldn't join the boys in painting. 

You got bored waiting for the boys, so you found my shoes and Daddy's hat

You like dressing up and accessorizing

Enjoying a donut on Zeke's birthday 

Staying warm with Mimi just inside the door on Zeke's birthday

Birthday cake with Pop-Pop

Saying later before Mimi headed home to NE

- You are starting to let me put barrettes in your hair, for at least a few minutes at a time!

- You say lots of words! And I can figure most of them out when used in context. Let's see how many I can remember: "dah" for dog, please, Zeke, Dada, Mama, more, hello, Pop-Pop, cat, crackers, outside, sock, shoes, "duh" for duck, cheese (for taking pictures, since you can't eat any ;)) Also, you try to say most anything I ask you to; we have a book about the farm and you'll repeat after me -- "cow" "moo", "horse, neigh" - "shee" (for sheep) "baa" - "pi" (pig) and then you make a snorting sound, plus all the noises from the 'noisy animal' page. At suppertime we each say something we're thankful for that day and you have begun to participate. You wait for your turn and then smile and point and say "Zeke", "Dada". You are also holding Levi and my's hand while we pray at meals.

- When we are putting the boys to bed, you like to climb under the covers and read with them and pretend to sleep. But you are too wiggly to lay still for long!

- You are constantly on the move. Holding you has become more difficult because you like to go wherever the wind blows. You're starting to run and do your best to keep up with the boys. You sometimes hit the boys when you aren't getting your way. And your scream is ear-piercing! My goodness. Being inside when you scream is nearly intolerable!

You're getting so brave on the playground! 

- You typically sleep from 9 pm - 7 am and nap from 12 - 2 pm.

- You are wearing mostly 18 month clothes although a few 12 month outfits still fit.

Walking around like a big girl! 

- You eat most everything we give you! I love not having picky eaters! We try to avoid dairy and chocolate because those seem to upset your stomach. I hope that you grow out of one or both of those before long -- for your benefit... and mine! ;)

- I have begun to find you on the couch or floor reading books. You can play by yourself for a few minutes at a time, which I think is wonderful considering you have 2 older brothers! Sometimes when they are sleeping or otherwise entertained, you will play alone and/or look at books before going to find somebody.

Levi loves you very much! 

- You like to shut all the doors on us. If I'm in the bathroom brushing my teeth, I will randomly hear a click behind me as you've pulled the door shut on me. Then you knock or scream until I open it back up. You like to walk down our little hall and shut all the doors one by one. You are always so pleased with yourself.

Zoë, you are such a fun girl! You are such a welcome and delightful addition to our family! I love your playful spirit as well as your willingness to help when I ask you to do little tasks. I enjoy getting you dressed and putting you in pink more than I expected :) You like to be a part of everything that is going on in the household and share plenty of smiles and laughs. You seem to enjoy animals, especially dogs and our cat Dora. You enjoy being outside and taking walks in the wagon and stroller. I look forward to all you'll learn and how you'll develop over the next 3 months! Love, Mommy