And I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old. Cooper calls Winnie the Pooh either "Poop" or "Poo Poo". Tonight we were reading his Winnie the Pooh book and I was dying laughing at him saying: "Poop went to the house" and "Poo Poo drinking coffee" and "Good night Poop". I'm sorry. It's funny!
For my male followers...
All three of you. I thought you might enjoy this video of Cooper "working out". He watches Kyle and I during our work-outs and picked this one up!
For my ladies...
Have you tried Nars' The Multiple stick?! It's not only the perfect cream blush but it also can be used on lips and eyes too. Perfect for on-the-go touch-ups and you only have to throw one thing in your purse or diaper bag! I have it in Riviera. I hate self-portraits but here you go, lips and cheeks!
I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have an extremely "focused" toddler on our hands. Kyle and I always joke that we can't do anything fun with him because once, twice or three times is never enough.
Enter the formerly pleasant task of making fresh brewed coffee...
On the weekends, Kyle and I love trying out new blends with our usually blown-out breakfasts. Breakfast is our thing! About six months ago, Cooper became really interested in the noise the grinder made and we thought it would be fun to let him count out the scoops of beans and help push the buttons, or "pusha de buttons" as he likes to say! (He even sounds like a little Italian barista!)
Little did we know that letting him "help" would turn into a melt-down every time the process wrapped up. We've gone so far as to sneak outside and grind the beans on the front porch or do it the night before while his bath water is running. My Mom even brings her own grounds when she comes down from Dallas! It helps, but as soon as he sees you cup in hand he's over at the coffee pot crying "coffee, my coffee"! He will even bring you his "coffee cup" (plastic measuring cup) once he realizes its a weekend morning and we're not going to work. We eventually resort to giving him a little "cowboy coffee" (95% milk, a little sugar and a splash of coffee) because it seems to appease the beast and temper the obsession so we can get through breakfast and get on with out day.
Here's a clip of the process from last weekend. Believe it or not, it's actually pretty mild compared to some fits we've seen!
My name is Casey and I have an online shopping addiction. I came to this realization today. It happened when I was strolling into work checking emails on my walk in from the parking lot. I stumbled across a Zulily sale and in the short time it took me to ride up 36 floors I had purchased a pair of shoes for the Cooper boy!
Rationalizing my purchase, I decided that it was neither mindless nor lazy and it was an efficient use of my time! Besides, I *probably* would have gotten them anyway, I think. And they were on sale!
I've had that internal conversation too many times not to admit that I am completely sucked in to online shopping. My $50 diapers.com purchases are somehow never less than $100 and the Fed Ex guy knows my dog's name. The only store I regularly step foot in is the grocery store. But this is normal, right?!
Side note...Tom's for little boys? How do we feel about this?
Last weekend we stopped into our local feed store to get veggies for Kyle's spring garden. Yes, I said feed store. Never mind that its in the middle of Houson's main bar strip (at least what was the "spot" 3 years ago when I did such things)! This city mouse got schooled on urban farming and proper lawn maintenance by my country mouse husband and was even beginning to crack on the joys of urban poultry raising. However, I held out...for now! You're welcome, HOA!
Cooper went around talking about all of the animals (chickens, peacocks, ducks, kittens, puppies...) and the first words out of his mouth the next morning were "Mama, what the chicken say?".
Some very serious father son talk going on here I'm sure! That belly is absolutely ridiculous!
Baby ducks were a big hit!
Helping Daddy plant yesterday. "Dada, grow it!"
More later on the backyard chickens. I used to think it was absolutely cookoo until our neighbors in the Heights started raising them and sweetly dropping off fresh eggs on our front porch. You can't buy eggs like that. Period.
Kyle loves red velvet cake which is particularly handy for Valentine's Day because it's the right color! I usually make the dessert, he does dinner (osso bucco this year, yum!).
This year I turned to my trusty friend Paula Dean for a new recipe that I knew would be good on the first try: Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies!
I did not roll the sides in nuts as suggested, yuck! Why ruin a good dessert by adding nuts?! Also, as the cookies were cooling, I sprinkled a little sugar (2 parts) and salt (1 part) dusting over the top because salty and sweet goes well with cream cheese and red velvet, of course! I used a ziplock bag instead of a piping bag, works great! Voila!
We started getting furniture for Cooper's big boy room shortly after Christmas, totally taking advantage of post-holiday sales and thinking we would need to get his room done...eventually. Like April or May, eventually. When I was ready, eventually.
Today, he asked to take a nap in "Cooper's bed", aka, the big boy bed! What's a gal to do besides make it happen and then fall into a heaping puddle outside the door because he might as well be packing for college?! Not that I did that, of course.
The smiling boy after his 2.5 hour nap!
Some pics of the room. Doesn't he look tiny in this big ol' bed?!
Found these on Etsy, love!
Labrador sheets!
What Labrador room would be complete without it's own life sized version? Here is Kona modeling. If you think she looks worried, she is! Like her Mama, she does NOT like change.
Cooper boy, on the other hand, is sawing logs in the next room over!!!
We had our anatomy scan yesterday and decided to find out the baby's gender over dinner with friends. I was a little hesitant at first, not knowing how I would handle sitting around all day with that envelope sitting in my purse, BUT it was so wonderful to get to share and capture the moment!
I can't believe this recipe has not made it onto the blog yet! This is my stand-by. My go to. If you know me you've eaten this at least twice! I got this recipe at my wedding recipe shower from our good family friend who also hosted.
This is so tasty and a good way to mix it up from you normal egg, cheese and sausage breakfast dish.
Enjoy!
Bagel & Lox Strata
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 bagels cut into bite-size pieces
1 8 ounce package thinly sliced smoked salmon
8 ounces Swiss cheese or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or green onion
8 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 cup cottage cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place melted butter in a 13x9-inch baking dish, spreading to cover the bottom. Spread bagel pieces evenly in prepared dish.
Layer lox, cheese, and chives evenly over bagel pieces.
In a large bowl combine eggs, milk, cottage cheese, and pepper. Pour over layers in dish.
Press down gently with the back of a wooden spoon to moisten all of the ingredients. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours.
Bake, uncovered, about 50 minutes to an hour or untiltop is puffed and golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
*** If you want to cut this in half just use a square casserole.
P.S. Anatomy scan is tomorrow! Time to find out if baby Charles will be wearing pink or blue!
Kyle started Cooper on "batting practice" after he gets home from work. Last week, Cooper knocked this ball down from the rafter where it used to hang in our garage. Ever since, we've had several near "America's Funniest Home Video" moments while Kyle was trying to hold the ball for him.
Kid + swinging bat + fearful package grab = funny!
Note: We've abandoned the traditional "1, 2, 3, Go" for "2, 7, 8, Go" or sometimes jut "2, 7, Go" for short. You know, just pick your favorite numbers and go with it!
In honor of hopefully getting to do the things you love this weekend, here's a clip of Cooper's newest obsession...flying a kite! He is a man on a mission. He tries to knock on our sweet neighbors' door at all hours of the day in an attempt to get at this dang princess kite. First it was their piano, now this! I'm certain they're going to start dropping pamphlets in my mailbox about OCD!
P.S. Won the breakfast cook-off today at work and got a free vacation day...holler!
