Noah, 14 months. The good, the bad & the adorable.

{The Good}

Noah is a healthy and growing little boy. His personality is starting to show more and more each day and we love him to pieces. His favorite playtime activities are being chased and hide-and-seek (me hiding in the same spot and scaring him over and over). He loves to see new things, be outside, and play with his sister.

During month 13, Noah learned how to stand from a sitting position and is starting to move faster while walking. I'd even call it nearly running. He is very active and has already learned how to climb on our bed by using the ottoman. He also climbs the stairs to his slide and goes down it on his own.

After many months of having only 6 teeth, a few more popped out this month. Total count is now 9, including one molar.

Noah nurses twice a day (morning and night) and is still eating great. He has decided that he doesn't care for scrambled eggs or bread anymore, but that's probably my fault for giving it to him for breakfast too often. Now he eats yogurt or oatmeal and a sliced banana in the morning.

Noah is not as verbal as Noelle was at this age, but he understands many things and simple instructions. For example if I say, "Brush mommy's hair," he'll get a brush and attempt to brush my hair - which sometimes is just whacking me in the head. Some other instructions he understands:

Stomp your feet.
Clap your hands.
Give me a kiss.
Give that to me.
Pick up the (fill in the blank).
Get your blanket.
Come here.
Don't touch that.

{The Bad}
Noah recently started acting out. At first it was just crying for not getting his way but he has taken it to a new level. Now he either falls down and gently hits his head on the ground or stops his feet and then falls or uses his hand to hit something near him.  It seems a little early for these tantrums but they only last a few seconds before he moves on so I'm not too concerned. Picking him up or redirecting him seems to be the best way to handle it. Other than these little instances, Noah is a happy and content kid.

{The Adorable}
Noah is the best little cuddle bug. He will usually lay his head on your shoulder if you pick him up (even strangers) and he loves to cuddle while drinking milk before bed.

Noah, 

Thank you for making every day fun. When I wake up I can't wait to see you and hear your giggle. Each day I wonder what new thing you'll learn and what you'll discover. I love how you snuggle with your blanket when you're sleepy, how excited you get about a cup of juice, the way you splash around in the bath, when you run to my legs when you're scared, how you smile at everyone you see, your sweet voice and your precious hugs.

We love you so much!

Target Easter clearance - 90% off

Easter items went 90% off at my store yesterday - but the signs didn't change to 90% until this morning. Noelle has been begging for a pink tulle Easter dress that is on the clearance racks so we went to check if it was marked down to half off today (it wasn't). But we did find some other goodies!

Color-changing Bouncy Ball - .29
2 Stickers - .19 each
10 Cadberry creme eggs - .07 each
6 Crinkle paper - .15 each (Why is crinkle paper so expensive? This was a great time to stock up for parties and gift wrap).
Pink Bowl - $1.49

There were dollar spot items scattered around so I rummaged through and grabbed 9 pairs of socks and 4 blank cards for .10 each!
FYI - the dollar spot items go to salvage after 70% off but for some reason these were left behind and I was able to purchase them.

The ground beef was marked down from $3.69 to $2.49 and had a $1 off coupon sticker. I paid only $1.49 each! I would have cleaned out the whole section and stocked my freezer but there's no room!

Merona ruffle tank top - Sale price $6

Used $3/1 Merona clothing item

= $3

Don't forget to check the grocery aisles for Easter items (cereal, goldfish, cake mix, etc). Those items don't always have a clearance sticker but are usually marked down.

-Amanda

Target Trip - a few great deals (with links)

There are a few great deals going on at Target this week. I've been waiting for a sweet coupon stack for shampoo & conditioner and luckily one popped up just in time.

Dove Shampoo & Conditioner - $3.49 each
Dove Hair Spray - $4.49
$2/1 Dove Hair Care Item
$2/1 Dove Hair Care Item
Target Coupon - Buy 2 Dove Hair Care Items Get a Dove Styler FREE. 
= $2.18 for all three!

Method Dish Soap - Sale price $2.69
$1/1 Method Soap MQ 
$1/1 Method Cleaner TQ
= .69 (stock up - this is great dish soap!)

Jose Ole Taquitos (a Mr. G favorite) Sale price $4.49
$1/1 Jose Ole MQ
= $3.49

Traditional Medicinals Organic Mother's Milk Sale Price $3.99
$1/1 Traditional Medicinals Organic Tea TQ
= $2.99 (usually $4.99)

Spent - $9.35
Saved - $13.29

-Amanda

{new life}

My best friend since the 4th grade had a baby Monday morning. Kim and Adam welcomed their second son, Andrew. He is perfect.

I'm all about newborns. Especially the ones who will grow up to call me Auntie. These babies fill my heart with so much joy.  

At nearly 9 pounds, Andrew is what Kim calls a "little fellah" compared to his big brother who was a pound heavier at birth.

There's nothing softer than newborn baby skin. It's the silkiest velvet that you've never felt. That totally makes sense.

I love every wiggle, yawn, squeak, and stretch.  Each is a reminder of how great our God is. How every person is a miracle, masterfully created. 

And I can't talk about proud daddy's without getting teary.

Andrew's first bath.

Andrew,

You have the coolest mom of all time. Her friendship has been one of the best things in my life. Because of her I've been able to laugh through every embarrassing moment and had a shoulder to cry on through every heartbreak. Her wit is unmatched and her love is unconditional. I know you are going to grow up to be an amazing man and I can't wait to see what God does in your life and what you do for His kingdom. 

I love you,

Auntie Amanda

DIY Egg Garland

Yesterday I shared our Easter decorations and today I'm going to show you how Noelle and I made this simple egg garland for the fireplace mantel. Dyeing eggs is an Easter tradition of ours. In the past, we've always boiled the eggs and kept them for a week or so, but this year I created a way to keep them for much longer and display them prominently. 

First thing to do is blow the egg out of the shell. I gathered the supplies:

Eggs

Sewing Needle

Infant Nose Aspirator

Bowl

I carefully poked a hole at each end of the egg with the sewing needle - shown here (with my assistant Noelle as the videographer):

You'll need to make the hole a little bigger if you are going to use the eggs for a garland. If you just want hollow eggs for decorations, keep the holes small.

Then I used the aspirator to blow the egg out of the shell by sealing the hole on one side of the egg with the tip of the aspirator and squeezing the air into the egg (don't suck the egg into the aspirator). It usually takes about four squeezes to get the egg completely out of the shell. 

Rinse the eggs and allow them to dry. Then the fun begins! 

Dye, paint, cover with glitter, etc. Noelle decided to dye the eggs. It used to be hard letting go of projects and giving her the chance to be creative - you may recall the paint-your-own Piggy Bank disaster. Now it's not only easy to allow her to create on her own, I prefer it. Her personal touch makes things so much more special than if I did it. Sure, the eggs would have probably been evenly coated, but hers are perfectly imperfect. 

When the eggs are dry, string one egg through the ribbon. 

Trick: Keep stuffing the egg with ribbon until you can see it through the other end and fish it out with the needle. 

Once the egg is through and in your desired spot, tie a knot on one end and secure the egg in place by dabbing hot glue on the knot and pressing the egg against it.

Continue one egg at a time until you reach your desired length. 

Tie securely or you'll end up walking on egg shells...

-Amanda

Spring has Sprung at the Gardner House

"Is the Spring coming?" he said. "What's it like?"

"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine."

--The Secret Garden

Fresh spring blossoms are in full bloom which means Easter is just around the corner.  At first it seemed too early to dye eggs and decorate with pastels and tulips, but as it turns out, the ceramic birds are perched on the fireplace mantel just in time. Easter is less than three weeks away.

Noelle and I dyed eggs this week and used them to create this garland for the mantel. A garland is a fun way to display those precious eggs decorated by your little one!

Blown-out Egg Garland Tutorial 

I found this banner at Target on clearance for less than a dollar. It was originally a birthday-themed banner, but I cut out the cupcake pennants and hot glued the pieces together - keeping only the pink and white pennants - then painted on the blue letters. 

We celebrate the life, death, burial and most importantly the resurrection of Christ during Easter. Just as with Santa for Christmas, during Easter we include but don't emphasize the Easter bunny, egg hunts and Easter baskets. We are dutiful in communicating the true importance of the holiday but we aren't concerned that the message is being lost because we strive to include Christ in their lives each and every day. Noelle, at age 3, knows from Bible stories and conversations that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins and that he rose from the dead just as he said he would. 

"He is not here, he is risen!" Luke 24:6

At the beginning of each season, I find myself thinking, this is my favorite season of them all. But it's not the changing of the weather or excitement for the next holiday that excites me, it's the opportunities and memories ahead that fill my heart with joy and anticipation. 

I borrowed the green bird cage that hangs from the ceiling in Noelle's room and the garden basket that sits on the dresser in the Master bedroom for the living room sofa table. And nothing says, "SPRING!" like a little girl in a sun dress holding a yellow daisy.

 I'm still looking for a suitable spring table runner. If you find a colorful-but-not-bright one, let me know.

A few of Noelle's dyed eggs sit on brown paper crinkle on the bird bath pedestal (from Michael's). 

This spring I want to make the most of the outdoors before the scorching summer heat confines us to mall playgrounds. I want to enjoy early morning walks and have a picnic every afternoon. I want to watch the kids run in damp grass and play outside as the sun sets. Margaret Atwood said it best, "In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

-Amanda

Gardner Grub - Slow Cooker Meatballs (or Stroganoff)

This easy meatball recipe is my favorite way to serve balls to a crowd. The same recipe can be used to make a scrumptious Stroganoff-style dinner when served over egg noodles. This is my version of a popular recipe on allrecipes.com. The original recipe calls for Cream of Celery soup - which contains MSG. I substitute Cream of Celery for Healthy Request Cream of Chicken and use All Natural Caramelized French Onion Soup. 

 {Ingredients}
2 lb. frozen Italian Style Meatballs
16 oz Sour Cream
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup (2 if you are going to serve over noodles)
1 can Select Harvest Caramelized French Onion Soup (or any French Onion soup you can find)

Add the soup and sour cream to the slow cooker and mix together. Then stir in the meatballs. Cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours.

If you plan on serving it over noodles, you can also add fresh sliced mushrooms and one chopped onion. Oh sooooo good!

-Amanda

from the archives: Peep Sushi and "To My Peeps" treats

Peep Sushi

An inexpensive way to put a smile on my face is easily done by handing me a pack of yellow Peeps. Last year we combined a couple of my favorite things - Peeps and Sushi to create these darling little bites of deliciousness. 

Check out more pictures and simple how-to instructions HERE

.

To My Peeps

I used a free printable from Eighteen25 to make these little treats for my small group. To see how I put them together go HERE.

-Amanda

Our Family Code

Is what we're calling the new artwork in the dining room. Visitors look at it puzzled and eventually ask, "what's this all about?" It's our family code.

(Custom signs available on my Etsy shop Amanda G Designs)

I saw a printed design using dates on Pinterest and made a mental note to attempt it for our Master bedroom. But the dining room was in need of something fresh, so I changed my method of execution and decided on using wood boards to display our birth dates and anniversary. 

At Lowe's, I purchased two 5-inch wide cedar boards and one .75x1.5x96-inch stick. Mr. G cut the boards down to five 24-inch strips and then I gave them one coat of Dark Walnut stain. After allowing the stain to dry over night, Mr. G cut the long piece into two 20-inch sticks and used them to secure the wood together.

I have a love/hate relationship with stencils. I've seen several tutorials with people expertly using them and when I have a go at the same technique, my results are usually less than perfect. So instead of chancing disaster with the stencil, I decided to trace the numbers directly onto the wood and trust my steady hand to paint the numbers.

I measured three inches from the sides and traced our anniversary (in the middle) first and used those numbers as a guide for the other four dates. None of the months have double-digits, so it worked out evenly. 

We tested out a few shades of stain before deciding on the darkest one. The lighter stains blended into the wall. Dark Walnut stood out and goes nicely with the brown inside the bay window (and the other accent wall in the living room). 

What a difference a day makes.

It was an easy project that makes a big statement and the total cost was only about $10.

-Amanda

Noah - 13 months of fun

A quick recap of Noah's first month as a one year old. 

{Walking}

His walking skills have come a long way over the past couple of weeks. He now walks confidently without falling. 

Here is a short clip of him walking at the park this afternoon.

{Food}

Just after his birthday, Noah got (another) cold and refused to nurse for two days. I was this close to quitting cold turkey but I decided to tough it out. We lost the first nap of the day nursing session which I was bummed about until the time change hit and he stopped taking a morning nap all together. Noah now just nurses when he wakes up, before his afternoon nap, and before bed. 

All of his other meals are going great. He has recently become interested in using a spoon to feed himself. I feed him yogurt for breakfast and let him use the spoon for the last few bites. 

{Language}

New words this month - Dada and dog. And at the park yesterday, he started to repeat me and point at the ducks saying, "duh." He still says "uh-oh" and "mama."

I'm probably won't think it's adorable for very long, but Noah shakes his head no at me. It's usually when I'm trying to wrestle him down to change his diaper. I say, "Noah, lay still" and he shakes his head repeatedly. I have to turn and look the other way so he doesn't see me laughing. 

In this video Noah was trying to get cousin Evan's banana but Evan said "No, Noah!" So Noah started shaking his head back at Evan. 

Noah no longer cries only when he is tired or hurt, he also uses it to communicate to me that he really wants something. He'll stand by the front or back door and cry because the kid wants to be outside all day long. He cries when his juice cup is empty, when he can't get a toy to cooperate, and when he wants something that is out of his reach. I try to use these times to talk to him about what he wants. For example I'll say, "More juice, please!" then when I hand it to him I'll say, "Noah, say thank you." He'll repeat, "Ta!" 

{Tricks}

Noah gives the sweetest kisses. These aren't slobbery, open-mouth baby kisses. These are lips puckered, eyes closed, melt my (and Grandma's) heart kisses. 

{Play time}

Noah loves playing Peek-A-Boo Barn on my phone and flipping through the pictures. He learned that crayons aren't for chewing on and now holds them tightly enough to color on paper.  He also enjoys stacking blocks and playing with this toy:

I'm desperately trying to hold on to any part of him that is still baby because most of him is now a busy toddler. I love the little boy he has grown to be but it came too fast. Once in a while he'll let me wrap him up in a blanket and sing him to sleep. I wish I did more of that when he wasn't so heavy! 

Happy 13th Month, little guy.

-Mommy

remember when

Noelle has an impeccable memory. Actually I'm not certain that it's extraordinary for a three year old to remember things that happened when she was one, but to me it's remarkable. Out of the blue she'll surprise me with, "Mom, remember when...". She often talks about the giraffe that licked her hand at the zoo (when she was 1), when mommy and daddy were Ken and Barbie for Vacation Bible Adventure (just before she turned 2), and meeting Elmo and Abby at Sea World (age 2). 

It's delightful when she shares her perspective of these memories. I want her childhood to be filled with noteworthy moments. And lately I haven't done my best at making the most out of the weekdays. Our schedule has become mundane: schoolwork, chores, grocery shopping, park, naps, and if we want to go crazy we'll throw bubble blowing and sidewalk chalk in there. I can do better.

After breakfast this morning, instead of our usually routine, I packed snacks and we ventured out. The destination was a park Noelle and I went to when I was pregnant with Noah. It took a while to find it again but when we arrived, I saw her perk up in the rear view mirror and announce, "I remember this place!" Of course she did.

But the last time we visited this park, she was terrified of the skyscraping slides. Today, she fearlessly charged them.

Time sure did pick up once we had kids. I wonder why that is. Perhaps it's because I'm no longer responsible for just myself. Now I have two little humans who rely on me for almost everything. There is rarely down time or spontaneity. For me, at least. For the kids everything is spontaneous. At the top of the slide Noelle spotted a bridge and was soon running towards it.

Noah watched his sister skip on the bridge and after grasping my hand, he stepped out to follow her.

A few sturdy steps later, he shook his hand free from mine and off he went. 

There was much to explore at the park. 

And brother was never far behind. 

A reason for choosing this park today was to see the ducks that occupy a little nearby pond. I stuffed a few slices of bread in the snack bag to feed them with.
Noelle remembered feeding the ducks at the zoo but she forgot to throw the bread. Before I could get to her a feisty duck swooped in and snatched a piece right out of her hand. I waited to see how she would react before I examined her fingers and thankfully she laughed it off.

This little guy was patient.

Noah loved the ducks...a little too much. He chased the poor things until they found refuge in the pond. 

After the park I did something I would usually not dare to do alone...take the kids out to eat. It was only Panera Bread (a casual dining restaurant), but it was noon and nearly nap time. Noelle politely asked me for yogurt and mac n cheese and I didn't have the heart to turn her down today.

We were surrounded by business people, I was the only one with kids there, but I'm glad we went. Although I could do without the real estate agent who apparently soaks his clothes in cologne. The smell was literally burning my nose. I could hardly taste my baked potato soup.

My weather app showed rain today but there wasn't a grey cloud in the sky. I think summer decided to sneak in and show us some love. Thanks, summer. We're looking forward to your sunshine. In fact, Noelle insisted she take advantage of the warm weather and go swimming. I dropped her off with Mr. G at his pool (he coaches swimming and water polo) and she thoroughly enjoyed her first swim lesson of the year.  

After dinner we took a walk around our neighborhood, talking, laughing, and praying, until darkness settled around us. 

I know that it isn't possible to make every day exceptional, but I can work at making it less ordinary. I learned today that it's easy to break out of a dreary routine and it doesn't take much to make "remember when" moments. 

-Amanda