Birthday Weekend

Another year older....another year closer to 30! Thanks to everyone for my birthday wishes today. We knew Jarrod would be back in Syracuse today so we celebrated some this weekend. He decided (since going out with Gavin to restaurants tends to be stressful!) that he'd make me anything I wanted on Saturday after Gavin was in bed. Even though it made for a late dinner, it was amazing to be able to eat a hot dinner and enjoy adult conversation without cutting up food, picking up dropped cups and spoons, wiping spills....you get the picture!

For Christmas, mom and dad gave us a Bobby Flay cookbook. We decided to pick a recipe out of there. I spent Saturday morning looking through the cookbook, pondering which recipe to pick. There were so many good ones, but for some reason , the "Mesa Burger" kept popping out at me. It was a simple recipe, but SOOOOO good! Of course, it was my birthday dinner, so I didn't worry too much about the healthy factor. :)

Here is a shot Jarrod took for me....the greatest hubby in the world! I'm so lucky! And here is my delicious burger. Bobby Flay's "Mesa" burger, with grilled Vidalia onions and horseradish mustard. I found a zucchini-potato bake recipe online to make for the side dish. Very simple, and really good, too! It was a great evening. :)

Sunday, we started out the morning with Jarrod saying he was in charge of all diaper changes for the day. Another birthday treat for me! :) Too bad it only lasted until 4pm... He gave Gavin his bath that morning because Gav wanted to splash in the tub. During naptime, we did a lot of cleaning and organizing and got papers together for taxes. Once he woke up, we headed to get our taxes started and took Gavin for Toys R Us treat. More trains...he's so spoiled!

I'm Mommy now

For quite some time, Gavin only said dada. No mama....just dada. Then, dada turned into daddy, but still no mama. Finally this past summer, he started calling me mama. Even though I refer to myself most of the time as mommy, he still called me mama. We spent a lot of time playing this game where Gavin would call, "Daddy? Mama? Daddy? Mama?" over and over again. Well....last night, I became mommy instead. He still is calling me mama off and on today, but mommy is now part of his vocabulary. I loved being 'mama' though. It sounded so cute coming out of his sweet mouth.

But, I'm not just mommy, I'm a Motivated Mom. I feel like I do so much with Gavin since becoming a stay-at-home-mom. I love that I'm very active in our playgroup and we spend a lot of time doing toddler stuff. Finally, I'm getting back into my crafting, and getting caught up on my scrapbooks and starting my Journal Jars. But, I often felt like I didn't do enough around the house. Granted, it's clean, but I couldn't help but feel like there are little things that I don't do that as a stay at home mom I could do. Then, I read online about http://www.motivatedmoms.com/ and I had to check it out. I'm such a list person, so it's right up my alley. I'm sure I could have created the lists on my own and saved myself the $8, but I probably would have spent hours just trying to figure out what to add to the list, and left off half the things they came up with. I'm really impressed so far. I thrive on seeing my accomplishments; checking things off as I go is a big motivator for me. I printed them off in the weekly format and posted it on the fridge. When Jarrod came home yesterday, I was very excited to show him the list and tell him how I'd cleaned all the refrigerator door shelves. His response: "But the whole fridge needs cleaned." I guess the look on my face told him it wasn't the right answer, because it was immediately followed by, "That's good, though...Baby steps, Jen." :)

Cooking with Mama

Yesterday, after a bath and changing into clean pajamas :) Gavin helped me make Rice Krispie Treats. I love having him help me in the kitchen. Jarrod and I love cooking together, and I can remember making dinner one night while I was pregnant and us talking about how we couldn't wait until Gavin was older and we could cook as a family.

I measured out the marshmallows, but some spilled out so he had to pick them all up one at a time and put back in the cup before dumping them.

Once the marshmallows were melted with the butter (which we did in the microwave so he could still add the rice krispies and because he loves to push the Start button now on the microwave), we added in the cereal.

I spread them into the pan and tried to get a final shot with Gavin. Apparently now I either get a smile or we get to see his eyes. He can't do both at the same time anymore.

I tried to get him to try them. He investigated them for a while; touched them; watched mama take a bite....no such luck. He apparently doesn't like Rice Krispie Treats right now, which means I have a large pan of sweets to eat. :)

Still alive....

It's been a loooooong week. Jarrod's gone all week and we've both been sick all week = NO FUN! Actually, we've only been out one time all week, and that was to grab more milk and I got a sandwich for lunch. Gavin's been in his PJs all week. Heck, who am I kidding....I have to for most of the week. :) I've been slacking on the blog, but let's face it. We haven't done much that's worth writing about and snotty noses don't make for the best pictures.

But, I still had to find things to keep us busy. I found this craft idea online, and tried it earlier this week. Gavin looks interested, but in all honestly, he wasn't that into this. I thought it was fun and turned out cute, so we're doing it again next week with a friend. :)

That's clear contact paper on the table. I cut out a heart frame and small squares of tissue paper and let Gavin put them inside the heart. Not sure why he sticks his belly out like this when I tell him to look at the camera. :)

All of a sudden, the tissue paper squares reminded him of cookie monster so he had to pretend to eat them.

Then he got tired of putting the squares on one at a time, so he just dumped them out. So impatient....wonder where he gets that from?

I layered another sheet of clear contact paper and cut around it. We punched a hole and hung it in the window. Ta-daaaa! Our stained glass Valentine heart. :)

Wordless Wednesday