Bunny Cyclops

We made the cutest craft last week at Little Sprout Creationscraft day. This one used panty hose filled with dirt with grass seed in it. And, we created (or I attempted to create) a bunny. But, now the grass is growing it pushed one of the bunny's eye off and the other is hanging by a string! Lance and I laugh at this little creature a lot. ;)

Easter Traditions

Along with church and celebrating the real, true reason for Easter, we also had to do all the kid-centered, traditional things too. Lilah had a basket when she got up from her nap, filled with many of her favorite things. A headband, a bracelet, bubbles, a book, paints, and candy. And I couldn't help but get her first My Little Pony - it's pink and so cute and girly (like her). She was super excited about all her little trinkets.
We then spent the afternoon at my grandparents' house, where she stole the show. As usual. She put on quite the performance - she sang, danced, talked a lot, giggled, and played and entertained all of us. She is really so fun and loves to be the center of attention for sure.
She went on her very own Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny (granny) went crazy with candy at my grandparents' house. She came home with enough candy for 5 grandkids. It was special though because next year she'll have to share with her new little cousin (well, probably not yet since he or she will only be about 5 months old). So, I take that back. We'll have another Easter with my side of the family where it's ALL about Lilah and she'll work on the sharing part with the Wileys (she's one of 5 grandkids).
All in all, a busy day, but a truly blessed one as well!

Happy Day to Grampsy!

April 23rd would have been my dad (grampsy's) 59th birthday. We have decided that in his memory we would have one of his favorite treats every year - a cherry flavored dilly bar. And, they are delicious, which is a plus. :)
This year Lilah even got to participate and she seemed to know even before we told her what was going on. She sang, "Happy Day..." (aka: Happy Birthday) on the way to Dairy Queen. We asked her if she wanted to have a treat to celebrate grampsy's birthday (the answer was of course yes).
We sang Happy Birthday and ate our dilly bars (well...Lance and I did, Lilah opted for our sugar cookies since the dilly bar was so cold).
Happy Birthday to my sweet daddy...we miss you and look forward to seeing you again on day!

Eggs

Not that much fun with a toddler I have to admit. We colored eggs together yesterday and it was fun until we ran out of eggs. Then Lilah errupted in tears because there were no more eggs to throw (literally) in the cups of dye. Daddy did some sort of magic to distract her thankfully, but she was still so confused on why after coloring the eggs we had to leave them alone. I guess it doesn't seem that fun when you just put them in some colored water and then...done. Now you get to look at the eggs. What fun is that?
Anyhow, check that off the list of Easter festivities. :)

Easter at Qwest Field...It's ALL About Jesus

Seriously awesome are the two words I would describe our Easter morning as. Over 17,500 people worshipping Jesus and celebrating his resurrection. It was amazing. Even with the rain and clouds, people came to sing and rejoice in the name of Jesus. Here are some pictures with granny, Uncle Erik and the Mann family.

Roasted Red Peppers with Quinoa

Oh my gosh, yum! I made these stuffed red peppers for my little date night with Julie and Samson last night. No meat, but so super delicious, and easy. I even think you could put in more or other veggies. I did sprinkle a little cheese on top, which even made it more delicious. Enjoy!

Roasted Red Peppers with QuinoaIngredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling the pan
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped carrots
7 bell peppers (1 cored, seeded and chopped; tops removed and reserved from remaining 6 then cored and seeded)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 pound baby spinach
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and cooked according to package directions ( Learn to Cook: Quinoa)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup roasted, salted cashews
Method
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until transparent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, 4 to 5 minutes more. Add carrots and chopped peppers, cook until just softened, then add parsley and spinach (in batches, if needed). Let spinach wilt then stir in cinnamon, cumin and cooked quinoa and toss gently to combine. Add salt, pepper and cashews and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Set aside to let filling cool until just warm.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- x 13-inch baking pan with oil then set aside.

Divide quinoa mixture evenly among remaining 6 bell peppers, gently packing it down and making sure to fully fill each pepper. Top each pepper with its reserved top then arrange them upright in prepared pan. Cover snugly with foil and bake, checking halfway through, until peppers are tender and juicy and filling is hot throughout, about 1 hour. Transfer to plates and serve.

Easter Cookie Baking

I think honestly I've never really had Lilah help me make cookies. I feel sort of bad about it, but I always do things like that when she's napping. And...I know now why. Trying to make cookies...sugar cookies....is very hard with a toddler helping. Especially a toddler that wants to help with everything and wants to do it all by herself. :)
She helped me cut out the shapes for our Easter sugar cookies (and helped wipe a lot of the flour onto the floor). And when we were done with the dough she still wanted to "help", but without any dough that's hard.
She then made the ultimate mess with icing the cookies. Which for me is very difficult. I am controlling and I clean as I cook and bake so at the end there's little mess to take care of. With Lilah I had to just wait and let her do her thing. She loved putting the icing on the cookies and loved using all the colors. She just didn't want it to end. When we had all the cookies iced, she wanted to still play and instead put more icing on the table.
Anyhow, she loved it and it was a good afternoon project for a little girl getting over a sickness. Next time: chocolate chip cookies though.

Still A Shoe Lover

She's totally a girly girl..and I'm taking full responsibility. I love shoes, headbands, earrings, watches, makeup...all the girly things. And so does Lilah. She always has. She loves to get my shoes and attempt tromping around in them. She'll also find my bras, watches, purses, and begs often to put some lip gloss on her. It doesn't get much girlier than that.

Mama and Daddy Update

I know I mostly write about Lilah on here and thought I might as well put a little posting about what's going on with us. It's nothing too exciting, but maybe one of you followers will want to know something other than potty training and Lilah's new words and phrases. ;)
Lance is working at CamWest still...and is now super busy. I got spoiled for awhile and he got home earlier in the evenings and his days were a little slower. Now we're back to him getting home at 6:15 and stressful "crazy" days. He has gotten to do some fun things - going to a Rainiers game that Mike was umping, golfing, and spending his time with us on the weekends.
I spend a lot of my time doing my favorite "hobby" if that's what you call it: working out. I take a lot of bootcamp/circuit training classes at the gym, go to Fly Fitness for the same types of fusion classes (ie: cycling and ugi ball; interval training) and have been doing some barre classes. I occasionally plan workouts with other moms outside with our strollers, but it's hard when the day's high is 45 degrees. UGH! I do speech therapy a day a week and every other Saturday with a few boys. It's a rewarding little job and I'm so thankful that I can do something that I get to make my own schedule and work when I want to.
Other than that, we spend a lot of time with our family and together. My favorite nights are getting take-out and sitting with Lance on the couch watching a movie. It's funny how different your life changes and your priorities once you have a child. I get out sometimes too - seeing my college girlfriends for happy hour, working out with Dana, having a "date night" with Jiji.
There's the quick and dirty update...the next 50 posts will probably be all about Lilah.

Sweet Girl

I'm making up for not adding to my blog for a few weeks, so I have all these things in my head.
First of all, I know I am clearly biased but not only do I have a pretty little girl (which she gets told often by us and others), but more importantly she's a good girl. I tell strangers that a lot when they comment how cute she is. I say, "and she's a good girl too".
We pray a lot for people and before our meals she always tells me and Lance who she wants to pray for. The other day on the way to meet Julie and Samson for coffee she said, "Pay...Jiji?" Translated: pray for Jiji. So, she clasped her hands and we prayed in the car.
I posted later that day that my daughter is definitely not potty trained, but I'd take her peeing in her diaper still and asking to pray for people over peeing in the potty. ;)

Back to the Drawing Board

To make a long story short, we're back to diapers after Lilah's nap. I'm struggling with this idea because of feeling like a failure, but in my heart I know that Lilah's just not ready. I know potty training is hard, but not this hard. She has not caught on and just has accident after accident after accident. I'm not going to try another method or give it a few more days. The girl is just not fully ready, and apparently I'm not either since I've been pretty emotional since yesterday. So....give us a few more months and we'll attempt it again (minus the whole party). I will call it more of a boot camp training this time around.

In One Word: H-A-R-D

Potty training is hard. I didn't realize at all (even with everyone telling me to just be patient and don't get frustrated) how hard it would be. Lilah barely took a nap and then when she woke up she didn't do what the book told me she was going to do. Ugh! :) She was already so crabby and tired from barely sleeping, and then she fully refused to put on the panties.
So, what did I do...cry. It clearly solves everything. So, then we were both crying. Wonderful mama. Great.
I sat on our rocking chair and thought and cried and then pulled it together. I tried numerous times to get her into her big girl panties and no matter what I did, she refused. And I didn't want to make it a negative thing, so I didn't force them on her.
I honestly am so tired I forget exactly what I did to get her to put on her big girl panties, except for the fact that I took off my pants, showed her my panties and sat on the toilet.
The rest of the day (like 3 1/2 hours) consisted of no breathing, not much eating (for me), just being by Lilah's side. I had a few moments of wanting to cry so badly and told myself to pull it together and suck it up. Lilah had tons of accidents, and mostly didn't care too much. That worried me because I wanted her to be sad that she peed in her pretty panties. Not so much.
The good thing is that her last few pee-pees were on the potty and she seems to be starting to get it. I'm just hoping to get some rest and buck up for tomorrow. I know it's such a minor thing in life so I just have to roll with the punches and calm down.
I only have a few pics I can post on here because of weirdos who may see my mostly naked toddler. Darn! Those are the best ones too. Hopefully I have enough energy tomorrow to post the updates for day #2!

Cleanse: Day 4

I'm hangin' in there. After today, who knows. I think I need a glass of wine right now. But, I'm not. I'm too busy actually. And I still need a shower!
My headache hangs around a little, but it's better and I feel alright. Not super spectacular like I was hoping.
On a positive note, I did create a yummy and easy meal that I thought I would share. A lot of protein, veggies, so good for you and delicious....vegan or not!

Mexican Quinoa and Veggies
* this is my own little made up concoction, so you can do whatever amounts suit you
Quinoa (cooked - I cooked mine in about 1 part quinoa, 1 1/2 parts water for about 30 minutes)
Beans (I used black and garbanzo, but any would be yummy)
Salsa
Cilantro - chopped (I like a lot)
~1/4 of a lime squeezed on top

I cooked some veggies (zucchini, red pepper, broccoli, and onion - but you can do anything) with garlic and Braggs (in the healthfood aisle, similar to soy sauce) and a little olive oil. I just sauteed everything together and it was super good.

Ahhhhhh....

Well, our morning was mostly successful and mostly exhausting. We woke up to Emma, our peeing doll friend. Once Lilah finally figured out the "process" for taking Emma go use the potty (she potties, we wipe her, we flush the pee and wipes, she gets her big girl panties back on, she gets a sticker on her potty chart, and Emma washes her hands), it worked pretty nicely. And, we ran to the bathroom when Emma had an accident (ie: I took a sponge to her bottom or put baby prunes in her panties). We played ALL morning - Play Doh, read books, watched dvds, danced, and did a lot of drawing. Lilah got to eat all of Emma's special treats after Emma used the potty. It was a win win situation for Lilah - she was still peeing and pooping in her diaper and she got all the treats. This afternoon will be a different story - Lilah's turn (as she says). ;)
However, our party unfortunately ended (before her nap) on a sour note. She had a huge meltdown when, after Emma's last pee on the potty, she couldn't put her big girl panties on without my help. That and the fact that the last little treat were cat cookies and she only got two little cookies. So....that resulted in poor Emma in her party hat, with balloons, blowers and noisemakers celebrating with just me. I whooped and hollered, while Lilah cried in her highchair (see photo below). Then...to top it all off...she cried for over an hour before settling down and actually going to sleep. Oh boy...sure hope that little girl gets her sleep before the afternoon starts. We have tons of work left to do today, and the hardest part - peeing HERSELF in that potty!!!
Please enjoy the part prep pictures and morning part of our party below. :)