Baby Battles!

August 14th--  Happily nom-ing away on toys, he switches ever so subtly to Momma's finger, which produces a small shriek of pain from the victim.  Such a noise is vastly amusing and requires a couple gurgles of glee before attempting a repeat performance!  Momma bravely allows a finger into his mouth again in a discovery attempt.  The boy has a sharp object poking from the center of some swollen gums.  FINALLY!  The wave of relief rolling off of Momma was immediate.  We had confirmed our hopeful explanation of the near constant IBS (Irritable Baby Syndrome) and the few really nasty butts in the past couple days.

We had been treating him to numerous cold chewies and some well placed fever meds here and there previously but hadn't felt the tooth before that.  Sadly, the battle was not over.

Wyatt, already not to be outdone by a sister who has a full set of teeth to tauntingly utilize at every meal, decided to go for a twofer with his 'toofers'.  He has two sharp little front (bottom) teeth partially revealed.  The little tyrant gums won't let them go easily though.  They are still a frequent cause of turmoil for the little man who chews on EVERYTHING.  He is also convinced that after all this work, he is ready for any and every type of food that we consume.  I'd be willing to expand his menu....if he didn't still choke on the Gerber puffs.  Silly boy.

I still can't get a picture that displays any of the white lines that are eventually going to be two cute little daggers...er, teeth.  Mr. Wyatt believes that if no item is going to make its way into his mouth, then his tongue needs to act as bait for any other moment of his waking hours.

Meal Planning 101...201...ummmm

It just isn't easy flipping through the recipe book every week trying to figure out what we should eat and when.  Using my marker board on the fridge was a great first step to getting us out of the last minute 'what do we have in the pantry' crunch.  What I really disliked about my otherwise enjoyable process of planning out meals that didn't feel like they were too repeated, was the constant erasing and reworking for about 40 minutes when I'd find a different meal to plug in.  This doesn't include when plans during the week change and a meal needs to be rescheduled or cancelled completely.

So in walks Pinterest and a random pin that caught my eye with its post-it abundance....

Here is a sample week in the planning.  Can you see how this might make that revamping worthwhile already?  Too many beef meals in the week?  Pull and replace!  Have too many things on your schedule one day to cook something longer than 20 minutes?  Pull and swap until you've got everything looking just how you want it!  The laminated sheets make it simple and the post-its stay reusable this way also!  If you still prefer markers, they'll erase off of this easier than my cheap marker board on the fridge after the couple years I've had it.

Rather than the categories on the side, I chose to change it from Lunch/Dinner to Meal Ideas, along with Breakfast, Salads/Appetizers, Drinks, Desserts, and Snacks pages.  On the Meal Ideas pages (4 of them) I changed the interior categories to various categories that suited my family.  I am sure this will change over time as this is a new system to me still and I'll refine it as I go.

I've printed and laminated the calendar pages as well and will include it into my own binder Command Center.  I'll figure out what else needs to go into it as I go along but I am already LOVING this system so much more than where I was previously!  Thank you Ursula at Home Made by Carmona!

Exploring Locally: Children's Museum

So....I absolutely hate driving to new places myself.  I don't trust 'big city' drivers and when I don't know where I'm going I get exponentially more nervous.  Pairing those two things with two kids who may or may not cry, yell, or demand something at any given moment in a car...well, you can see my hesitation to go to downtown St. Paul.

So my husband had a half day and picked us up to meet up with some family at the Children's Museum downtown.  We hadn't been there yet (the hours and a normal work schedule don't mix perfectly) and I was intrigued by posts that I've seen from other friends over the last year.

Ant Hill Running!

There was a ton to explore so we will definitely be going back (a few times more with Papa driving so I can get all my routes figured out better)!  They had a large ant hill (above), a beaver's dam (below), and some visiting exhibits like Dora and Diego or the exercise one which was pathetically empty when we got there.  Of course this last was good news for us because the kids and the adults got to have a blast without worrying about running over, or being ran over by, other kids!

Beaver Alyssa sliding out of her dam

There are some really fun exhibits that we could easily spend the whole day playing with!  This may become a frequent new indoor location for us if I can get my nerves beaten down to drive there myself.

Turtle Alyssa!

Dora's Rocket

Astronaut Wyatt

Astronaut Pilot Alyssa

Eventually I got into the exploring and forgot to take any more pictures!  If you take a trip to the Cities, you can check out the Children's Museum with your kids!  Here is a link to their website for more info on their exhibits, fees, etc.

**No location, business, or individual has asked me to write these Exploring Locally posts.  I've taken all trips upon myself and at my own discretion.  I am merely sharing with you some fun ways that we pass our time and tour our own local area!**