Step one was to redo Asher's closet and make room for the baby's things. It was a total success and really helped ease my anxiety. Step 2 was to get Asher's big boy bed set up and to move all the furniture around. I am so happy with how their room has turned out. Asher has already made the transition into his big boy bed! He took to it so well and is actually sleeping better in it.
For those who don't know the story I'll quickly fill you in! This pregnancy was not planned. It was a huge shock to us and we had planned that Asher would be an only child. Our home was a complete renovation home. When we bought it, it had 4 bedrooms. 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 off the living room downstairs. Well Adam and I decided we wanted a bigger master bedroom and knocked down a wall combining 2 rooms to make 1. So that only leave 2 bedrooms up stairs and 1 downstairs off the living room. Our son is only 22 months old and I do not feel comfortable at all with him being down there all my himself. Originally when we found out I was pregnant we were configuring of how to put the wall back up. We actually decided not to put the wall back up and that we could make it work with the kids sharing. Asher's bedroom is on the smaller side and I was convinced that it would not be possible. But we made it work and I am really happy with the outcome! Eventually once one of them is old enough and asks they will be able to have their own room! Since our bedroom is so big we were able to move the rocking chair and dresser/changing table into our bedroom. Which will be great when we are up in the middle of the night with her and wont have to disturb Asher. Before:
After:
You can check out the full closet reno here:
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As a first time mom 2 years ago, cooking dinner was the last thing on my mind. We ordered out a lot and sometimes had cereal for dinner. The first week or so family members and friends made us some meals. It was very nice and extremely helpful! This time around I knew things had to be different.
About 3 months ago I took a whole day and made about 10 crock-pot meals and put them in the freezer. I would pull them out as needed and it was super helpful with my husband and I's busy work schedules. I was pretty impressed with myself! I took a whole day and had my 22 month old son home with me while accomplishing 20 freezer meals for once the baby arrives. I am obsessed with PeaPod. If you are not familiar, it is through Giant and is a service where you can order your groceries online, select a date and time, and have your groceries delivered! That is how I got all of these ingredients to my house! I wrote instructions on everything so either myself or my husband can prepare dinner. By preparing I mean placing in the crock pot or in the oven. How simple is that! Beef Enchiladas: Ingredients:
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Not all meals are pictured!
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It appears Asher is teething again. He is a super picky eater to begin with. It is even worse when his little mouth is hurting. 2 things I can always get my child to eat. Yogurt & Fruit. Asher stopped taking interest in the other squeeze pouches I used to make him. I couldn't figure out why. He used to love them! I used Kiinde brand. Finally it dawned on me, the top wasnt the same as the store bought squeeze pouches. Randomly out of the blue one of my best friends had texted me asking if I had bought the Infantino squeeze station yet. I hadn't but have been wanting to try it. 3 days later there was an Amazon package at my front door. There is was! My squeeze station! All thanks to one of my best friends. Needless to say I have had huge success! Not only does Asher love these squeeze pouches because they are like the store bought ones, but I absolutely love my squeeze station! So easy to use and I feel like it makes the whole process of making these so much quicker! I highly recommend it. They also have a spoon attachment that I cant wait to use! Smoothie Squeeze Pouches Peanut Butter Banana: ( Asher's favorite)
Vanilla Pear:
I made about 25 of these. I place them all in the freezer and pull out as needed! Also with them being frozen I can take them in the diaper bag and they will defrost throughout the day and are typically defrosted enough when Asher is ready for one!
Here are the links to where you can purchase these exact products!
Well we have finally reached the point where it's time to pack for the hospital. With Asher I did not pack correctly at all. I had forgotten multiple things and was mislead as to what to actually pack. I read alot on pinterest and Google about what to pack, but honestly alot of those things did not seem necessary. So here's what I am taking to the hospital this time around!
I feel really prepared this time! I hope this helps all you expecting Momma's out there! I go for comfort! The Hospital Bag:
Toiletries:
I packed for Adam and I. Last time I forgot hair ties! How in the world did I forget hair ties! Also last time I tried bringing full size bottles and literally everything that was in my shower. This time I scaled it down but still have all the essentials!
Pumping Bag:
Call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card. They will tell you if your insurance covers a pump and will give you a phone number to call. I then called the number my insurance provided me and it was a simple process. They verified my insurance and coverage, ask a bunch of questions, and ordered my pump. Also what was nice going through them is that they have pumping supplies at a discounted price. So along with my pump coming I also have milk bags, cleaning wipes, and breast pads coming too! The hospital will provide you with a pump to use while there. I had a horrible experience and asked 3 times for someone to show me how to use it and if I was doing it right. I ended up being frustrated and not using it the whole time in the hospital. Once I was home, I had a friend come over and she taught me all the functions of my pump!
Baby's Bag:
I love to be prepared and ready. Last pregnancy I went in for a check up and ended up not leaving. I was induced at 36 weeks. I thought we had a whole month still to prepare. This time around I know it is a little early but I want to be ready this time!
If only we had more Spring weather! March has definatly been a rollercoaster with the weather! Tuesday it was about 43 degrees outside and we thought it would be a good day to do some Easter activities with our kiddos. Asher & Jade are 3 weeks apart. They are 21 & 22 months old. These are the 3 activities we did with them. It was such a fun day! I love watching Asher & Jade grow and interact with one another. These too are very funny to watch as well. They literally fight like they are sibling's and know how to push each others buttons. At the end of the day though they are so loving to one another. Jade more than Asher. Since Jade was little before she leave she always gives Asher a hug. Asher's reply is usually "NOOOO" and maybe a little nudge to go away. He is finally warming up to the idea and Tuesday he let her hug him without a fuss! Watching these two is preparing me for what my husband and I's lives are going to be like in May once our little girl makes her arrival!
Some of these activities were a huge success and others not so much. But we all had a lot of fun! Egg Coloring: Asher loves to be messy. He loves dirt, sand, mud, or anything in general that makes a mess. Miss Jade prefers to keep clean. This was a fun experience watching Asher play in the cool whip & food coloring. While Jade watched Asher make a mess! They did roll the eggs around for a little, but I think they are still a little young so grasp the concept! Items used:
Easter Trail Mix:
Every holiday I make the kiddos a trail mix! Tuesday these two very nicely shared a bowl of trail mix! Link below to the recipe. What a gentleman letting Jade have the chair ! Eggs & Straws Activity:
The goal was to balance the eggs on the straws. The kids just enjoyed pushing the straws the whole way through the box. They had a blast with it! Asher was stacking the eggs & counting while doing it. Proud Momma moment when he counts! Items used:
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I think the Egg Hunt was the kids favorite. Asher kept saying "more" once we were finished. He may or may not have tried to steal some of Jade's eggs. Jade was so sweet and placed eggs in his basket for him because he wanted them. I see a lot of differences between little boys and little girls when these two are together. We did the egg hunt in my backyard. My backyard is fenced in which is AMAZING! We let them out back and they took off after the eggs. I was so amazed that at just under 2 they knew what to do. So mind blowing how smart our little ones are! Here's a list of what we filled our eggs with. Items used:
Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!!! If there's one thing that I am learning quickly in my 21 months of experience as a mother is that kids accumulate alot of "stuff". This "stuff" gets brought into the house and there it sits. Sometimes things find a home, but sometimes there's "stuff" that just doesn't have a home. After Asher's first Christmas I realized there was an overabundance of things in his playroom. After his playroom flooded I was beyond overwhelmed trying to clear out the room because there was just so much. Alot was damaged or ruined from the water and I thought we had thrown out a good majority because it no longer worked. Well once putting the room back together I was wrong. It was so overwhelming finding a place for everything. So my new goal for holidays, birthdays, or "treats" (when at the store) is to try and make them useful. For Easter I knew I did not just want to fill a basket of random things for Asher. I wanted things I knew he needed or things I knew he would play with. My child loves to be outside. I mean LOVES! He does not care how cold it is or how hot it is. He is an outside child which I love. Asher does not have alot of outside toys and the older he gets he needs more age appropriate toys! So I made him an outdoor Easter basket! I hardly spent any money as well! I can not wait to see his face on Easter day! Homegoods:
I'm pretty sure I say it everytime I make Asher trail mix's.... but I'll say it again, I love making these! Super easy and so convenient to have on hand! I do one for each holiday. Asher loves them as well. So here's out Easter trail mix!
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Mix all together. Place in snack baggies! Great to throw in the diapar bag and on the go!
Since the Oatmeal breakfast bites were a big hit, I figured why couldn't I make pancake bites as well? These turned out to be a big hit as well! As I have said before I love being able to make a big batch of something and freeze a majority of them. I just pull out of the freezer and place into the fridge when I want to use them. You can keep food items frozen for quite some time!
Ingredients: 2 Cups Flour 2 TBSP Sugar 1 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda Salt 1 3/4 Cup Buttermilk 2 Eggs 3 TBSP Butter ; Melted Add In's: Blueberries Chocolate Chips Maple Syrup Directions:
The other day I really wanted to make pancake bites for Asher but did not have alot of time. Here is a quick recipe if you don't have time to make them from scratch! They honestly are just as good! Ingredients: 2 Cups Aunt Jemima Pancake mix 1 Cup Water 1/2 Cup Milk 1 tsp Vanilla 1 TBSP Sugar Directions:
Amber Petersheim is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
Let's start from the beginning so everyone knows the story! 2 years ago my husband and I purchased a home built in 1962. It was a "Hud" home and best way to explain it is that it was like a foreclosure. The house needed ALOT of work! With a small budget and 30 days to have it completed we transformed every room in this house! Our son was born June 2016. After his first Christmas I was so overwhelmed with all of his toys! There needed to be a designated place in the house for all of these toys. *Side note* I am a very organized/ everything needs a place kind of person. So this mess scattered all throughout our home drove me nuts! We have an unfinished basement. How perfect! My husband and I went to Home Depot, got our supplies, & now it's time to build Asher a playroom! It took us sometime, but right before Asher's 1st birthday we had a playroom. All of those birthday toys went to the playroom. I had big hopes of this playroom. I wanted to do certain things and had a big vision. Well that vision was bigger than our bank account. I bought a few items to help with storage of the toys, but honestly everything was just thrown down there. It didn't bother me though because Asher loved his playroom and when we had guests over it's not like they saw the room. Jan 2nd 2018 we started off the New Year with a pipe bursting in our home. It was an awful experience. The whole basement was under water, along with our living room, which is where the pipe that had burst was located. Asher's whole playroom was floating. Everything he had just received for Christmas was ruined. We literally finished the playroom 6 months ago and now it was under water. It was heartbreaking watching them carry the carpet out, cutting the dry wall, and throwing out a majority of my son's toys. All the sleepless nights my husband and I spent down there making that room for our son. We decided it would be a much faster process if we just "cashed out" the rooms and did all the work ourselves. Which it was so much quicker! Best decision ever! With this playroom I knew I had to approach it differently. Not only was the first playroom an unorganized, throw toys everywhere mess, but we are expecting a little girl in May. Some say I jumped the gun way too quickly on this, but hey, I am not redoing this playroom for years! Like i'm talking once the kids are teenagers and this playroom is no longer "cool". I'm over it. Haha. So here is the reno of the playroom yet again. This time I hired a Interior Decorator! We made a his & her playroom and I absolutely love it! My interior decorator is so talented! I have so many wonderful things to say about her! She has wonderful taste and understands I am on somewhat of a budget! Together we went and purchased all the items and set the whole room up. She did 2 other rooms in my house as well that I absolutely love! This is the best before picture I had. This is with all of the water and what Asher's first playroom looked like.
This is during the renovation. 2 ft of drywall and insulation had to be cut out because of the water.
I would of loved to of changed the color of the playroom! For some reason we had unopened paint left over from the first time around, so to cut costs it remains blue.
All of the items for the playroom were purchased at Target, HomeGoods, or Amazon. 3 of my favorite stores!! Asher loves his new playroom! I think his favorite part is the chalkboard wall! Which you can see daddy has enjoyed that wall himself.
Links to where I got the Teepee's & Kids Table:
Every holiday I like to make Asher a special "toddler mix" as I like to call it. You have probably seen my other mixes I have posted on here. If not and you want to check them out go under categories and then toddler foods.
This mix did not go as planned. Of course for St. Patrick's Day I wanted a lot of green. Well the bags of ingredients I bought ended up lacking green. Go figure. But I made what I had work! This mix does have a lot more sugar than I typically would like. What I love about making these trail mixes, is that they are already prepared and such an easy grab & go to through in the diaper bag when heading out! Also I never know what snack Asher may be in the mood for. With a trail mix he has a variety of snacks! Ingredients:
Place all ingredients in a bowl. Mix them all together. Place a handful in a snack baggie!
I ended up adding Goldfish. I felt like the mix was missing something. It needed more color and just more food.
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