Friday Favorites & 5 Things You Don't Know About Me

Friday Favorites:

Five Things You Don't Know About Me:

1. I've had a subscription to Us Weekly for over 6 years.
2. I have the ugliest feet you have ever seen. Seriously. Don't make me show you.
3. I am 5'2" and was only above 100 lbs. when pregnant with my children.
4. I have two birth babies, a stepbaby, and an angel baby, who we lost in July 2009.
5. I am married to a geek, the best husband in the entire world. We celebrate 7 years this month.

My kids are smart. Phew.

Cole's evaluation went extremely well this morning. He is off-the-charts smart on everything but his speech/articulation, so we will move forward to work on that. He doesn't pronounce the end of any word and is missing syllables in the middle of words. He also needs to be re-tested for his hearing. He hated the headphones he had to wear to listen to the words and point to the picture, so he gave up halfway through. He pointed to all of the pictures when listening with the headphones on his right ear, however, so they want to test him for hearing in his left ear.

Stella impressed everyone, too, with her block stacking and motor skills. Kevin said the women's eyes' lit up watching her do everything Cole did even though she is only 16 months old.

The next step is meeting with a speech therapist and speech pathologist in two weeks, where they will teach me some exercises to work with him at home on. Since the school district lets out in the summer, we'll have to pick up real speech therapy with an actual speech therapist in late August when school starts again.

Random Kidisms

My son Cole has a slight speech problem due to his tongue being tied, so he often relies on hand movements and pointing to show us what he wants. After his tongue-tie surgery, his speech improved, but he is still skipping entire syllables that he is supposed to touch his tongue to his teeth to pronounce, and he can't do it. My hubs and I shared some of them with each other the other night.
For instance, he has started listing the things we did during the day. "We ate muffins, we play at duck pond, me watch TV, me went in kitchen and Stella did it." haha.
He was trying to figure out the word for throw up and he said "Sick. Belly hurts." Then made a vomiting noise. "That's called throwing up," Kev told him.
Another one was the word for boom. He would crash his cars and make an explosion noise, and say "Cars go... (explosion noise." "That's called boom," Kev said. "Cars go boom," he repeated.
His evaluation session is Friday morning to see if he needs speech therapy and if he's behind in any other areas.

*

Monday morning -- You know the scene in Stepbrothers where they're sleepwalking and making a mess in the kitchen? That's my living room right now only with mini oranges, red apples, wooden spoons, hot wheels, play bowling balls, and a lot of sound effects.

 *

Kev to Cole: What comes after 1?
Cole: (counts) 1, 2, 3...
Kev: So what comes after 1?
Cole: 5!
Kev: No, what comes after 1?
Cole: (counts) 1, 2, 3..
Kev: So what comes after 1?
Cole: 7!
Kev: No, what comes after 1?
Stella: Tewwwwwwwwww.

Ruche favorites

While browsing my favorite fashion blogs today I came across a dress by Ruche and had to check out the store link. As a lover of all things vintage, especially clothing, this site could spend hours on my computer screen and I'd never get sick of it.

Here are a few of my favorite things from Ruche.

black & white & plaid

This morning it was cloudy and looked chilly outside, so I immediately put on a cozy black and gray tunic that buttons down. So, today's outfit looks something like this:

black & white & plaid by stacywill featuring opaque leggings

Party Time

We went to a party at my friend Kelley's house last weekend, and I wore a thrifted top you may recognize.

My favorite boots were perfect for the motorcycle picture, don't you think? I bought the ribbed leggings from Macy's while pregnant with Stella and I wear them weekly. How cute is my friend Kelley?

The Girl is Fearless

My little chicken is brave. Stella got hurt not once, but twice at this morning's play date. My friend said, "She gets hurt every time I see her." And it's true. She's sneaky, fast, and quiet, and if I turn my back for a second she's gone. First she fell off the trike onto the cement, and then she walked up in front of a kid swinging and got pushed onto the ground onto her back. She cried so hard she fell asleep in my arms.

I also 'lost' her at B&N the other day when I turned my back and she was gone. I started thinking someone picked her up and went running through the bookshelves yelling her name, and I found her looking for me when I turned a corner. I burst into tears and scooped her up. I would die if I lost her.

She has a scar on her eyebrow bone from a fall on cement stairs and another below her eye from a fight with her brother. The other day she climbed the coffee table, fell off, and tore her upper frenulum, bleeding from her mouth. It took everything to keep my composure.

She is going to give me a heart attack at a young age, that girl.

Moody Monday

Today was a rough day at home with the kids. I try to get them out every day so they can run out some energy and smell the fresh air, but some days are devoted to laundry, cleaning the house, dishes, and such. These are the times they climb the furniture, spill cereal all over the floor, chase each other and run into things, fight over toys and the iPad, try to sneak my phone, try to sneak my purse to empty its contents, open the fridge to rearrange the salad dressings (Stella) or sneak yogurt for the third time of the day (Cole). You get the idea.

So it's Mood of the Day Monday.. or just Moody Monday here at my house.
At least I love my boots.

These Target boots were a whim. I already had two pairs of black boots picked out (leather and suede buckled riding boots and suede wedge boots) and I was standing in the shoe aisle checking them out in the mirror when a girl walked up and said, "I really like those boots on you." I told her I already had two picked out, and she said, "Why not three?" So, thank you, random girl in Target, for okaying my purchase. These are by far the most worn of the three pairs of black boots, as they're the flattest and most casual. They zip up the side, but you can't tell in this picture.

Today I went to my usual backup color: black. Black skinny jeans you've seen so many times, a white long tank from GAP, and a cardigan from Target.

Things that piss me off:

1. When my kid does the same things I tell him not to over and over and over.
2. My dog barking outside at the door to come in when she's been out 5 minutes, like it's freezing and it's 80 degrees.
3. That I want to shop but can't afford to. :(

But since I am trying not to focus on the negative, I'll list some things that make me happy, too:

1. Watching my kids play together - it makes my heart happy.
2. My husband coming home early from work. Yay!
3. Dinner that turns out perfectly. I love it when that happens.

Until next time! :)

Absence and Chocolate

Sorry I've been away the last couple days. My outfits weren't worth sharing (jeans and boring tees) and I was spending time playing with the munchkins. On Thursday, we went to a play date at my tattooed momma friend's house, and we spent a lot of time this week playing outside. Today I let Stella go outside with Cole and as I watched them out the sliding glass doors, it occurred to me how fast they are growing up and how quickly life is going by. I feel so incredibly lucky that I am able to stay home with them and have seen every moment in their lives, from first steps to first boo-boos.

It is a rather weird week all around. Tonight I baked. That will tell you how weird it was.

Applesauce Chocolate Cake  

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
• TOPPING:
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons sugar

 Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture alternately with applesauce. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

This might be my favorite cake in the entire world.

Two for Tuesday: Like a Bruise

Today I wanted to wear black leggings but since it was muddy outside and I knew the kids wanted to go to the park, it was black jeggings instead. They look like this pair (which I also own) but in black. When I wear black and blue together, it makes me feel like one big bruise from head to toe. Is that weird?

For the park today, it was casual with a hat in case of rain.

jeans, hat and top: Target... boots: Payless

the hubs said it was "a bad angle" - ya think? haha

For a second look, I paired it with a tunic sweater and thick black belt.

jeans, tunic, belt: Target.... boots: Payless

glasses: Zenni's $6 selection