Free Write Fridays: My Moby Wrap

So I would like to share one of my favorite baby items that I think all mommies should have.  My moby wrap is something a mom like me who is on the go and travels a lot shouldn't be without.  This carrier is not only super comfy, but comes in all kinds of colors and patterns.  There are no metal or plastic buckles of any kind, so there is nothing to make the baby or mommy uncomfortable.  The baby sits up higher on my torso which saves my back a lot of pain.  The wrap also surrounds the baby in several different positions so it can be used at all different ages and stages for babies.

ET Loves the wrap and usually falls asleep in it.  I love it and wear it to the grocery store, shopping, while traveling at the airport, and pretty much any time around the house when I need two hands.  I really don't know what I would do with out it... so I thought I would share and maybe some of my mommy friends might be looking for an awesome carrier!

Click here for more info on the Moby Wrap

In the bathroom at Toys R Us :)

Taken by KJ... at the park

Little ET awake and all wrapped up at the airport!

What's For Dinner Wednesdays - Vegan Grilled Cheese

So this is more of a lunch meal not really for dinner unless you pair it with some kind of soup or something.  But this is totally yummy and creative even your kids will like it!!

Vegan Grilled Cheese with Apples

What you need:

Bread

Apples (we use green for this)

Vegan cheese (soy or rice)

dijon mustard

• Use a little olive oil in a pan and put to med heat.
• Slice up your apple in very thin slices and set aside.
• Make your sandwich with mustard on both slices of bread then the cheese then the apples in the middle.
• Place in the pan and cook until bread is done flipping over once during cooking.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Book of the Week Tuesday!

KJ is flying high on her way to Texas for two weeks of spring break... but before she left she picked out a book for this week!

Look inside the book!

This book is too cute!!  About a little girl who doesn't want to go to bed, so she draws a monster and tries to put him to bed.  The storyline is adorable and the illustrations had me and Mr. D cracking up.  A must read for kid's bedtime!

HAPPY 5TH BDAY KJ!!!!!!!

That is right!!  My little baby girl is turning the big 5 today!

5 years ago today at 10:13am KJ was born at the Austin Area Birthing Center, by two midwives after only 7 hours of labor.  

Today to make her day extra special we woke up to some birthday crumb cake and princess balloons!

I saw this idea on pinterest and thought it was pretty cool and figured it was never too late to start this.  So from now on all my kids on their Bdays will stand by our chalk board with all of their favorites listed on them.  It will be interesting to see how they change from year to year :)

Here we have KJ's favorite:  color, number, letter, movie, food, shape, animal, thing to do, and place to go. 

Board with all of her Favorites on it!!!!!!!

Thoughtful Thursdays: Traveling with Kiddos

Since we have family in several different states and live in a totally different state our family travels a lot!  Long car rides and flights could be scary for parents but we have it down to a science.  We have survived trips like an 18 hour drive with a two year old, and flights over 4 hours with two kids!  So I'm going to share with you some of our secrets to traveling well with kids of all ages!

• Always take food!  Snacks, finger foods, etc... food helps past the time for kids of all ages.  If you are flying and nursing a baby, nurse during take off to help de-pressurize the baby's ears.  
• Allow more time:  Just know that when traveling with kids... things are going to take longer than if you were going to travel alone.  If driving allow time to stop and feed babies, and change diapers.  If flying it will take you longer to get to your gate.  (little legs cover less distance than us adults)
• Hands free traveling:  When flying it helps to have both of your hands free to juggle your boarding pass, ID, phone, kids ect....  If traveling with an infant, use a wrap carrier.  I use the Moby Wrap, because it is truly hands free!  I saw another mother use a carrier and she still used one hand at all times to support the baby's head... no fun.  Also once your kid is around 3 or 4 get a rolling carry on bag.  That way you can put lots of stuff in it and they don't have to carry it on their back.  Also our diaper bag is a backpack so I don't have to worry about it sliding off my shoulder when i bend down!
• Blankets are Awesome:  Everyone loves being comfy and kids are even happier when they are all snuggled up.  One for an infant, to lay them out at the airport or in the car (when the car is parked!!!) so they can stretch out.  For kids to snuggle and sleep with in the car or plane.  And also for you parents to use as a pillow and back support in the car or plane :)  You can never have too many blankets to make traveling more comfy.
• Entertainment: Coloring books, games, movies, books, etc.  Don't forget to bring the entertainment that will make the time go by much quicker.  If flying don't make the kids sit at the gate... walk the terminal until it is time for your seating zone to board.
• Cool stops:  If driving a long distance, stop for an hour at a 'cool' attraction to get the kids out of the car and doing something.  If there isn't any attractions around, find a park to let the kids run for a while.
• Make traveling fun: Kids pick up on the emotions of their parents more than most parents realize.  If you are dreading a trip, drive or flight the kid will pick up on that and tend to be more fussy and upset.  Take a deep breath, smile, and enjoy traveling with your kids!  

Hope these help on your next trip with the family!!

What's for Dinner Wednesdays - Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff with Rice and Crescent Rolls

My mom has an awesome recipe for Beef Stroganoff that uses Round Steak and cooks all day in the crock pot... but I don't have that kind of time to do that... so I tweaked her recipe for those of us who are short on time.  This took about 20 mins to make start to finish!

Ingredients:

(serves four)

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can condensed cream of mushroom or cream of celery

1 cup sour cream
(I also added a chopped up fresh carrot for some color... you don't have to)

• Brown the ground beef in a large skillet.... drain the grease so you aren't eating all the fat!
• Move the finished beef to one side of the skillet and add butter and the onions (and chopped carrot if you are opting to do so) to the other side.  Saute the onions then mix with the beef when done.
• Add the one can of soup and the sour cream, stir well into the beef and onion.  Turn heat on med/low and cover.  Let everything heat evenly for about 5-7 mins.  All Done!!!  Enjoy :)

We like our stroganoff with rice, but you can also serve over noodles.  Add some crescent rolls and you have a complete homemade dinner in only 20 mins!!!

Book of the Week Tuesday!

The book KJ has chosen this week is:

'Caps for Sale' 

LOOK IN THE BOOK!!!

Lesson Plan Mondays - Letter 'Uu'

This week at the Nguyen Nguyen Academy we are working on:

• The letter 'Uu' (writing and sounds)
• Math - Addition and Subtraction Practice
• Counting by 5s and 10s
• Reading practice Long Vowel Sounds and sight word flash cards
• Social Studies - Stranger Danger Review
• Typing practice
• Bible time - The Great Commission

Fun projects we will be doing for 'Uu' week:

• 'Uu' Umbrella for our chalk board
• Unicorn Activity
• 'Un' Words Activity

When it rains it pours!!!

So we have been on and off MIA these past few weeks.... and for very good reason.  Since ET has been born we have had to deal with one sickness and then another.  Most of you have already read my rant post about parents who bring their sick kids around healthy kids in turn getting them sick.  If you haven't read it here is the link:   My Rant :)

Since that post we have yet again been struck with sickness and health issues in our family.  So as you saw on my rant KJ was in the ER with her viral infection (croup) and received breathing treatments.  We then had to purchase her a nebulizer and her cough has gotten much much better.  We had a follow up appointment with our pediatrician and we were pleased by her progress.  While we were there I wanted to show our doctor something that had grown on ET...  

Boys naturally have little 'breast buds' from a week after birth to a few months old, because of the balancing of the mother's hormones after birth.  Well, ET's breast bud became large and red, which I didn't think was normal at that point.  After showing it to the doctor he said ET had mastitis.  This is a bacterial infection mostly seen in nursing mothers, but evidently infants can get it too!  So E was put on an antibiotic and we were sent home.

After a day of antibiotics the spot continued to swell and look very angry.  At E's 1am feeding the spot ruptured and lots of really gross stuff came out of it.  So we let it drain out and then put some first aid bandages on it.  We called the doctor in the morning and after getting a second opinion with a partner doctor, we were told to go to Mary Bridge Children's hospital in Tacoma.  There we were admitted and spent the next three days and two nights.

In the ER... it took them three different sites and four pricks to get his IV set up :(

List of everything they were giving him via IV.

So why did we spend so long at the hospital?  They were waiting for the culture to come back to verify that he didn't have Mercer and do make sure the IV antibiotics were working.  He ended up having a staph infection from the mastitis.  We were told there was nothing we could have done to prevent it since the staph bacteria live on our skin as normal bacteria.  It was a rough ordeal, but our story continues....

On the day we were discharged from the hospital with ET... my friend who was watching KJ sent me a text to let me know KJ had started with a fever.

Ugh... can't catch a break... Ended up taking KJ to urgent care the next day with a fever of 103.  She had an ear infection and throat infection (not strep).  We just had our follow up appointment with our pediatrician and both kids are on the mend!!!  We are all taking vitamin C along with our normal daily vitamins, and both kids are still on their antibiotics.  

So this is why my posts have been lacking these past two weeks.  But hopefully once all the kids in our household become well again, I can resume posting everyday :)  On a positive note (because I try to see the positive in all situations), we have all hit our insurance deductible for the year!!!!! :)