What I Love About Having a 2 Year Old

I read THIS blog post today, and loved it. It really made me stop for a minute and think about all the wonderful things I love about this stage.

• Watching his imagination unfold. He loves to pretend that he is grabbing the moon or lifting the trees off the side of the road while we drive, then he hands them to us like he is handing something really heavy over.
• Seeing him learn something new everyday. I love when he does a new trick. Learns a new color. Or says a phrase.
• The super big hugs and sloppy kisses.
• Hearing "I got it." For EVERYTHING. His independence can be a bit overwhelming at times, but I love seeing it blossom.
• Hours and hours of trains and cars. Our life revolves around the train table and his car playrug.
• His sense of humor...he has a sense of humor that is amazingly hilarious. He is a master of irony. He went with Dear Sweet Hubby to a store that Dear Sweet Hubby used to work at, and while in there, LBB said, "Oh my. Mesth. (Mess)" And then when we left he was quietly giggling in the back seat saying, "Oh my, Dada work. Mesth." So funny.
• I love the attention he shows to the things he loves. 
• His quirks may be numerous, and he definitely is on the extreme side of things a lot (even compared to most other toddlers), but those quirks make him the unique little guy that he is. They make him see the world in a different light, and as a result, makes us see things in a different light.

I could go on and on. The tough days are tough. (Today was one of them.) But, the wonderful days are over the moon wonderful. There are some unanswered questions about his behavior that we need to talk to his doctor about, but mostly to find ways to help him through the bad days. This stage is so much fun, and even with it's daily challenges I couldn't be happier. I'm trying very hard to remember that each stage of childhood passes so quickly, and making a list like this is definitely a good way to remember that.

What do you love about the age your child is at right now?

Random Musings of Our Week

*Sometimes the only way to take a cute picture of a stubborn toddler is to have Dear Sweet Hubby stand behind me with a play camera. Why will he happily ham it up for a play camera, but not for a real one?

*Gloomy weather after such beautiful weather puts me in a funk.

*It's been 3 months since I last rearranged ANYTHING in our home. Normally I rearrange twice a month (at least.) I'm beginning to go through withdrawls.......

*And it's been a couple of months since I updated anything decor wise in the apartment. This is not normal for me! :) I feel like I should be redecorating something.

*I need to sit down and start preparing LBB's preschool curriculum for next year. We are going to take it easy for the next few months...still learning and all, but it's going to be about time for him to start preschool this Autumn. He will be 3 this school year, after all. Yikes.

*That being said, any tips from homeschooling MaMa's out there when it comes to preschool? I know the basics: have fun, don't take it too serious, and whatnot. But where do you begin planning? Do any of you use curriculum? Input would be greatly appreciated. :)

*Making our first sale in our etsy shop was just as exciting as we thought it'd be. :)

*Sometimes even I get tired of how wishy-washy I am when it comes to decision making. I'm not going to say anymore details on the subject, but I really am the worst at changing my mind constantly.

*Even on extreme-toddler days, life doesn't get any better than when LBB gives me a big hug and kisses my cheek. I am one blessed girl.

Gluten-Free Fish Sticks

LBB is piiiccckkkyyy. I can't stretch that out enough.

He won't touch most anything you give him besides fruits, veggies, and the occasional g-free cookie.

But, he does like fish sticks. Score. Except, of course, that the only fish sticks we could find for him that were gluten free were 6 bucks a box...and that box is small. Now, he loved those fish sticks...but currently my budget doesn't.

So, what's a mom to do? I went on a mission to make some gluten-free fish sticks for him. The tough part? I generally despise eating fish, so I had no idea what a good fish stick tasted like. Fortunately Dear Sweet Hubby does. And the best part about these fish sticks? I even liked them. That's how good they are.

GLUTEN-FREE FISH STICKS

4 fish fillets---we used flounder, and picked up the frozen pouch at the grocery store
1/2 C butter, melted
1/2 C corn meal
1 C crushed brown rice cereal
2 TBSP brown rice flour
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

If fish is frozen, defrost until soft enough to cut. (I liked having it still partially frozen. It was easier to cut into strips.)  Preheat oven to 475*F. Cut fish fillets into 3/4 inch strips that are 4 or 5 inches long (think fish stick sized.)

Combine the cornmeal, cereal, brown rice flour, and seasonings in a shallow pie pan. Dip each fish strip into the melted butter, then coat evenly in the cornmeal mixture. Place on a greased baking sheet and repeat for all the other strips.

Place in the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fish stick is flaky. Serve immediately, or freeze in a freezer bag to reheat later for a quick meal.
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I hope your family enjoys this g-free, healthy alternative to regular old fish sticks!

A Day at the Zoo

Last week for LBB's preschool, we focused on learning all about the farm. :) LBB had a blast all week...he made animal noises, played with tractors, actually did some of his worksheets, and seemed to have a toy farm animal in hand nearly everywhere he went.

To top it all off, we took a field trip to the zoo and their farm. And since it is Springtime, the farm was bustling with farm babies. What fun! LBB and I went with my Mom, and the three of us had a wonderful day. He got to see a cow milking demonstration, took a ride on the zoo train, and even got to watch the dolphin show! What a very wonderful adventure!

Beautiful American Cream Draft Horse

This badger was a bit of a ham.

Leopard Paw

Love this cool sheep!

Tom the Turkey, strutting his stuff.

Ah, so pretty.

Looking at a hedgehog with GiGi

Telling the calf a story. :)

Last week was such a successful week school wise, and this week? Complete opposite. When LBB gets set, or not set in this case, on doing something, he. Is. Not. Doing. It.

Sigh.

Our theme this week is fine art, which I thought he'd get a big kick out of. After all, art? All week? Well that seems fun. Oh sure. It'd be fun...if you weren't an obstinate 2 year old. :) But, such is life. He is still little, so if there are a few days where he wants to learn through imaginative play instead of what Mommy has planned, that's ok. Soon enough it will be time for him to focus on his required schoolwork, but until then, I'm just going to enjoy each day, no matter what. :)

That's the beauty of starting homeschooling at such a young age. We get to enjoy the lazy days and the field trip days without any worries about missing something.

After all, to a 2 year old, the WHOLE  world is a classroom. :) I think that's how it should be for every age.

We're On Etsy!

Dear Sweet Hubby and I have a love for vintage. And we wanted to pass that love on to others.

So, we kept our eye out for lovely little vintage finds while we were out and about, and we decided it was high time to open up our very own etsy shop.

So, please, stop by!

Our new shop is called The Midwest Barn, and you can find us HERE. We've also put the link our shop on the sidebar, so you can always find our shop that way!

For a limited time, we are offering 10% off at our shop to celebrate our Grand Opening! Just enter GRANDOPENING2012 at checkout. This offer is good until April 30, so place an order before then! And remember, tell your friends!!!!

Thanks!

Decorating Vintage

I'm not an expert when it comes to decorating, by any means, but I have learned a few things since Dear Sweet Hubby and I got our first apartment. It was there, much to his dismay, that I adopted what he so lovingly termed "Nursing Home" style.

Yep, that's my sweet hubby. Keeping it real. :)

But, like I said, since then, my "style" has evolved. I went from nursing home style. For a while our apartment looked like we lived in a cabin in the woods. Then I went through a "primitive Americana" phase. And most recently, our apartment literally looked like we bought IKEA and put it in our home.

Now, though?

Well, now it's a little bit of everything that makes us happy. And what really makes us happy is vintage. More precisely, vintage-industrial. There's a fine line between buying cool old stuff and becoming an antique museum. It takes a lot of balance and awareness of what you're actually bringing home. It also take a lot of knowing that some antiques can be useful as well as beautiful. And in our little apartment, form and function make me a very happy girl. :)

So, I figured that while I may not be an expert when it comes to this stuff, I do know a few things. I'll begin randomly posting various vintage decorating tips now and then.

My first tip, and I think this one is MOST important:

Know what you love.

Dear Sweet Hubby and I love vintage cameras. We love industrial looking goodies. We love distressed pieces. And I have a ginormous soft spot for pyrex. And LBB? Well, our little vintage nut already has a penchant for vintage toys. What better way to decorate a room, right?

Now I love cool old furniture pieces more than anything. But right now, we have our small apartment, and limited funds, so we are quite content mixing our cool vintage pieces in with our modern IKEA furniture. (Although, someday, we will slowly be merging in some cool old furniture along with our modern furniture. It's all a slow, wonderful, creative process.)

In our dining room, we have a cube shelf...the 4x4-cube Expedit shelf. Modern, modern, modern.

But, mix in a little of this:

and a little of that:

Well, now it's not so plain anymore. :)

You're going to have to wait a few posts to see the whole shelf...we're still in the process of doing a few things to fine tune how it looks.

But, did you notice? Awesome old cameras. Cool pink pyrex (from a dear friend of mine.) And a sweet, simple pic of LBB as a baby. It is completely unique to us. The old projector camera was my main Christmas gift from my hubby (he rocks.) The Canon AE-1 was my hubby's (who got it from a family member.)

Vintage. Personal. And nothing close to being just some antiques sitting on a shelf.

Look for things you love. Things that catch your eye. Not every piece you discover will have a super special meaning to it, but when combined with the pieces that do, along with whatever furniture you won, you will end up with a vintage style all your own!

Tell me...what vintage things do you love? What's the one vintage thing you're constantly keeping your eye out for?

The Super-Mom Myth

I've been thinking a lot this morning. Nothing new, I suppose, but I was thinking of the whole super-mom concept. Then I hopped online for a little bit, and came across this lovely post called "Your Children Want YOU!" over at The Power of Moms.

Everything she wrote went along with what I'd been pondering over earlier today.

Super-Mom.

Society would have us believe that we need to "do it all" as Moms. Clean house. Perfectly dressed kids. Always on the go. Involved in 18 gazillion activities. Homecooked meals with fancy desserts from fresh, organic, and local foods. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

And that post I read today is so right...we live in a era of social media, and it's even easier now to get sucked into what we aren't doing and what we need to do better.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love making delicious meals from organic and local foods. I love having a clean and lovely house. I love doing new things with my LBB and introducing him to the world around us. I love when LBB wears dapper little clothes and his face is spotless and his hair is staying in place (even if it's just for a moment.)

But.

I also love lazy days when we watch too much tv. I love hearing his giggles as he see Blue doing something funny with Steve. I love the super-duper, extra cuddles we share during those lazy days.

I love hanging out in his room playing for endless hours. I love pretending we are chefs. I love playing with his imaginext ninjas. I love building boats out of his blocks.

I love when we spend a whole day with Dear Sweet Hubby doing absolutely nothing. I love when we all take a nap on a sunny afternoon.

And you know what? Sometimes, among all that stuff, things get messy in the house. Dishes don't get done right away. Here's the thing though...at the end of the day, that stuff can get cleaned up. I don't need to be following him around picking up every single mess I see. Sometimes I get trapped into cleaning when I'm supposed to be playing.

Why?

Because I worry. I worry that if someone came over, they'd think less of me if my house was messy. I worry that when Dear Sweet Hubby gets home from work he'd be slightly irritated if things were less than perfect. I worry that if my mom stops by and sees my house slightly messy, she'll think I am a terrible mom.

WHY?

Why do I think these things? First of all, none of them are true. My true friends don't care what my house looks like. Dear Sweet Hubby probably wouldn't even notice...he's just glad to see us and be home from work. And my Mom raised me. She dealt with my messy room when I was a kid. :)

God wants me to keep an orderly home, and I do. We don't live in a pig-sty, but we definitely don't live in a palace. Things aren't alphabetized like they used to be before I had LBB, but they don't need to be.

Society has one idea of "Super Mom". But my little guy's idea of me, now that's what matters. I want to be his "Super Mom."

Now, I'm not saying my house is a disaster and that it's ok to not do anything. I love to have a clean house. I love to decorate. I love to do crafts. But I don't want all that to consume me.


I looked up "Super Mom" on Urban Dictionary, and this is what the entry said:

"Fun, energetic Moms who love parenting. Not the stereotype of the women who wear pearls and greet their mate at the door with a casserole in hand, these moms have thrown off the pearls and donned jeans and t-shirts instead. The habitat they are most likely to be found in is the playground, the grocery store in the organic produce section, the closest library or participating with their kids in any fun activity you can think of.

Not to be confused with Moms who think they are wearing proverbial capes and can "do it all". Super Moms are just having super fun!"

Now, I like that.

That's a good definition for Super Mom, and one that I think my LBB would agree with. :)