Annnnnd I'm back with the second part of the printables. I meant to post these last week for freebie Friday, but we went out of town. So you get them today!
Once again, these are 8.5x11 printable pdfs to download and use for personal purposes. Enjoy!
Emma is taking over this week's Love List with some of her new favorite things this week. Mom managed to sneak a couple in, but it's mostly all about the Wee One.
1. Itsy Bitsy Spider
She knows how to do most of the hand motions now, but her favorite is the clapping at the end so she likes to try and jump ahead to that part :) She was also unusually aware of Hans and the camera so we will have to try again when she doesn't have camera shyness.
2. Reading time
This one makes my heart SO happy! We have been reading to Punkito since day one and she's always liked it. She'll settle down and intently listen and watch. But just in the past week or two, she has started wanting to read all the time, bringing us books, getting excited about them, and carrying them with her everywhere. She is really fascinated by the process of opening and closing and turning pages by herself. She will just sit there and flip through the pages back and forth all by herself. I love it. LOVE. Her favorites right now are "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" (we read 15 times a day) and "Dear Zoo." She still hasn't given up on her first love, "Go Dog Go" and we through in "I Love You Stinky Face," "Are you my mother?," Good Night, Moon" and "Guess How Much I Love you" for mom and dad's sanity. We are so proud of our little reader and are doing everything in our power to raise a fellow bookworm!
3. Spotify
Yes, I've been living under a rock. Everyone has told me about it and I think I signed up for an account a long time ago, but I've never tried using it. We started using it this week and love it! Right now, as you can see from my screen shot, it's all about Em. We have a nap playlist, a disney play list, and a dance party play list. It really helps in the car - music will generally stop her screaming (she hates the car!) Do you have any good recommendations for songs to add or playlists to follow?
4. Divergent
Friday night our family date night took us to Half Price books. I have heard a lot about this series and really wanted to see the movie, but I'm a read-the-book-first kind of gal. I was a little embarrassed to admit I was looking for YA fiction, but whatever.
And this photo represents why I had three very, very late nights this week. I couldn't put it down! It's no literary feat and there are some aspects I don't care for, but the premise is intriguing enough and the characters are pretty good. And the action gets intense. I've already ordered the second book and I'm annoyed Amazon hasn't delivered it yet. Now I just have to find someone to watch Punkito so I can drag Hans to see it!
5. Blogilates
Wanna know how many times I've been to the gym since Punkito was born? Two, *maybe* three. I do go running fairly often and I'm pretty sure I'm losing weight just chasing the crazy one around. But my weight loss has plateaued in the past couple months and it's bugging me. And let's be real - moms, it doesn't seem to matter how much weight you lose, your stomach still gives away the fact that you pushed out a watermelon.
So I've been looking for some workouts that I can do at home, quick and easy. I used to take pilates classes and loved them, but it's been a couple years. Recently I found Blogilates and I LOVE it. I'm still doing the beginner workouts while I get back in shape, but I can definitely tell that they are working. After the first workout my abs were so sore it hurt to laugh. She does a really great job of walking you through each movement so you can make sure you're doing the positions and exercises correctly. I highly recommend it!
It's only in iPhone format, but I'm using the iPhone app on my iPad and it still looks great. And I think you can find all her workouts on YouTube.
Happy Wednesday! Wait, freebies on Wednesday? Yes! Because I could not wait until Friday to get these out.
Ah, General Conference. What a wonderful time of year! And I must say, I loved watching it in my pajamas enjoying french toast and NOT having to chase Punkito up and down the halls for three hours.
Allow me to explain. Twice a year, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (see, using the full name!), or Mormons, hold a two-day long conference during which we are blessed to hear from our beloved prophet and general authorities (you can read more about that here).
I felt particularly edified by this year's conference and filled my notebook with many golden nuggets. I decided to design a few printable quotes. I've never done this before and it was a bit harder than I expected! I hope it will get easier with practice. Feel free to download these and display them around your home, hand that out to your visiting teachees or with your lessons, make a calendar of them, or whatever wonderful ideas you might have for them.
These printables only cover Saturday's speakers - I'm still working on ones for the Sunday sessions. These are all 8.5x11 pdfs. If you had another quote that you particularly liked and would like me to try my hand at designing it, please post it in the comments below.
In our house, daddy is the pancake king. He manages to get them so fluffy and delicious.
But here's something funny. While I have no problem slamming down a good ol' plate of pancakes, I'd rather give Punkito something "better." Something with just a tad more nutritional value.
That's where these pancakes come in. They are seriously the easiest thing to make (in a blender!) and have no white flour, no refined white sugar - just oats, banana and coconut oil!
Healthy Toddler Pancakes
Makes 6-8 (Adapted from Colourful Palate)
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
scant 3/4 cup milk (I use almond)
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 very ripe banana
chocolate chips (optional, but recommended :))
Place all ingredients (except chocolate chips) in a blender or food processor and puree until completely smooth. Spray a medium skillet or pan with nonstick spray and place over low to medium heat. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop batter onto the skillet. Cook until golden on each side.
I will usually cook two or three for the Little One first, then stir in the chocolate chips and make the rest for Mama. These are so good, I usually don't even need syrup! Serve with a side of fruit and watch your littles nom away.
At some point, I will start taking custom design orders for invitations, greeting cards, weddings, party packages and the like. But starting today I'll be posting free printables for personal use.
This is actually an older design I made, from back when we didn't know whether Baby S. would be a boy or a girl. We decorated the nursery with a gender neutral hot air balloon theme and I made a few small designs for a frame gallery.
There's an 8x10 version and an 11x14 version. Feel free to download and use for personal use only. Enjoy, and have a happy weekend!
Last night my dear SIL and I were talking about some hard things we're both dealing with right now. She's a great inspiration to me because she always seems so positive when I'm being a total downer. I told her how this week I started keeping a gratitude journal to try and make myself look for the good in each day.
You'll get a light and easy version here each week. Thursdays sound like a good day for gratitude, no? Here's five things making me happy this week.
1. The way this kid walks.
Seriously. Girl's got swagger.
2. Pharrell's "Happy."
Em and I are both obsessed with this song and listen to it 15 times a day. She gets this big smile on her face when it comes on and sticks her hands up and starts shakin' dat booty.
3. Catching up on Veronica Mars.
I've watched the whole series a couple times, but it's been a few years. Before I see the new Veronica Mars movie (which I hear is very, very good) I wanted a refresher. So I'm binge watching, thanks to Amazon Prime :) And still laughing my head off. Can I be Veronica when I grow up?
4. Shutterfly photo books.
I'm on a bit of a kick right now. I'm working on putting together a family photo book for 2013 and having a hard time figuring out which photos to put in it! I get kinda in the zone and Hans has to remind me to go to bed.
5. TCBY has almond milk froyo!
We love froyo. Fo' real. I had to give up dairy when Emma was born (that whole reflux thing) and I have really missed my froyo fixes. Until... {insert drumroll}.... TCBY now has almond milk yogurt! We went Monday night... vanilla with crushed thin mints. Heck yes! Sorry I have no pictures. I ate it all. Surprisingly, Em wasn't a big fan. We let her taste test greek yogurt and vanilla and she made faces, but she did eat *some* of the strawberry. Go figure, I thought she'd love it!
So remember that time I had a blog? I used to be pretty good at it. Not necessarily a value judgement on the content, more a statement that I actually blogged regularly.
Then baby came. Everyone told me how hard motherhood would be. I knew that, in theory. I was prepared for it. But it's been so much harder than I expected. Sometimes I look at other moms and feel like they just get it while I've struggled to climb the steep learning curve. And I wasn't just a new mom, I was a new mom juggling a full-time (albeit work-from-home) job. Blogging fell by the wayside.
At the end of last year, I was really struggling trying to make it all work. I felt like I was only doing half a job at everything I tried, just trying to get by. I wasn't giving 100 percent to my employer and I wasn't given 100 percent to my daughter. After much discussion and back and forth, Hans and I decided the best thing for our family would be for me to become a full-time stay-at-home mom.
It's been a slow exit from my job and I'm still not entirely done. Truthfully, I'm not sure I'll ever completely be done - they are gracious enough to throw me little side projects every now and then to bring in some extra money and keep my creative juices flowing. But just in the past two or three weeks, I finally feel like I can call myself a SAHM.
And it's a bit of an adjustment. I didn't really picture myself as the SAHM type (if there is such a thing!) It comes with its own set of worries, such as making ends meet and feeling the frustration that comes from not leaving the house some days, much less showering or changing out of pajamas, and not remembering the last time I had an adult conversation with someone other than Hans.
But so far, I love it. I love that on days that Little One doesn't feel so great, I can sit in the nursery and rock her and sing to her for hours and not have to panic that I'm not getting my projects done. I love being able to take her to the pool and the Children's Museum and for walks. I love watching her learn and explore. I know that at the end of my life, I will not look back and regret that I didn't work, but I would have regretted looking back and feeling like I missed my daughter's childhood. Already the time is passing too quickly and I don't want to miss a single second.
So a new chapter of life, and a new blog! It's called "Em & Me" not to exclude Hans (or any future children) but because this is about this new SAHM journey just starting - each day her and me.
I'm told I should stick to a schedule and I'm kickin' around some ideas in my muddled brain. But for sure there will be many posts about mommyhood - with special emphasis on breastfeeding, homemade food for littles, and dealing with a reflux baby. I also want a creative outlet - a chance to put my skills to good use and have a little fun. In the future I'll be setting up shop to take small orders for design projects including wedding invitations, birthday invites, Christmas cards, party packages and the like. There will also be a few design freebies to keep you interested ;)
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