The Little Everyday Things

Lena helped pick out and prepare dinner.  She wants to be a chef one day!

These days go by quickly.  It's a whirlwind of daily happenings...breakfast, chores, crafts, outings, quiet time, play time, story time, bath time, bed time, and everything in between.  I am in that phase when life is a blur.  And I don't want to forget the everyday things...the little things.

 Like when I tell Kinley to pick up the Light Bright pieces and she picks them up with her toes because she is just plain silly like that.  Or when Lena exclaims for the thousandth time in the middle of January " Mom don't you just LOVE Christmas time?!"  Or how they make little voices together when they play dolls or sing the "nigh-night " song with me or beg to be read Ma and Pa before bed.  Or how Lena prays for "everyone" and thanks God "for everything he has done" in the most grandios and general fashion every night.

 Or how excited Kinley gets about eating hotdogs with red dip. Or best of all those kisses and hugs right before lights out.  All these little moments are precious and I am afraid to lose them to time.

 I saw an eleven month old baby the other day and I realized that I've already forgotten so much. I am glad though to live in the moment and enjoy who my girls are now, in this stage, at this time.  And tomorrow I will enjoy who they are then at that stage, at that time.  And I just wish time would slow down just a little.

In Times of Sickness...

2016 Started out pretty rough for the Shackletons

First Kinley took a pretty bad fall hitting her head on the edge of our wooden bed frame.  It looked pretty awful for quite awhile - poor girl!

 We took a little trip up to Big Bear to experience the record snow fall up there while we stayed in Dan's Aunt's cabin.  It started out fun building snowmen and enjoying the view but Dan quickly became very sick.  I ended up taking care of everyone and soon Dan's head was hurting so bad we decided to go back home.  Once there we became increasingly concerned about Dan's condition.  It was the worst pain he had every experienced.  The girls were asleep and he was debating if he should go to the ER.  He decided to drive himself which ended up being a big mistake.  He passed out in the ER and was promptly admitted after many painful tests for Viral Meningitis.  He is looking fairly perky in this picture after spending nearly a week in the hospital. 

A few weeks later just as Dan was getting back on his feet, Lena's fever shot up to 106 degrees and she couldn't breathe and was throwing up everything.  We dashed her to the CHOC ER where she was admitted for complications from asthma.  She stayed in the hospital for two days getting care from the pulmonology department.  We had the hardest time getting her to eat...ANYTHING!  We tried everything from hamburgers to M&Ms.  Finally she began to eat and drink little by little and she was released.  Since she has been on her new medicine regimen her asthma as been much better.

Getting the IV in was a pretty horrible experience!

The Child Life Specialists were great about giving Lena fun activities to do.

Lena called her stay at CHOC the "Doctor's Palace".  Despite the fun activities she would rather not go back.

When she returned home a kind neighbor who bakes brought her double chocolate princess cupcakes to continue to tempt Lena to eat.  It worked. 

Our Little Nursery is No More

Grandma and Grandpa's guest room is now up and ready for visitors!

 We finally took down our nursery and moved the girls into the same room together.  It was bittersweet to say goodbye to the room where so many memories were made.  I rocked my babies to sleep in that room and prayed for my unborn girls in that room.  It sat empty for so long when our FETs would fail and now it will be empty once again.  We are glad to have a nice space for visitors though!  We got a set of bunk beds for the girls off of Craigslist.  Lena is on the bottom bunk for now and Kinley will stay in her crib a little longer. 

The last remnants of the nursery are the Dr. Seuss prints which were soon replaced by some of Lena's paintings.

The girls enjoying their new bunk beds!

Lena's First Allowence

Ready to go shopping!

After the first week of Lena's goals we had to make a few adjustments.  We took "make bed" off of her list of chores as it was just too advanced of a task for her to complete especially considering she sleeps in a queen sized bed.  Secondly, getting a "pirate coin" at the end of the day for completing all of her tasks was too abstract.  She needed some more immediate and tangible reward for completing her tasks.  We opened up a piggy bank we had been saving to give her and began giving her a nickel for each task she completed on her goal chart.  If she finished all seven of her tasks she would get a quarter too.  Her other reward chart is now strictly for her pirate coins issued for making good choices.  This has worked out really well!  After a few weeks Lena got to open up her piggy bank and get ready for her first allowance shopping trip to Dollar Tree!

Getting the coins ready to take to the store.

Showing off her "gold tabloons" - three gold dollars

When we emptied her piggy bank Lena practiced her counting by grouping the nickels into rows of twenty.  She then traded them in for gold dollar coins.  She ended up with three precious gold coins to take to the store.  She carefully tucked them into a coin purse I gave her and we got ready to go.  Once in the store Lena was excitedly browsing the shelves.  She pulled items from the racks and chattered on and on about each item.  She ended up pulling several items into our basket and then she had to choose only three items to purchase.  It was fun to see what she was interested in.  She ultimately selected a heart-shaped Mylar balloon, a bag of ring pops, and a valentine snow globe.  The runner up items were a valentine goblet, a Sofia the First puzzle, a butterfly net, a set of ninja action figures, Strawberry Shortcake body wash, a bag of Cheetos, and a Scooby Doo expanding hand towel.  We then headed for the check out and she placed her items on the counter and handed over her three precious coins.  I think it was a good experience for her.

Excited about her purchases

Enjoying the "fruits" of her labor - a blue tongue from her ring pop!

 I am so proud of Lena for working towards her daily goals.  Some days she does better than others but she is becoming a great helper and I had so much fun with her today watching her spend her first allowance. 

Toddler Victories: The Picky Eater

Eating her zucchini noodles the way Daddy taught her.

Being the mother of a picky eater I have learned to celebrate the little victories.  You know... like "Wahoo! She licked a banana!!!"  But today was a biggy!  A mom victory for the ages!  At dinner tonight I got my daughter to eat not one, not two, but six different vegetables in one fell swoop!  And she liked it!

It has been a long challenge to get Lena to eat any fresh fruits or vegetables.  Over the last year we have finally gotten her to like freshly juiced fruits and veggies, eat carrots, apples without the peel and that is pretty much it.  Lately I have been trying out new recipes that have more veggies in them and tonight I made roasted veggie ragu with Italian turkey sausage over raw zucchini spaghetti noodles.    We sat down to eat and as I watched her put "noodle" after "noodle" into her little mouth I tried to conceal the utter shock and excitement that was bubbling from inside.  Then when she took big mouthfuls of the ragu sauce I fully expected her to spit it out but she didn't! Success.  I am making this ALL THE TIME!  Now I need to invent even more recipes that can accomplish what this one did.

First I pulled out all the veggies from the fridge that needed to be used up.  Tonight that was carrots, red onion, red bell pepper, and broccoli. Then I roasted them at a high temperature while I made the base of the ragu.  I simmered plum tomatoes, olive oil, Italian herbs, and garlic.  Then I put the roasted veggies into the Vitamix with the sauce and pulsed it to make it smooth.  Lastly I added the cooked Italian turkey sausage.

 I served the ragu over raw zucchini noodles that I made with my spiral slicer.  Lena at hers with lots of "special cheese" also known as Parmesan. 

New Year...New Goals...Elizabeth Gets In Shape

Goal 1: Cook better / Eat better

Goal 2: Move More

New Year...New Goals: Lena Helps Out

As we started the New Year as a family of four I began to think about what our goals should be for 2015.  Now that Dan and I are parents our goals have shifted to include our girls. Lena has officially entered into a more difficult period of behavior.  We want to encourage teamwork, self-responsibility, perseverence through difficult tasks, and other redeeming qualities.  So we have officially begun Lena's goal-reward system this week.

Lena's Goal Chart ( By Melissa and Doug)

Each day she has seven goals/tasks to complete.  As she finishes them she gets to put a smiley face on that space.  At the end of the day if she has completed all of her tasks she gets a "pirate coin" to put on her reward chart.  If she has done an extra good job by doing all her tasks without having to be asked over and over then she gets two pirate coins.

Lena's reward chart - Dan helped her make it and as you can see she REALLY wants an extra visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

There are six different prizes on her reward chart that she can work towards: a special extra visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house, a visit to the farm near our house, a trip to Toys R Us to buy a toy, go to Chuck E Cheese, a trip to the beach, and a visit to Scandia mini golf and amusement park.  I let her choose these prizes out of ten prizes I had picked out.  (She didn't choose bowling, the zoo, a train ride, or get ice cream.)

Lena's favorite chores are putting the silverware away and washing the sliding door window.

Lena's first seven daily goals we picked out are: Make Bed, Feed Dog and Cat, Do a House Chore, Complete a Learning Lesson, Pick Up Toys, Put Clothes in the Hamper, Get Ready for Bed.  Hands down the chore she hates the most is making her bed.  I totally don't get it because it is super easy, but she hates it and has missed getting her pirate coin a few days because she refused to do it. 

Lena's Cleaning Bin: I went to Dollar Tree and bought some supplies for Lena's house chores: a feather duster, some rags, a spray bottle for vinegar/water solution, a dust pan and brush, a scrubbing brush, a cloth duster.

After a week of this system I think it is working well for a couple of reasons.  First it has helped me stay focused on remembering to involve Lena in my daily housework.  I like to work alone...I always have..I hated group projects in school.  I like to work fast, methodically, and according to my standards and done my way.  So needless to say it has been a stretch out of my comfort zone to find ways that Lena can be part of my daily work, learn how to be responsible for some of the housecleaning tasks, and be patient in teaching her how to complete these tasks.  So far she has learned to dust, wash a window, sort clean silverware, put away piles of her own clean laundry, use the dustbuster to clean a mess, and sweep the floors.  I plan to teach her to match socks when I fold laundry and maybe wipe down the dining room table. 

Lena learns to use the dustbuster to clean the floor.

The goals have also helped me get in the habit of doing something intentionally educational with her everyday.  We haven't really started any preschool curriculum yet but I do subscribe to ABC Mouse which is a great online program that has preschool learning activities.  We also have done the matching game, ABC puzzles, practice writing letters, and I plan to print off some ABC and 123 worksheet stuff for her to complete.

Completing a lesson on ABC Mouse

Lastly, it helps me stay focused on rewarding Lena for good behavior choices rather than nagging, yelling, and issuing consequences all day long.  It gives her a visible assessment of how she is doing.  I do think I would like to incorporate some additional reward for attitude...we'll see.  I don't want to over complicate it and confuse her. 

Choosing which prize she wants to work towards!

We will see how it goes this month!  I am hoping that she will grow and become more and more independent with some of these activities as she learns how to do things and begins to realize that it feels good to work hard and get rewarded for your efforts. 

Lena's Big Girl Room

One of Lena's favorite room features is her art station which includes this chalk easel from Ikea

In January, when Lena was 26 months old, we decided to convert our guest room/office into Lena's Big Girl Bedroom.  She was beginning to climb out of her crib in the nursery and we knew we were going to have to move her eventually when Baby Sister arrived in the summer.  We liked the furniture we had in the guest room and couldn't see the point in buying all new furniture.  Instead I stripped the room of all of the linens, decorations and paintings, office supplies, lamps, etc.  I wish I had a before picture because the furniture arrangement is exactly the same as before but it looks totally different! 

Pottery Barn Kids "Tory" quilt pattern.  The bed rails were purchased from Amazon.

I put some wall decals from Target above Lena's bed.  The "L" wreath was made for Lena by a family friend.

 I started by searching for the right bed linens for Lena's room.  I needed something that was appropriate and fun for a little girl but not overly toddlerish because I wanted it to "grow" with her.  I also knew that we would still be using her room as our guest room and so I wanted something that was somewhat adult friendly and I wanted quality linens.  Since I needed linens for a queen sized bed I eventually turned to Pottery Barn Kids.  They had such great patterns!  I purchased some items on sale directly from PBK and others I bought for much cheaper off of EBAY.  It was definitely an investment but I know those pillows and linens will be used and loved and essentially "make" the room.  (The bed would be/will be cuter when the quilt can drape over the sides of the bed when the safety rails are eventually removed.)  I love the lilac polka dot sheets I got to go with the quilt pattern.

A peek inside Lena's closet space

I love that Martha Stewart's fabric drawers have a place for labels!

We keep her laundry hamper inside the closet along with bins of clothes one size larger and of her current size.  As she gets bigger I put away items in her current size and get out items from her larger size bin.

 It was really important to me that while Lena's room be cute it also be very functional with lots of good storage to keep everything accessible and organized.  I got the Martha Stewart cubical organizer for the closet on a Home Depot daily deal.  I keep Lena's shoes, hats, swimsuits, and few other items in there as well as nice place for her closet light and CD player. 

I didn't want her bedroom to be play space full of tons of toys.  On this shelf though we have some of her books for bed time and quiet time reading as well as her vintage Fisher Price tea set (just like mine!) and a bin of a few stuffed animals.

 One of my favorite organizational finds were these hanging organizers by Simply Stashed.  I got mine on a great discount on Babysteals.  I have one hanging on the back of Lena's door for her hair supplies and one hanging in her closet for odds and ends.

The Variety Stash by Simply Stashed

The Accessory Stash by Simply Stashed

 Lena's favorite part of her room is her art station.  She really loves doing art more than most kids her age so I thought it would be good to have a place to keep all her art supplies organized.  We bought a nice desk lamp at Target she would have good light for doing art and a nice adjustable plastic chair from Ikea that is easy to wipe down and keep clean.  We also got some metal bins to keep her crayons, pencils, brushes, and markers in and a matching trash bin from Ikea.  She really loves her art easel from Ikea that lets her do white board markers, chalk, and large paper art projects.

The art station!  The fun round stool from Target is where Lena sits to do her easel work.

Lena's supply bins from Ikea.  The funky vanity mirror I got on clearance at Target.

We keep Lena's stamp sets in the pull out computer keyboard tray.

Lena likes having photos of Grandma, her cousins, and mom and dad on her art desk.

I also wanted a place where Lena could display some of her art work.  I love these metal panels that we found at Ikea and the magnets I got on clearance at Target.  Lena sometimes uses them to play with her magnetic letters.  When she is older she can use them to post pictures, important papers, etc.

The framed print in the middle was on a different wall in our house but it accents the blue in her linens perfectly so I moved it to Lena's room.

Lena has been favoring watercolors lately!

It is a fun place to easily change out family photos too.

I had a lot of fun finding a few fun accessories to round out Lena's Big Girl Room.  Some things like this butterfly hook from World Market had just been sitting in a storage area.  It is now the perfect place to hang Lena's growth chart.  Most of the other accessories I picked up at Target and Ikea for bargain prices. 

I had the spring green bean bag already and pulled it out of storage for Lena's room.

I LOVE the lavender polka dot lamp with matching shade that I found at Target. (The baby monitor is being installed onto the wall soon to make more room on her dresser.)  The white ceramic turtle and bird (and the snail on the art desk were in the clearance section at Target.  Lena loves animals so it was fun to add them without making the room so animal themed.

The matching nightlight is from Pottery Barn Kids and the step stool was a bargain at Ikea.  I also love the pretty purple flowers and vase we picked up at Ikea.

 We finished putting Lena's room together in January and would just spend time reading books on her bed, doing art at her desk, and hanging out in there a few weeks before she began sleeping in there.  The transition was amazingly smooth!  She loves sleeping in the queen sized bed and only rolled off once in the six months since she has been sleeping in it.  One day she may have to share her space with Baby Sister if we decide to have more kids but for now I am glad she can have a nice functional space to relax, do art, and get good sleep.

Fun with stamps

Having reading time in her big girl bed.

Going to sleep in her big girl bed for the first time!