Lena Joyce: Two and a Half!

On an early morning walk at Crystal Cove Beach

This month Lena Joyce turned two and a half!  She is growing into quite a lively and lovely little lady.  She reached several milestones in the last six months: she participated in her first soccer class, she moved into her new big girl bedroom and now sleeps in a queen sized bed, she played her first board games (Candyland and Hungry Hippos), she is learning to use the potty, and learning to ride a bike.  Her biggest change has been in her interest in the alphabet and counting.  She LOVES anything that has to do with the alphabet.  She knows all the letters in and out of order and both upper and lower case.  She loves calling out letters as she sees them on signs everywhere we go.  

Taking her balance bike out for a spin in the park.

Lena continues to be very social.  She enjoys spending time with her cousins and playing with strangers and friends alike.  She asks to go to "church" because she loves her Sunday school class so much where her teachers comment that she never cries and loves to color.  We tried two community classes for tots this Spring: dance and soccer.  She loved them mostly but we will probably wait until she is three years old to do that again.  She gets so into playing with other kids that she doesn't follow directions so well.  In fact she even got "kicked out" of dance class a few weeks ago for not listening.  

Getting ready for her first soccer class.

I would say the "terrible twos" arrived right around 20 months old for Lena.  We are having to begin to deal with various discipline issues as all parents do at this stage: crying when she doesn't get what she wants, getting mad when Dan and I are deep in conversation and she isn't part of it, purposefully doing the opposite of what she has been told to do.  The word "no" is heard a lot in our household.  The redundancy of parenting a two year old can make a body wearisome and there have been times in the past few months where for the first time I have begun to question my capability as a parent but never have I wished for life to be other than what it is right now.  Some of the BEST parenting advice anyone ever game me was to "appreciate the good things about your child at every age".  It makes me crazy when people say, "enjoy them now because when they get to be "such and such age" then life will be "awful".  The terrible twos are terrible for LOTS of reasons (and I heard the threes aren't much easier) but there are so many awesome things about living life with a two year old.  I love getting hugs and snuggles from my girl.  I laugh a loud multiple times a day at the funny things she says.  I enjoy watching her knowledge of the world grow as she learns to sing, read letters, draw, dance, and do numerous other activities for the first time.  I love her enthusiasm for the little things like eating popsicles on the porch, getting cake pops from Starbucks, making it on her bike all the way around the park, seeing her cousins or grandparents, seeing a snail, watching an airplane fly overhead, riding the train, showing off her most recent art creation....I could go on and on.  These moments...these little things...they are the reason I wanted to be a parent.  When I get a little perturbed when Lena yells "Mom!!! Mom!!!" a thousand times in a row, I just quickly remind myself of how desperate I was just a few short years ago for someone to call me "Mom".  Perspective is a wonderful gift.  I will never take for granted how special and miraculous it is that Lena is our daughter.  

Riding the train at the Santa Ana Zoo

Lena likes to pretend to cook.

 So Lena came up to me with great enthusiasm and vigorously stirring this pot. She declared,"I'm making eggs!!!! Mom! I'm making eggs!!!" How cute I thought, since I know she likes to help me make her scrambled eggs in the morning. Then she forcefully replied after I commented, "No Mom!!! Look look! I'm making 'eggs'!!!!" I looked in her pot and found that she wasn't making "eggs" but making "X". She had combined two of her favorites: cooking and the alphabet! Pretty funny!

Here she is "making X"!

Two and Half Year Stats:

Size 2T-3T clothing

Size 7/8 Shoes

29 pounds

Still not an adventurous eater

Hanging with Grandpa in the backyard

Lena loves spending play time with her fellow toddler cousins.

Her daily dose of fresh fruit in veggies in the form of juice.

Riding the escalator (over and over) after dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant.

Lena's idea of relaxing

Lena has become quite a big fan of hats.

Visiting the pigs at Amy's Farm near our house.

Helping Mom make cookies for Easter.

First night in her big girl bed! 

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos

Easter 2014

Edible Easter Project: Egg Yolk Painting

Lena's first masterpiece.

A few days ago Lena and I did a fun edible art project that I remember doing every Easter when I was growing up: egg yolk painting on sugar cookie dough.  She loved it and it was a simple and fun activity we could all do together.  Here is what we did:

First Lena and I mixed up a batch of Ethel's Sugar Cookies from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book. (See the recipe at the end of this post.)  While the dough was chilling I prepared the edible paints by cracking some eggs and separating the yolks from the whites.  Each yolk is put into a dish and mixed with food coloring.

Egg yolk paints ready to go!

Once the dough was chilled Lena rolled out the dough with her little rolling pin and we cut out shapes.  I rolled out thick cookies this time but if you like crispy cookies you can roll them thinner.  We chose an egg, butterfly, bunny, and cross for our Easter themed cookies.  I always bake on parchment paper which gives the cookies a nice even bake.

Raw cut out sugar cookies ready to be painted.

Then it was time to get creative!  Lena, Dan, and I each got a row of cookies to decorate.  We used little craft paint brushes and spoons to create our designs.

Daddy and Lena

Lena favored blue and green for her painted cookies.

From left to right: Daddy's cookies, Mama's cookies, Lena's cookies

Then it was time to pop the cookies in the 400 degree oven to bake.  Don't EVER follow the baking time in the cook books and don't ever cook sugar cookies until they are slightly golden brown.  They will be hard as a rock if you do!  Sugar cookies only bake until set (not glossy).  (Thinner, small cookies take 4 min and thicker large cookies take 6 min.)  They will be very delicate when they come out of the oven but just wait!  Let them sit and as they cool they will set up and be super soft, velvety, and totally baked.

Baking at 400 degrees for 4-6 minutes depending on thickness,

You can eat your creations at this point but I wanted to add a touch of sweetness with a simple glaze frosting.  It also helps keep the cookies nice and moist if you store them for a few days.  (See the glaze recipe below.)  I like to simply brush on the glaze right over the cookies.

Ready to apply a simple glaze to the baked cookies.

Lastly, we ate our cookies!  They are Lena's most favorite cookie that we bake together and I think she loved the added fun of painting them.

Mmmmm...good!  Lena picked Daddy's egg as her favorite cookie.

Ethel’s Sugar Cookies

adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book  (copyright 1977) with my changes

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla (I like to use 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond flavoring)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla thoroughly.
2. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together.
3. Blend butter mixture and flour mixture.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
6. On a board that has been lightly floured with a mixture of flour, roll dough until it is 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with your favorite cooky cutter.
7. Place on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper
8. Bake 4 to 6 minutes, or until cookies are not glossy
9. Cool on a wire rack.  If desired brush on a glaze or spread on a thicker icing of your choice.

Makes 2-4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cutter and thickness of dough.

Glaze

1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring

1-3 Tablespoons milk

1. Blend sugar and vanilla.
2. Add milk 1 tablespoon at at a time until icing reaches a spreadable consistency.

Halfway to Shack Baby #2

I am over the halfway point in this pregnancy now!  I can't decide if it is moving quickly or slowly.  I also have mixed feelings about being pregnant.  Chances are I will not ever be pregnant again and I am just cherishing the wonder of carrying a child in my belly.  I still marvel at the feeling of a moving little baby girl kicking my insides and squirming all around.  On the other hand, I miss my in shape, trim, non-pregnant body.  

 

16 weeks - 194 pounds

21 weeks - 201 pounds

Weight and Pregnancy Update

I would say I was handling the pregnancy pretty well up until the last month.  Despite the fact that I have purposely worked towards being more active by walking and doing vigorous housework, camping, etc. I have packed on the pounds in the last seven weeks.  11 pounds to be exact!  I am now at 205 at almost 23 weeks pregnant which means I have gained 17 pounds in this pregnancy already.  I was hoping somehow to stay under 25 pounds for the whole pregnancy and it doesn't look like at this point that is a very realistic goal.  Bummer.  I am glad that the swelling and numbness that I suffered during Lena's pregnancy hasn't plagued me so far in this pregnancy.  I am worried though that if I keep putting on pounds like I am right now that the swelling will come.  Dr. C (my OB) says that I am at a higher risk than the average pregnant woman for preclampsia again since I am carrying an unnatural pregnancy and preclampsia is one way for the body to rebel against the unnatural process of "IVF like" pregnancies.  My blood pressure has also spiked since I got pregnant.  Right before I became pregnant my blood pressure was regularly 117/70 and it has steadily risen at each appointment.  At my 23 week appointment it was 132/80.  The nurses don't seem to think it was anything to be concerned about but it is just news to me that my body is under stress from the pregnancy.

OB Visit and Anatomy Scan Debrief
At my 21 week doctor's appointment I learned a little more information about our baby girl.  She is small, as in the 30th percentile for her gestational age.  The doctor isn't concerned at all about her size, she said she is just petite.  Looks like we are in for another little tiny baby which is awesome because I have all those super cute preemie clothes from Lena who was born at 4 pounds 3 oz.  Also, my placenta is kind of low and our doctor is hoping that as the baby grows it lifts a little.  This is also similar to my last pregnancy.  The placement of the placenta is the reason they gave me for Lena being so small.  All this leads me to believe that I may indeed be carrying Lena's genetic sibling although we won't know for sure until the baby is born and we do some genetic testing.  We also found out that we have to go back for a second anatomy scan on Monday (when I am 23 weeks pregnant) to get a look at her heart.  Nothing is wrong, they just couldn't get a good look at her heart during the first anatomy scan and they need to make sure they get a better image so they can check the various "boxes" off on the anatomy scan chart.  I am happy we get another look at baby girl since our next ultrasound after this one won't be until I am 36 weeks pregnant.  Lastly we learned that Baby Girl is head down and facing the right way.  Although the way I've been feeling her move and kick I can imagine she could have moved since then.  We will find out on Monday!

Crystal Cove Camping 2014

El Moro Campground - Newport Coast, CA

Our pop up trailer in our campsite. #55

During my spring break in March we decided to head out camping again but this time we stayed local (about 45 minutes away) and near the beach - Lena's favorite!  We have been wanting to try out El Moro Campground near our favorite beach in Newport, Crystal Cove.  It used to be a mobile home property that the state bought/took over and turned into a campground.  I loved the location but was skeptical about how it would look.  I thought since it is on the Pacific Coast Highway that it would be too near cars that are passing by, or that the sites would be so close there wouldn't be any privacy.  We also like lots of vegetation when we camp and the satellite pictures didn't show much at all.  I was pleasantly surprised in many ways!  In fact we had such a great time we extended our stay from three nights to four nights!  The campground was in pristine condition: it was clean, well groomed, had nice native landscaping, the coin showers and toilets were always clean and well supplied, and our neighbors (while close by) were all very respectful and friendly.  This site doesn't seem to draw the party crowd.  We loved the giant grown pelicans that would soar by and the little bunnies that lived on the property too.

This is the view from our campsite!  Beautiful!  California has a gorgeous coastline!

It was pretty cold during our stay but we had just had some repairs done to our pop up trailer and we had our heater to keep us nice and cozy at night.  It even rained one night and the canvas on the trailer held up perfectly!  The best part of this campsite is the proximity to the ocean and Crystal Cove beach.  Every day we made the 10 minute walk to the coast to play, walk, and explore.  Then we would come back, get cleaned up, and make a hot dinner and some warm drinks for the evening.  At night there was hardly any noise from PCH and you could fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach - so wonderful!

All bundled up for a long walk on the beach.

On my favorite day we took a long 3-4 mile walk from our campsite down to the beach, along the coast, past the tide pools, to Crystal Cove beach cottages, and had lunch at the Ruby's Shake Shack and then walked all the way back.  It was a super cold and windy day but the sky was an amazing shade of blue and the beaches littered with fun shells and things from the rain the night before.  It was such a fun and relaxing family day.  We can't wait to go back to this campground.  What a gem and such a bargain at $35 per night on beach front property!

Lena gets some cherished beach time.

Daddy and Lena playing on the beach.

Post shower, pre-nap snuggle and reading time in the trailer.

Ladder ball!  A camping game favorite.

Snuggling up and snacking while watching the sunset.

Johnny, Julie, and Adam came for a visit!

Catching crabs and sea snails in the tide pools

Running in the surf.

Cozy with our propane fire - no wood or charcoal allowed!

Lena has been into hats lately.

Snack time with Mommy

On a walk with Lena

Lena loves to call out all the letters.  She is getting pretty good!

Queen of the tide pool rock!

More beach time!

Bacon, eggs, and snuggles for breakfast!

Coffee and tea time while working on our rock stacking.