Birthday, Kids, & Crafts

I turned 25 this month. A quarter of a century. The kids and I spent a lot of the day at the park. When Jack came home, we went out to dinner and went to a shooting range. I've never shot a gun before, but it was fun. Pictures don't lie...I look pretty hardcore! It's a good thing this picture is from the back, because I'm pretty sure my eyes were closed. Ha!

Jack gave me this awesome Bible for my birthday! It's so pretty, but I know it doesn't stand a chance in my purse, so I made a little cover for it! 

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Lois turned 5 months old this month. She is starting to sit up on her own. I think she's ready to start solids. She stares at our food, and when I gave her a noodle, she knew just what to do with it! The past week she has been feeling a little under the weather. I think it's just that time of year. She has an ear infection and cold right now. I think she might be the happiest sick baby I've ever seen though.

Yes, I will stay home and take care of you all day!

Lois has eyes for two boys in her life right now...Jack and Silas. She literally does not take her eyes off them if they are in the room. I guess except if there's a camera in the room.

 I think she has got to be teething too! I find her like this all the time! 

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Silas is almost 2! Since we came back from Florida, I feel like he's just grown up. He's been going to bed without a peep, and wanting to help around the house. He's been listening really well, and so I'm really hoping this is a phase that lasts! He is so great with Lois. He brings her toys to play with, and will  get in her face and try to make her laugh, which of course she just eats that up!

CHEEEESSEEE!!!!

To say that Silas loves letters would be a gross understatement! He LOVES letters! He goes to bed with letters on his mind. When he wakes up, the first thing he does is look for his letter "M".  I feel a birthday theme coming on!

Well, that's all the updates for now! 

ABC's

Flop.

This pin didn't go over so well, despite the picture of Silas looking entertained and happy. I was feeling like a stick in the mud, and didn't want to have to clean up a mess, so I tried this. Silas knew it wasn't the real deal, and he wanted to play with the paint outside of the bag. But he humored me, and tried it out for about 3 minutes!

Never Have I Ever...

...cleaned an oven.

 I don't know how I've escaped it for this long. I know you can't be around those types of chemicals when you're pregnant, and since I've been pregnant for majority of the last two and half years, I'll just use that as my excuse :) 

We've lived in this apartment for 2 years now, and our oven was looking pretty gross, so I started looking for natural ways to clean an oven. I wanted to avoid having such strong chemicals in the house with little kiddos around. I found this pin. You just spritz some water on the bottom of the oven, then sprinkle 1/4 inch of baking soda over that. I only left it for about 30 minutes before wiping it off, but I was impressed! 

My oven before. 

 My oven after.

How to Entertain A Toddler: Water Paint

Rain clouds were lingering all morning one day last week, but I really wanted to let Silas have some time outside. I came across this idea on Pinterest. I just filled a cup up with water and gave him a paintbrush, and that made for a happy Silas. 

Pin: Bow Pillow

This last pregnancy with Lois, I was blessed with an abundance of energy during my second trimester. I decided to learn how to sew in order to make her baby bedding. I had some fabric left, and found this tutorial on Pinterest. I'm definitely a novice at sewing, and this pattern was really easy to follow.

I have been on a quest...

...to find the perfect Cinnamon Roll recipe.
The perfect cinnamon roll, to me, is plenty of gooey mixed with plenty of sweetness. I think I found it, so I thought I'd share the goodness.