Meal Planning + Making Pizza

Today I had a bit of a surprise (holy cow we spent a lot of money of food). Jared and I each decided on something that we would do to bring that number down a little bit in September. So I'm bringing back the meal plan. I haven't for a while now.... summer was a little crazy. (That's a valid excuse, right?) I kinda let it go. It wasn't too bad. But I like having meals planned out so I don't have to think about what to make when it's time to make something.

I'm also going to take it a step beyond that and prepare all of the dinners in one afternoon. They will keep in the fridge until I'm ready for that meal. One of the meals I'm making will be split into thirds for two of the parts to be frozen. Oh! And I'm freezing yogurt cubes right now so I can prep smoothies. We'll see how it goes tomorrow when I grocery shop and prep the food. We'll see how Kaelyn goes....

Oh wait! And I'm going to have a snack station kind of thing. Pre-portion snacks out and then it's a quick grab for either me and Kaelyn or Jared for his lunches.

I thought about being smart and making pizza dough while Kaelyn was still taking a nap today. I thought of this too late, however. So I involved Kaelyn since she complains any time I make bread or anything like that.

She was very eager to help.

It took her a bit to understand how to knead. I told her to push and she got it.

She also thought eating the dough was okay.....

:)

Dinner was awesome. Maybe it was the home grown, ripe, delish tomatoes. Maybe it was the extra serving of cuteness that Kaelyn added to the dish. Whatever it was, the tomato tart was sooo good. We always love eating this type of pizza and having tomatoes that we grew on it made it even better! (Except Kaelyn wanted regular pizza--she doesn't eat tomatoes yet.)

Living Room, Ruffles, and Paint

Day Two without Kaelyn is complete. Mom tells me "don't be jealous but she didn't wake up at all last night". Well, neither did I. :)

Yesterday I did organizing and cleaning in the living room. It was looking pretty scary so I had started working on it slowly a few weeks ago. It's not "done" but it's to the point where the remaining items are things we want to keep but they don't have a location. Yet.

I'll be working on storage space soon but I got distracted today. And will continue that distraction tomorrow.

We really like the cat stuff in this area. And this area looked a whole lot worse before these pictures were taken. I don't have a true before picture. Oops.

That's all the remaining clutter in the living room! It's awesome. It's actually a little better now because those bags in the lower right corner have been taken to the recyling now.

I have also done a little bit of sewing. I intended to do a lot of sewing this week but I got distracted....

Look, Breezi... RUFFLES.

If you ever sew with knits, don't try to be lazy and sew with a regular needle. Use a ballpoint needle. Trust me.

My distraction had to do with my family room, entry, and this.

It is THE PERFECT color for this space. I love the vision in my head and can't wait to show you all how it turns out! Actually, I'd show you preview pictures now but I just don't have any.

My Bangs

I have been thinking about getting bangs for maybe about a week. On Saturday, I told Kimmi and she said "let's do it today!" So we did.

I wasn't sure how well I liked it at first. I didn't hate it, but it's quite a change for me. So far it seems like it's still easy maintenance. I'm liking it more and more.

I finally figured out that I look like Lisbon from The Mentalist. Josh and Kimmi concurred. Mom said I'm much cuter.

I am starting all these paragraphs with "I". Jamie and Kevin said I'm smokin hot and that Jared got a new wife. Jared says it's cute.

I. (Um, couldn't figure out another way to start this with an I.) The consensus is definitely that it makes me look young. I'm making everyone say youthful. I didn't really need help to look young.

Ramen Noodles vs. Pizza

I really did it.

I just compared the nutrition facts of ramen noodles to pizza.

At least this particular type of pizza (Mama Cozzi's mega meat) totally creams ramen noodles.

I'm never having ramen again.

Unless it is homemade.

Maybe.

(Pizza is still better.)

In the suburb, the mighty(?) suburb, Kaelyn sleeps tonight

Remember this post when I listed my 2011 to do's? Or this or this post about Kaelyn's sleeping... um... habits?

It is a constant up and down battle. I can't really call it a battle though because I'm not fighting real hard. Slow and steady wins the race. Right? Right??? Ahem.

Lately, I've realized that sometimes Kaelyn needs additional unwinding time after she is ready for bed or a nap. (Jared does not always help with this.) I just shut the doors and for the most part ignore her. If she gets out of bed, I set a timer (on my phone) for five minutes. If she isn't back in bed by the end of five minutes, I put her back. I don't let her get into the drawer of the nightstand but I don't stop her from opening closet doors.

Since starting that, I've been surprised at how often she'll get back into bed before the five minutes are up. Doesn't mean she stays there. But she will get back in.

She has started staying in bed longer when she wakes up over the last few weeks. She rarely gets out of bed by herself when she wakes up. She calls so I know she's awake and then she waits. Sometimes she is still laying down when I get up there. She also knows that her pacifier goes in her bed and that she isn't allowed to walk around with it (she still tries, but she generally is very good about taking it out when I remind her).

I can say that except for once or twice in the last several months, Kaelyn sleeps in her own bed! This is awesome. It would be even more awesome if it were in her own room but hey. Baby steps.

I can also say that except for once or twice in the last several months, Kaelyn does not sleep the whole night through. She still wakes up for a drink and if she doesn't get it, she keeps asking. Sometimes she can't find her pacifier (and she's pretty lazy at looking for it). She wakes up, on average, twice a night. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. Usually twice.

At least I can count on her sleeping at least until 7am. This week it has been later (this morning she didn't wake up until 8:30!!!!!) but she has also gone to bed later.

Naps vary anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours. Yesterday was a rare case at 3 1/2 hours (and then refusing to get out of bed for the next 1/2 hour). Today she woke up at 1 1/2 hours. She called out but then stayed quiet so I thought she went back to sleep. I went upstairs 30-45 minutes later to put something away and she sits up in bed. So now I'm not sure if she was asleep for that time or just laying there quietly waiting for me to come upstairs. Either way, I'm happy.

Our bedroom will seem a lot bigger once a crib is no longer in there.