Sick Baby

 

This was not the first time that Ben has been sick, but it definitely was the worst he has experienced in his almost 18 months.  On Wednesday evening, my friends Kim, Shauna and her baby toddler Bronson came over for dinner.  The night was one of those nights where NOTHING was going right.  The dinner I had made (taquitos) looked disgusting, so I had to scramble and come up with a plan B for us to eat, the water heater started only heating water to lukewarm, and Ben literally cried from the second they arrived until the second they left.  I attributed his fussiness to either teething (as his fingers rarely left his mouth that night) or just being a pill and wanting my undivided attention - but we soon realized that he felt warm and was likely under the weather.

 

The next day, his temp got up to 103.3.  I took him to the walk-in clinic, and after checking him out, figured it was just a virus.  They gave me clear instructions that should his temp rise above 104 or approach 105 to go directly to the ER.  That night, it did - so we did!

 

The three of us spent a few hours at Children's, which really is such a fantastic place to be if you have a sick baby.  I felt really lucky for the care we received, and even luckier to go home with our baby (knowing so many people there didn't have that opportunity).

 

Ben spent most of the weekend with off and on fevers, but he seems to be on the mend now!  The only positive about the last few days is how snugly he has been!  Him sitting still for longer than 10 seconds is a rarity.  I definitely prefer my busy, constantly on the go child :)

Meal Planning: Week of March 11th

Review of last week:

• The recipe for roasted vegetables was really good.  I'll be making it again.
• The taquitos were gross.  I will not be making them again.
• We didn't cook last night and probably won't be cooking tonight due to the sick baby we have on our hands.

This week is going to be tough one for me to spend too much time with food prep as I have staff meetings Tuesday - Thursday.  I will still be done with work at the same time those days, but after the types of meetings we typically have, I will likely be DRAINED at the end of each day and ready to focus on drinking - not cooking ;)

Monday:  Boboli Pizza - Greg is in charge of dinner tonight, and he makes a mean boboli that Ben always loves.

Tuesday: Braised Lamb Shanks (slow cooker) with creamy polenta and salad.

Wednesday:  Dinner out, grabbing take out, or heating up something frozen!

Thursday: Black Bean Tostadas with Avocado Corn Relish

Friday:  Corned Beef and Hash and Black & Tans over at the Christensen's house!

Tuesday Night Lights

 

One of my favorite things about our new house is our neighborhood.  It still amazes me how quiet it is, and I try to get out and take a walk with Ben as often as the weather allows.  Last night after dinner, the three of us took a walk up the street and eventually found ourselves at Ben's future Junior High School.  I told Greg that I wanted to walk around the campus and check it out, but before we got to that, we could see that the lights on the football field were turned on and some sort of team practice was taking place.

As we got closer and closer, we saw one of the nicest football fields ever at a middle school - MUCH nicer than my high school field and track were!  We took a lap around, watched some kids during their soccer practice, and talked about how we imagine it will be like when Ben is their age - him attending school here, practicing with his team after school - with Greg coaching and me as the team mom ;)

GO KNIGHTS!

Magic Carpet Ride

Day Off and Last Weekend

Last Friday, Greg and I took the day off work.  We had planned to head over to Leavenworth for a day and night, but decided against it at the last minute.  We figured there were plenty of things we could entertain ourselves with here at home.

In the morning, Greg had a doctor appointment (since it's hard for him to find the time to do it on a work day).  Ben and I took a quick trip to the fabric store to pick up some foam for the bench seat cushion my mom is going to make for us!

 

After Ben's nap, we took a trip to The Children's Museum - which is always a really fun time!

 

 

And sometimes, splashing in puddles is more fun than the exhibits ;)

 

On Saturday, Greg wasn't feeling well and needed to sleep off whatever bug he had - so Ben and I did our own thing.

 

We made omelets for breakfast:

 

 

We organized our (way too many) toys:

 

 

And we tried to figure out a way to open the door and wake daddy up:

 





Swim Lessons!

Ben had his first swim lesson this weekend!  By "lesson", I of course mean he was held by Greg the entire time as the teacher led them through various activities and songs, and by "swim", I mean he was assisted in paddling his arms, kicking his feet, and getting used to the water.  He really seemed to enjoy it, and it will be fun for him and Greg to do this for the next 6 weeks!

 

He should be all set to enjoy the warmer water when we head to Palm Springs next month :)

 



 

 

Swim diapers!

Meal Planning: Week of March 4th (and Cougle Dinner recap)

Review of last week:

I don't have much to review, other than to say that we deviated from the meal plan quite a bit!  We did make the baked pasta, which was easy and delicious (and Ben enjoyed it)!  We had crab cakes instead of ravioli, a turkey pot roast (Costco) instead of black bean tacos, and tonight, we will be having braised pork shoulder with pepperoni sauce instead of soup and sandwiches - a mighty fine upgrade if you ask me!

We also had a lovely dinner at the Cougan's house last Saturday!  Everything was beautiful, delicious AND she even made our new favorite dessert - Pineapple Upside Down Cake at mine and Peter's request :) 

 

Rachel made this water and it's my new obsession: cucumber, lemon, rosemary and mint.

 

Great parenting in action!  (#Survival)

 

Mid-sneeze and modeling some Stella & Dot Jewels!

 

Family pic!

 

And since you cannot really see it in the pictures,

this is the special outfit Ben picked out to impress Peter :)

Here is what we have planned for next week:

Monday:  BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

Tuesday:  Spinach and cheese ravioli (Costco - the frozen kind, which was suggested as an even more delicious alternative to the refrigerated kind that I already know and love), with an assortment of roasted veggies.

Wednesday: Chicken taquitos, homemade guacamole

Thursday: Cod and salad

Friday:  Brenna and Noah are coming over for dinner, so I want to be sure to impress them (her) with a recipe I know is delicious :)  We will make Chicken Saltimboca, risotto, roasted carrots and a green salad.