This Unfamiliar Road

Among the articles, pins, and blog posts about the best products for baby, there is little to help the Mom who has a toddler and a newborn at the same time!
After 5 months of experience as a Mom of two babes, I have found some must-have items when juggling the twosome.




A Sleep Program. With baby number one, you might have decided to just wing it when it came to sleep and a schedule. When baby two comes along, you will want to have some type of structure, for your own sanity. With both of my kids, I used The 90 Minute Baby Sleep Program and I can't say enough good things about it!

A Baby Monitor. If you didn't have one before, you need to get one now! Purchase a system with two monitors and a split screen to keep an eye on both kiddos. Rather than fork over $350 for a monitor, we bought this Foscam security camera, routed it through our Wifi and purchased an app for our iPhones and iPad. It cost about $100 for 2 cameras and apps.

A Baby Carrier. There are going to be times when older sibling needs your attention (and hands) and you are also dealing with a fussy babe. Enter the baby carrier. It's also excellent for dates at the playground! I love my Moby and my ErgoBaby.

Big Diaper Bag. Your cute purse-like diaper bag is just not going to cut it when you need to stuff diapers, outfits, bottles AND crayons, snacks, & games in there. I am in love with my Skip Hop Duo Double bag. It's slim enough to fit in the stroller, yet holds everything we need with lots of pockets. It's still pretty and I don't feel like I am carrying around a suitcase.

Double Stroller. I really struggled with the decision to buy a double stroller. I did a lot of baby-wearing with my first, and planned to do it a lot with my second child. Wow...I am so glad I bought one! We use our double stroller all the time. I love my Graco Ready2Grow stroller. There are TWELVE riding options. You absolutely must check this one out!

Rock n Play Sleeper. I recommend this product to everyone who is expecting a baby, but I never knew just how handy it was until our second arrived. The Rock n Play is a handy spot to lay your sweet babe and is elevated just enough for big sister/brother to interact (but not putting your newborn on the floor to be trampled!).

What product helped you out the most when adding baby 2 (or 3,4,5!) to your family? I would love to know!

I just love a good chicken pot pie, but making the crust can be very time consuming! This recipe via Six Sisters uses canned biscuits for a quick and tasty pie crust!


What You'll Need

-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 onion, chopped fine
-½ cup of chopped carrots*
-½ cup of chopped broccoli*
-½ cup of chopped cauliflower*
-Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
-½ cup of all-purpose flour
-1½ cups milk
-2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
-1 regular size can of cream of chicken soup
-½ teaspoon dried thyme
-2 cups (about 1 pound) of cooked, shredded chicken
-¾ cup frozen peas, thawed
-1 refrigerated package of Pilsbury Grands Biscuits (8 biscuits)
               -You can also buy 2 cans to cover the pie, then cook the leftovers for breakfast the next day!

*To reduce time chopping veggies, you can use frozen broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. Just consider a little extra time to saute from frozen!

What You'll Do

1)  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2) In a large pan heat your oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, saute the onions, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer cooked vegetables to a bowl with the chicken; set aside.

3) Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the same pot. When melted, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Whisk** in the milk, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup and thyme. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and let it simmer for 1 minute to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.

4) Turn off the heat and transfer the vegetables and chicken to the pot, stirring until the filling is well-combined. If the filling is too thick, stir in some extra chicken broth milk.

5) Pour the filling into a 13x9-inch baking dish and bake for 18 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven (keeping the oven on and door closed) and top the filling with 8 biscuits (yes, raw biscuits). Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

**Don't use a wire whisk on your nonstick pans! You can use a saute spoon for this step







Let me know how yours turns out. Enjoy!

{ONE} Warmer temperatures.
Yeah yeah...in the fall I''m excited about cooler temps and now I'm longing for warmer days. Too much of one extreme and I'm just ready for a change :) Let's enjoy the mildly warm temps for now. And somebody slap me if I am ever complaining about it being too hot this summer!



{TWO} Telestrations.
I recently discovered this game: it's like a cross between Pictionary and the Telephone game. It's great family fun with older kiddos, or it can be a fun adult game too! I'm always laughing when I play...and bonus points if you are not a good artist-perfect for me!



{THREE} Northern Parentals.
They are here for a visit! It's been 3 months since we've seen them...which feels like an eternity. We get to spend over 2 weeks catching up :)



{FOUR} Landscaping.
We are about to completely redo our front flower beds. I've spent hours researching the best plants, trees, and flowers for our area and sketching out the design. I'm excited to begin putting our plans into action (but not until after April 15, right gardeners?). I'm having visions of daylilies, iris, cherry trees, and gardenias.


{FIVE} Pi Day 2015.
Tomorrow is the "Utlimate Pi Day" and the nerd in me is a little bit excited. Once in a lifetime: 3.141592653
Pretty cool right?


Enjoy your weekend, friends! I'll be working...

Y'all...I cant lie- I hate the snow. I have never enjoyed being in the cold...add wet and dirty stuff and I'm just done.

But...when your big girl is running around the house screaming "IT'S SNOWING!!!!" at the top of her lungs, you put on your Mommy pants and take her outside. :)



I'm not sure if it's instinct but Peyton immediately plopped down on the ground to make a snow angel. She loved every minute of it!


Our neighbors broke out the sled, and the little ones had a blast being pulled on it!



Baby sister came out for a few minutes to enjoy the snow, too.


And really... what snow day would be complete without hot chocolate (and a tiara...?)?!


I admit it was fun for a few minutes. I've had my fill for this season, so let the warmer temps begin now!

 

Our baby is growing bigger and bigger! She still has a quietly curious personality and is a super happy baby :)


Eating: Our little piggy still enjoys eating. She nurses about every 3 1/2 hours during the day, and takes about 4 oz while I'm at work. We haven't begun solid foods yet, but will probably start them later this month. I'm also considering baby led weaning this time.

Sleeping: WOW...that 4 month regression was a little rough, but we are seeing some improvement in the last 2 weeks. Eliza typically goes to bed around 8:30pm and wakes around 7:30am with one feeding at night (usually sleeping an 8 hour stretch). There are some nights that she still wakes randomly and needs help transitioning back to sleep, but I don't feed her more than once...and I am trying hard to wean her from that too :)
Naps are decent and usually last 1 1/2 hours with a 30 or 45 minute nap sometimes. Our little Bean stays up for 3 hour stretches in the evening.


Skills: I am still amazed at how well this kiddo manipulates a toy. It's so fun to watch her shake, squeeze, and (mostly) chew on her toys. She barrel rolls all over the floor to get where she needs to go and is starting to sit up. This girl has a strong grip and everything goes into her mouth!

Happy Times: Um, all the time! I'm so relieved to have a happy baby! She spends most of her time on the playmat rolling around, in her jumperoo, or laughing at big sister. She loves to play with the kitty cat, too.

Unhappy Times: Eliza still has a bit of "stranger anxiety" and it's about the only time she cries hard. She fusses when she's tired, but goes to sleep without much trouble :)

Stats: We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, but our scale at home says 16.4 pounds. Eliza is wearing mostly 9 month clothing.


Hi Boo Boo,
You have become such a fun little one. I love watching you smile and laugh at your big sister. I am trying to enjoy each little moment with you because soon, you will be too busy to cuddle with Momma. Keep smiling sweet girl.

Seriously, when did that happen? Winter blues will be gone soon. I can smell spring coming!