What's Up Wednesday!

It is time for another What's Up Wednesday and it is the first one I have done in quite a while!

What we're eating this week:  Since we are still not really going anywhere my husband and I have kind of made it our Friday tradition to get take-out on Fridays to support local restaurants and give us a break from cooking 

What I'm reminiscing about: Disneyland is finally opening back up at the end of April so all the news about it's reopening has me thinking about all the times I have been and how this has been the longest in my adult life I have gone without going to Disneyland. I was supposed to take my daughter this past November but obviously that didn't happen.

What I'm loving: I am loving this little cutie and seeing her grow and change everyday.  It feels like she learns a new word or a new skill almost everyday and she is just growing up so fast. 

What we've been up to: Mostly just enjoying our warmer weekends with many walks and trips to the park. Ellie is a big fan of swings, the slide and finding sticks to carry around.

What I'm dreading: We have started the process of getting Ellie a sibling so all the IVF hormones and shots take quite the toll on your body so I kind of dread taking them each day.  I know it is what I need to do but it is still hard physically and emotionally.

What I'm working on: Taxes. Not the most exciting thing but has to get done

What I'm excited about: While I am dreading the parts of the IVF process I am really excited about hopefully adding a new member to our family some time this year.  Fingers crossed.

What I'm watching/reading: I have been watching old seasons of The Amazing Race because they are fun and easy to watch in the background of whatever I am doing.

What I'm listening to: Mostly whatever comes on our Echo which is usually a mix of country and a random mix of 90s-00s pop music.  Everyone needs some Britney in their life every once in a while.


What I'm wearing: A lot of yoga pants and comfy tops at the moment but as the weather has been warming up I have been trying to wear my dresses more. It just makes me feel more productive to be dressed after working from home for so many months.



What I'm doing this weekend: Easter with this cutie! She loves putting things in and out of containers so I am sure she is going to love hunting Easter eggs and by hunting I mean gather up the eggs that we place on the ground for her to "find". I don't think she is quite ready to hunt but gather she has got!

Happy Wednesday!

A Few Pictures of Life Lately with a Toddler

We have a full blown toddler around here at this point. Even though we can't really go too many places due to COVID we have still trying to get out of the house when the weather is not rainy. We have been spending lots of time at a few parks in our neighborhood and sometimes just walking around in our front yard to get our fresh air for the day.

We have been embracing dressing for Valentine's Day with an assortment of dresses and t-shirts. I might have gone a little overboard with the number of outfits but oh well she can still wear them even after Valentine's Day. 

On days we can't go outside we have been finding fun thing to do indoors too. She loves playing with water and an assortment of plastic containers. I just use warm water and when she is done we put on dry clothes to ensure she doesn't get cold. She has also mastered getting onto our couch recently and thinks it is so fun to climb up, cover in a blanket, say night night and then pretend to sleep for a few seconds. Sometimes she even puts her stuffed animals to sleep too!

Her toys had kind of taken over our living room so we are attempting to corral them better with this new shelving.

I was quite proud of the cute little Valentine's I made for her to give to her friends at daycare. There are bubbles and a little crayon in each bag!

Crockpot Spaghetti

Not even sure this qualifies as a recipe but more a collection of things thrown in a crockpot for a few hours though it is a favorite in our house.

Ingredients:

    1 lb Italian or Spicy Sausage

    1 package sliced mushrooms

    2 jars pasta sauce (I like Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Marinera) 

    1 lb spaghetti

    2 cubes frozen crushed garlic (fresh is fine too)

    Italian seasoning

Remove the sausage from the casing and brown in a pan

Put one jar of sauce, mushrooms, garlic, seasoning and cooked sausage in the crockpot and give it a good stir

Add one jar worth of water to the pot

Break up the spaghetti and add it to the pot along with the other jar of spaghetti sauce

Stir it as much as you can but as you can see below the spaghetti will still not be covered in the sauce

Cook on low for 4 hours stirring part way through to submerge the rest of the spaghetti. It is not glamorous looking but it is delicious

This spaghetti is even better leftover the day after you make it

Enjoy!

 

Christmas Decorations with a Toddler

Decorating for Christmas this year had a few extra considerations thanks to the most adorable 14 month old who pretty much rules the house.

There were very few things that I put out this year that were breakable because one of her new favorite things it to try and reach things that are on tables. She has been remarkably good about not touching previous season's decorations so I was hopeful that this would hold true for Christmas too.  

This little display on our bar cabinet is well out of her reach so I was comfortable putting a glass jar here.

She can technically reach this table I think but so far she hasn't really tried to grab anything off of it.

She can definitely reach our TV stand so I only put things she could't hurt by touching. Her toy bins are right in front of this so she generally is more focused on her toys than my decorations which is just fine with me.

This is the only display of breakable things that she gets near and that is only because sometimes I am getting something off the table with her in my arms.

I had heard the most about toddlers wreaking havoc on Christmas trees so I was a little bit worried. Fortunately it has not been an issue. After we got the tree I put lights on it and left it that way overnight to see how she would react. She looked at the lights but didn't really show any interest in trying to pull them off so I put non-breakable ornaments on the to half of the tree and called it a day. Even now after being up for a few weeks she has only touched the branches a couple of times to see what they feel like and once she tried to hug the tree skirt because it looks like a blanket. I am calling that a success!

 This limited decorations is going to be part of my future for a while so I guess I better get used to it!

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch and Other Recent Adventures

A couple of weeks ago we dressed Ellie in her best pumpkin outfit and headed off to the pumpkin patch. We headed out as soon as she woke up from her first nap because we figured it would only get hotter and more crowded as the day went on. It was actually a little more crowded than I was expecting but we wore our masks and kept our distance from people.

Ellie was a little unsure of this whole thing when we first took her out of the stroller but she quickly realized that pumpkins were fun to bang on and try to pick up.

This year we decided to just walk around and look at the pumpkins but they had a little train to ride and some other activities to do so maybe next year when she is a bit older we will do those too.

A few weeks ago playgrounds in our county reopened after being closed since March so we have been exploring the ones near our house. Ellie is good about not putting things she finds on the ground in her mouth or really even putting her hands in her mouth when we are out so we have just been washing our hands thoroughly after playing and have felt pretty safe.  

 We have been going to parks in the morning in case they get busy as the day goes on and have really only been there with a handful of other people who all kept their distance.  Ellie has loved being able to get out and see things and play.

One day we even took lunch with us to the park and had a little picnic. She was more interested in walking around and looking at things than actually eating but at least mom got a snack!

Any safe socially distant activities for an almost 13 month old to do on weekends are welcome!

Ellie's First Birthday!

 It is hard to believe but Ellie turned one last week.  I don't know where this year has gone. The saying that sometimes the days are long but the months are short is so true. It feels like just yesterday that she was in my belly and I was anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Her birthday fell on a weekday so we didn't plan too much hoopla for her actual birthday since she doesn't know what a birthday even is yet.  She went to daycare in her special shirt and after we picked her up in the afternoon we gave her one of her favorite treats. This little pumpkin loves all things pumpkin and Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf is one of her favorite things.

While we were feeding her dinner we decided to FaceTime my mom so she could say hi and when she and my sister answered they were in our front yard to surprise us! We were very surprised and happy to see them.  

They brought her a balloon and a gift from my Aunt and Uncle for Ellie to open. She had a great time pulling everything out of the bag and carrying it around. She doesn't understand social distancing (what one year old does) so she kept picking up leaves and offering them to my mom and sister.  We all wore masks and enjoyed seeing each other. She has been carrying around her balloon ever since.

 

Since having a party with in person guests was out of the question (dumb COVID) we had a Zoom party for her that weekend. Since she loves all things pumpkin I decided that gold pumpkins was an appropriate theme.  Even the cake was pumpkin flavored. She played with her cake a bit but wasn't that into smashing or even eating the cake during the party.  Too many other things/people to look at on the screen.  She was busy waving and blowing kisses to all her relatives. She was pretty much just hamming it up.

  

After cake she opened presents and was (like most one year olds) most excited about the wrapping and the boxes but we did open the packaging of a couple of her gifts to let her play with them. Over the next few days we opened a few more and she has had a great time playing and learning with her new toys.  She is such a loved little girl and not just by us! As people left the Zoom call she was waving and blowing kisses again and just loving life.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

Disneyland in the Third Trimester

Since I am having serious Disneyland withdrawals waiting to hear when it will reopen I figured it was time to write about my last trip to Disneyland. Who knows when the next time I will be able to go but I know it will be at least a year and a half between my last trip and my next trip!

Last July (2019) at 31 weeks pregnant I went to Disneyland with a couple of my girlfriends. I had thought my trip in the beginning of my second trimester would be my last before baby girl arrived but when the opportunity presented itself and I was still feeling fine I decided to go for it. I kept an eye on the weather in the weeks before the trip because I knew if the weather report said it was going to be 100 degrees while I was there I knew I needed to not go. The weather was supposed to be in the low to mid 80's while I was there so that was fine. For the first time I got to pre-board the airplane which was kind of cool.  I didn't really need the extra time to get on the plane but it allowed me to sit in the bulkhead seat which was way easier to get in and out of with a big ole belly.

We stayed at the Best Western that was right at the crosswalk to Disneyland and it was super convenient.  Breakfast was included and you can't beat the location unless you are staying on property. I would definitely stay there again. Our first night we just walked over to Downtown Disney to have dinner and do a little shopping since we all got there in the late afternoon. 

While we were there Galaxy's Edge had only been open to the public without a reservation to enter the land for about a month so it was still very new. You didn't need a reservation to get into the land but at this point they were still doing same day only reservations for Olga's Cantina so I logged on first thing in the morning and made us a reservation to check it out. Our reservation was for sometime in the late morning but we still ordered a cocktail.  We got the blue milk, the fuzzy tonton and something else. They were all good and the fuzzy tonton did actually make your lips tingle so that was kind of fun. 

While my girlfriends rode Smugglers Run without me (not pregnancy approved) I decided to take advantage of the PhotoPass photographer and get my picture taken in Batuu. I have been to Disneyland enough times that I pretty much know where everything is so going to Batuu and having no clue where anything was was kind of a strange feeling. Don't worry I found the bathroom which is a necessity when pregnant to always know where the bathroom is.

That afternoon we headed over to the Disneyland Hotel for Alice in Wonderland tea. Taking a break from the parks for a little while in the afternoon is always nice but when you are very pregnant it becomes a necessity. I knew I would need more breaks than normal so I was glad that when I suggested tea my friends were all for it. All the food was good but my favorite thing was the little cups with fried basil on top.

We decided we were going to try and stay for the fireworks so after dinner I took another break while my friends went on a few non-pregnancy friendly rides. This time I went and sat in the lobby of the Grand Californian and had a grapefruit and ginger ale. Despite the break I didn't exactly make it to watch the fireworks but we ended up getting stuck in the Haunted Mansion for a little while so I saw the beginning of them on my walk back to the hotel. 

Our second day in the parks we rode the double decker bus down Main Street which is not something I usually take the time to do so that was nice. 

I didn't get a good picture of me wearing it but my teal shirt said snacking for two and was from Blushing Mimosa Co on Etsy though it doesn't look like this exact shirt is available anymore. 

One of my favorite ways to take a break during the afternoon is to go and sit at the bar in Carthay Circle Loung, have a cocktail, a snack (or late lunch) and chat with the bartenders and whoever else is sitting at the bar. Many of my Disney trips are solo trips (though those might be a rare occurrence now that I have a child) so it is usually pretty easy to get one seat at the bar. This time I didn't get a cocktail (obviously) but I did sit at the bar and rest while my friends rode a few things I couldn't. The bartenders are great at making up drinks (both alcoholic and non) so of course my drink was fabulous. 

 

One last story from my trip: My friends went off to ride Big Thunder and then had Fastpasses to Indiana Jones so I decided to see what I could ride in Fantasyland before meeting up with them again. I rode a couple of rides and then ended up on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride since it is one of my favorites.  I made it almost to the end of the ride and then the ride stopped. I am sitting in the dark in the train crash room right before Mr. Toad goes to hell and then the lights go on and an announcement comes on saying to stay in your cars and someone will come lead you out of the ride. When the cast member gets to me (with a group of people from the previous dozen cars behind me) I get out and we head forward towards the next room. There is a car stopped right in the doorway between the room I am in and the next room and so everyone walks along the side to get past it. I try and can't get past it because the widest part of the car is right at the height of my big baby belly.  I start laughing and tell the cast member I don't fit.  He looks worried for a sec but then realizes I am not offended about not fitting and has me wait while he takes everyone else out.  He comes back and gets me and we go backwards towards the entrance to the ride and I got to see all the rooms of Mr. Toad with the lights on. Makes for a pretty good pregnant at Disneyland story!

Now I just have to wait for Disneyland to reopen so I can take my daughter!