Menu Plan Monday Plus

 

Goodmorning! Enduring last week's icky weather brought a great reward.  It was too soggy on Saturday for Andrew to work on the Outdoor Classroom Project (with his Leadership 21 class I mentioned before) so we got to spend the day together!  Wade was ready to begin his day at 6:30am Saturday so we headed for Niedlov's for some yummy baked goods and coffee. And then it happened.  It started to rain just as we headed for the car so we got into a hurry and didn't notice.  Puppy.  Puppy is gone.  Not a real puppy. Wade's lovey.  We have not really pushed the lovey concept too much (after seeing our nephew get EXTREMELY attached to a very ragged horsey) but Wade was starting to form a little attachment to Puppy.  Once we got home we realized poor Puppy was probably lying in the parking lot getting rained on and perhaps even run over by a car. Tear.  Sniff.  No, we didn't go back to look for him.  Unfortunately the rest of the day's events didn't really allow for it. So, now Wade is adjusting to a new blue puppy lovey.  He's not quite as soft and cuddly but we're hoping he does the trick. 

Ok, on to my menu for the week.  This plan is pending the grocery shopping that needs to be squeezed in between Wade's two naps that have to be finished before 2:30pm, the first of which he has been fighting the last 30 minutes. 

Monday: Crock Pot Chicken & Rice Casserole (w/ broccoli)

Tuesday: Swedish Meatballs (new recipe!), Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce

Wednesday: Four-Cheese Stuffed Shells, Green Beans & Crescent Rolls

Thursday: Parmesan Baked Salmon, Twice Baked Potatoes & Asparagus (depending on the price)

Friday: Spinach Pasta with Shrimp & more Crescent Rolls

Check out more menus at http://orgjunkie.com/.

And for persevering, here is a Wade snapshot for ya.  Yesterday we bundled up and took Sam dog to the D-O-G P-A-R-K. Of course he didn't really interact with the other dogs, but he did pee on every tree in the entire park. 

 

Ol' Man Hair

Wade...

November 13, 2008

Wade...

November 13th,2088

Seriously, the hair is resembling an old man more and more every day...a very cute old man!

Wade has had such a good week. He is all better and back to his happy self. I don't know if I've told you this but since returning from Florida I've increased my tutoring hours to 7hrs. a week.  I take Wade to the school with me and a high schooler babysits him there.  Increasing from 2 to 7hrs. has taken several weeks to adjust to but he is doing so great now. 

It's going to be frigid here this weekend and we have no plans but to stay warm! 

TGIF!!!! (Friday's have renewed meaning to me now since it's the only day I don't tutor!)

Humidity

We seem to be quite concerned about humidity around here.  The other week we bought a dehumidifier for the basement.  We had a leak in the bathroom and the plumber recommended we get one to suck the water out of the floor and wood.  Does it seem like we have a lot of plumbers visit our house? Yah, that's what I was thinking too.  Anyway, that thing has been going nuts down there.  It is mind boggling to me that there is enough moisture in the air to fill a bucket of water over and over and over again.  Another interesting thing to me is that it has a digital humidity register.  A few times it has been at 90%.  Now I've been under the impression that 100% humidity essentially means it's raining.  My question...could it rain in our basement? Ha.

Wade's illness of last week is heading out the door but it's leaving one last little gift-a nice cough.  It's not a productive cough-it's that dry cough.  You know the kind where someone insists you have a drink of water.  So yesterday I visited Wal-mart and bought a humidifier for the little man's room.  I grew up in Florida so there was no need for adding humidity to any space in our house-this idea is new to me.  The one I bought has a place where you can add some kind of Vick's product.  Sounded cool.  Anybody ever tried that? 

Anyway, so last night Andrew comes into the house and apparently spotted the humidifier box.  His first words to me were "so now we're trying to get rid of humidity in the basement and add it to Wade's room?" Yah, I guess so.

P.S. Did you see Biggest Loser last night? Oh, I cannot stand that Vikki...her behavior is atrocious.  

I Wouldn't Let You Down...

Earlier I promised amazing photos to come. So here they are.  You'll notice there is pretty much not one photo of that amazing smile we all love.  Wade was still recuperating from being sick so we're pleased that he wasn't crying.  Last week was definitely the peak of the foliage here so we had to take advantage. 

 

Menu Plan Monday

Well, this isn't about Wade...so sorry. But if you're patient I will post some totally-worth-the-wait pics of the little man later today.  For now I've decided to participate in Menu Plan Monday.  I already plan my menus before the week begins so I thought I'd share what we're having with you.  If you're interested in a recipe just ask and I'll tell you where I stole it from!

It kinda stinks that I'm starting this week because we are having a "Clean Out the Freezer for Dinner" week.  So, I'm not that excited about our meals but oh well. Next week will be better, I promise. Here goes nothing:

Monday: Sherry Pork Roast (at least I think that's what it is, I didn't label the bag of leftovers well)

Tuesday: Breakfast

Wednesday: Lasagna Rolls, mixed veggies

Thursday: Yankee Pot Roast (courtesy of Skillet Sensations)

Friday: Barbecue Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Creamed Corn

Do You Want Some Milk?

Over the past 4 or so months I have given a half-hearted effort at teaching Wade sign language.  I got this great book that explained the signs and shows you which ones to work on each month.  Well, I think I've only read the first 2 chapters.  The instructions are to start slow.  So I chose milk and have since added food and more.  The sign for milk is to open your hand wide and squeeze it closed in a fist, kind of like you're milking a cow.  Which most of you have probably never done.  For the record, I have milked a cow.  Anyway, you get the idea.  So, every time I would get ready to nurse Wade I would squeeze my hand a few times and ask if he wanted milk.  He would kind of stare at my hand like I was an idiot.  After weeks of this my self-esteem really started to drop so I let up on the milk sign a bit.  Also I forgot.  Since he's been eating I have been working on food and more although probably less than half the time. 

All of this explanation does have a reason.  This morning my sweet husband got up with Wade at 6:30am so I could sleep a bit more. Love that guy! I woke up just as he was going down for a nap at 8:30am.  Normally he would nurse at 8am.  So, I'm changing an ever so stinky diaper when I notice something.  Wade is opening and squeezing his hand.  I said "do you want milk?", not signing myself. And he repeats the sign!  Now you might say this is happenstance.  But I have never seen him open and close his hand like that. 

This is just amazing to me.  Seeing him communicate.  I mean obviously he has been communicating through cries and smiles for 9 months now but this is just mind blowing.  As you can imagine my motivation is renews and I will be reading chapters 3-9 of the book this afternoon!

An update on the sickness...he seems to be getting better. We've been fever free for over 48hrs.  Yesterday he still wanted to sleep more than usual but he didn't go down quite as rocklike as the past several days.  Also his appetite is coming back a bit.  He ate a huge breakfast.  I only gave him a few cheerios for lunch because he's been so disinterested in lunch.  Last night he would not go to sleep for anything.  He just cried and cried as we tried to rock him.  Finally after 45minutes.  Andrew brings him in and says, "do you think he might be hungry?".  My husband is a genius.  He ate a huge bowl of banana oatmeal and went right to sleep! Unfortunately he has developed a rash on his upper body.  It started yesterday morning and I though it was connected to an itchy sleeper he had been wearing.  But it's getting worse.  We're going to try to get Dr. Sandy to come take a look at him this afternoon. 

9th Monthabirthday

I think that Mr. Sicky may be on the mend.  He hasn't had fever in 24hrs. and he was just up playing for about 2hrs!  During that time I managed to take his 9 Monthabirthday pics.  So, we're only 6 days late.

 

His 9 month checkup was supposed to be Friday, but I ended up taking him to see Dr. Wiley Thursday evening.  Mean ol' Wiley did a strep test on the poor kid-remember that one? The large Q-tip swabbing the back of your throat...yuck! Thankfully he doesn't have strep just a viral infection.  Infant Tylenol is king, I bought out Target yesterday. We did find out that he weighs 19lbs.  He's gained 1 1/2 lbs. since September.  Also he measured 26 inches.  But that can't be right since last time he measured 27.5in.  So, I'll have to remeasure here later. 

 

If you remember the 7 Month mishap, look carefully and you'll notice my handiwork at changing the "seven" to "eight". 

Sick Snuggle Bug

Wade is sick.  Not sure exactly what kind of sick but he is definitely under the weather.  Tuesday he woke up from his nap with an "elevated temperature" (99.3).  He fell asleep on the way to Boyd Buchanan where I tutor.  The babysitter kept him semi-happy the first hour but he had a total meltdown the second hour and I ended up holding him while tutoring for the last 30 minutes.  He's been happy to sleep and unhappy to be awake since then.  I don't think it's teething cause usually he does not sleep well when teething nor is he interested in snuggling.  Last night he woke up every 2 hrs. and would nurse and then just want to be held for a few minutes.  He woke up at 8am, had breakfast and went down for a nap at 9am.  He was playing on the floor after breakfast and I looked down to find him resting his head on the hardwood floor -  poor guy!  I got out my camera but of course he didn't do it again.  But as long as I had the camera out I thought I'd share with you a few pics of the fall foliage around our house.  Please excuse all the power lines. 

My plan is to get some pics of Wade in the leaves this weekend-we'll see how Mr. Sicky is feeling. 

Quack, Quack, Quack

Seriously, can he get any cuter?

This is the best we could do of getting all the kiddos to sit still and look at the camera.

Sorry it's a little blurry, but it captures well how the wagon riding went.

Coaching Wade on what kind of candy mommy and daddy like best.

This is what Wade looked like most of the night...no eyes!

 

Even Baby Callie trick or treated for a few minutes.

For the record, this is not my husband but his twin brother David.

 

Cousins in their Halloween Jammies

Kisses!

There's only room for one of us in this chair.

 

Sydney, get out of the chair.

That's right, I'm the boss.

I don't know why we keep trying to get pics of all 3 kids looking at the camera.

To browse the full all 180 or so pics from the evening check out http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn304/scharffstory/Halloween%2008/.