Reusable Lunch Box Items

I love seeing all the nifty children's items in the parenting and kids magazines. Right now I've been on a quest for reusable items for my son's lunch and snack boxes. Not only to be earth-friendly, but pocketbook friendly too. Those darn plastic storage bags get SO expensive to just throw away and they really aren't an item you can wash and reuse (despite what some of our moms used to do or think... you can't get them thoroughly clean). So here are some items I've seen/found:

Light My Fire Spork Little

These are BPA free plastic utensils with safety in mind for your little ones. I'm sure there are TONS of options now on the market. This is nice because you don't need separate forks and spoons.Picnic Pouches

If you can sew you can probably make these yourself.

They're like the plastic sandwich bags you fold closed, just out of fabric.

People Towels

Cloth napkins for kids... again if you can sew you could probably make your own. This site has some really cute patterns.

Of coarse there's my all time favorite Thermos... you can find all kinds of stainless steel lunch containers. FYI, just make sure your kids know you can't put them in the microwave. My son managed to ruin a couple of the BPA free plastic ones (I didn't know either that the plastic ones couldn't go in there), but now it gives me an excuse to get the stainless ones (which are my preference).

Dallas Arboretum

Sunday we went to the Arboretum with our friends to take pictures. It was a little warmer than I would have liked (blame it on my post partum hormones) and the wind was kind of crazy. Despite the weather we still had a good time and got some great pictures. The kids were sure tired by the time we got home.

Tummy Time With Andrew

Since bringing Andrew home he's managed to get himself on a schedule. Aside from feeling complete blessed that he gets up only once a night to eat, after his morning feeding he likes to stay up for 2 hours before he eats again and goes down for a nap. We started tummy time several days ago and he'll last about 10 minutes. This was from today. Amazing how quickly a baby develops the strength in their muscles!!

FYI - at his 2 week check up he was 8lbs 13oz and 21" long... he's growing like a weed.

2 Weeks Old

It feels like I just left the hospital, but today Andrew is 2 weeks old...

His umbilical cord fell off at some point during the night, his circ is healed {Thank God, it was making him miserable when he'd pee... one of the few times you'd actually here him cry}, and today was his first day of tummy time.

He's changed SO much in 2 weeks! It really does go by fast :(

Shutterfly Albums Added

I've added Shutterfly Albums in the side bar for Sean and Andrew. It's probably the best way I've found to share photos without having to deal with rewriting HTML's when I add or change the albums. Since I started one for Andrew I went back and started one for Sean. Maybe with time I'll add some previous pictures of Sean. Probably as Andrew hits certain milestones I'll upload pictures of when Sean hit them for a trip down memory lane :)

Dinosaur (or Dragon) Tails

My BFF sent me this link she saw to some cute Dinosaur (or Dragon) tails for boys dress up. I know when Sean was smaller he was a dragon two Halloweens in a row. Andrew already has a dragon costume for his first Halloween. I imagine I'll be make a couple of these for the boys :)

You can find Jessica's How-To Instructions at Tatertots & Jello or Running With Scissors

Absolutely Adorable

I LOVE this picture of Andrew. We had his pictures taken at Picture People in Buy Buy Baby today. We had Sean's done when he was 8 days old and Michael wanted to do the same with Andrew. It's hard to get infant pictures with their eyes open and we got REALLY lucky for this shot.

Adjusting To A Baby In The House

I may be jinxing myself blogging about this, but I'm going to enjoying while I can {and certainly share that joy}. Andrew is such a GOOD baby. When you have a newborn and decide to nurse you're told to nurse them every 2-3 hours. A couple of times while we were in the hospital due to pediatrician rounds and such, Andrew had gone 6 hours between feedings {needless to say, not very comfortable for mommy}. Day/Night 1 at home I continued the 2-3 hour feedings, however, when I got a little preoccupied prior to one of the feedings noticed Andrew happily went 4 hours between feedings. Day/Night 2 & 3... I decided to wake Andrew up every 2-3 hours to feed during the day and left him alone for the night to see what he would do... viola!!! I've only gotten up once both nights. His first feeding of the morning he eats REALLY well because of the long stretch then he stays up and alert for about 30 minutes {very quietly I might add} and settles into his every 2-3 hour routine.

Brotherly Love

To say Sean loves his brother would be an understatement. Sean is SO in love with his baby brother I can't even express it in words. It is the sweetest thing to Sean cuddle his baby brother and be so protective. This morning Sean didn't want to get out of bed, instead he asked me if I could turn on some cartoons and if he could hold his brother. Since spring break started for Sean today, he is leisurely laying in bed right now with his daddy, while he cuddles his baby brother.

Whole Lot Of Cooking Go On...

It's been a day of grocery shopping with my mom and my brother, Chris. Went to Hong Kong Market, Central Market and Target to load up on groceries. Let the cooking frenzy begin!! (Even Sean is in on the action)

Andrew Adjusting To Home

I don't know if it's the fact we're 7 years older or this is baby number two or maybe Andrew's just a REALLY good baby. Whatever the reason this time around seems to be alot easier. I know we're only a few days into it, but he's been just an absolute dream. Sean absolutely adores his baby brother (just like his daddy, who you will have to practically fight to be able to hold Andrew). I'm still soaking in the fact I now how two adorable boys.

Sean's Green Belt Black Stripe Ceremony

Sean's Belt Ceremony was last night and he officially received his next belt rank - Green Belt Black Stripe. Now Sean will be working towards his Blue Belt. Just four more belts to earn/achieve before his Black Belt.

We are SO proud of Sean!!!

Mr. Aaron & Sean

Sean's Green Belt Black Stripe Test

Sean tested for his green belt black stripe Saturday. Since I was in the hospital with our newest family member, Andrew, this is the first test I didn't get to see. Michael took plenty of pictures, but this one was most impressive to me. He has gotten so good at his kicks over the last 2 years. I can't wait to see how he continues to improve as he approaches his black belt.

Andrew's Coming Today

Glad I prepared last night... woke up a few times and had contractions, but I was able to go back to sleep. Woke up this morning around 5am contracting. In my usual OCD fashion of wanting to be prepared I figured I'd go ahead and take a shower (just in case) and go about my morning. Finished up Sean's laundry so Michael would have all of Sean's uniforms for school and Tae Kwon Do set out. Made Sean's lunch for school and finished packing my bag.

Once everyone left for school and work decided to buy Burlesque on pay per view and start timing my contractions (found a cool app on my Android phone to do it)... every 6-8 minutes for 2 hours!!! Finally decided to call the doctor's office. Fortunately the on call doctor saw no reason to keep me pregnant for a couple more days and now I'm waiting for Michael to come get me so we can see Andrew today :)

Counting Down to Andrew...

Three more days... I can't believe he is almost here. Had my last OB appointment today and I must be contracting and not feeling it because I'm dialated to 1cm. Nothing to write home about... however, it's making me wonder if all the pressure I think is Andrew pressing out against me are really contractions. Tonight before dinner I was having some of those that were a bit more uncomfortable, but they were only 7-10 minutes apart for about an hour and went away. Of coarse I have NO idea if I'm really contracting since I've been dealing with round ligament and sciatic pain for the last 3-4 months.

In either case he's coming Monday... worse case I go into labor or my water breaks and he shows up sooner. Washing my laundry tonight, just in case ;)