Alli's Back To School Must Have's!

I can't believe that I'm even writing this blog. My first born little princess is officially starting Kindergarten in 21 days. I am completely devastated.  I am so not ready for her to have to go to school every day. However, I am ready for the funny stories that I will hear from her teacher! She was a funny girl in pre-school. Let's see how kindergarten goes!

 Alli has her own sense of style. I would call her a "princess punk rocker".  She loves to dress up, have hair done and her nails done.  She knows what she likes and she will refuse to wear something that she doesn't feel is "cool" enough.  I stopped shopping without her because she will go on strike with things that she hates. She actually told me the other day that she doesn't want me to take her shopping. She would have my friend, Allison, take her.  Allison is much cooler than me according to Alli.  I have a feeling Allison will be Alli's "go-to" person for dating, hair and friend advice when I am not cool enough!
So here are Alli's "must-haves":

1. Faux Leather Moto Jacket- Alli loves to layer her clothes.  She has been picking super edgy jackets and cute flowy shirts to go under. I love that she likes to mix it up!

2. Leopard Asymmetrical Ruffle Tank -  What can I say? The girl loves leopard! Most of her clothes look like she is about to go on a Safari and I'm okay with that!

3. Girls Capri Leggings - Leggings are a staple in Allis closet.  We have leggings in every color.  I like Old Navys because they don't fade as fast as say Target or Walmart.

4. Circo Harmony Sneaker Wedges - Alli refuses to wear any shoe without a heel.  I was the same way (until I had kids).  She may only be 5 but the girls loves a good heel! She saw these in the store and freaked out. I had to get them! Bonus: they were on sale when we got them!

5. Hello Kitty Signature Satin Headband - An outfit for Alli isn't complete without something Hello Kitty.  We saw this headband in Claires and both ran for it! It is super cute and matches the sneaker wedges!

6. LeapPad 2 - This thing is AMAZING!! She talks NONSTOP. But when she is using this, it is silent! It works wonders.  We bring this on the plane with us, in the car, when I'm shopping for myself which rarely ever happens and anytime she wants to learn something and I've ran out of ideas!  They have so many games you can put on it and they don't cost a lot! I recommend this to ANYONE who has a child who doesn't seem to stop talking!

7. Hello Kitty Backpack - No school preparation would be complete without a Hello Kitty backpack! At least in my house. She had a Hello Kitty backpack last year and insisted in another one this year. This one is literally the same as last year but with more glitter. (Ugh glitter)

8. Itzy Ritzy Lunch Happened Bento Lunch Box - First and foremost, this lunchbox is adorable! When you open it, it actually have different compartments and levels. It is an actual bento box! If something spills out, you won't have to worry about it getting onto the other food! Love love love this!!

Alexander The Greats Favorite 12 Month Things!

Now that Alexander is really getting into playing and transitioning to toddler things, we have a bunch of new favorite things! I put together some of the things that help us out at home and an outfit that we can't wait to wear when fall gets here!

1. Gerber Organic in Apples, blueberry and spinach. - Alexander loves these! It was super messy at first but now he has the hang of it.  This is the best thing for when we are traveling or out shopping.  I only use this for snack time now!

2. Burts Bee's Baby Bee Nourishing Lotion - This smells amazing, it is organic and keeps Alexander nice and soft! Alexander gets a massage after bath time and before bed still.  This really calms him down!

3. Born Free Sippy Cup - I would only use Born Free bottles.  I fell in love. They never leaked on me and were super easy to clean! So it was natural for me to use this sippy cup.  Alexander has taken to them very fast! So long bottle!

4. Carter's Hi-Top Sneakers - Alexander is now a stumbler "walker" so he needs shoes! These shoes are easy to put on and look super cute in just shorts and a t-shirt or dressed up with jeans and a buttoned up shirt!

5. Baby Banana Training Toothbrush - First of all, how cute is it!?  Now that Alexander has a mouth full of teeth, we need to keep them pearly white! This does the trick!

6. VTech Sit to Race Smart Wheels - This is a fun way to get around the house!! This is also something that Alexander can use for awhile!

7. Carters Boy Outfit - I love to dress Alexander like a little man. I'm not a huge fan of baby clothes so I try to get as many outfits as I can that look like something Kiko would wear!  I love Carters and The Childrens Place. That is where I do most of my shopping for A.J.!

8. I love you, Stinky Face - How adorable is the title? We love a good story and now that Alexander is finally old enough to start to sit and listen ,we enjoy story time!



I will be posting Alli's "Back to School Must Have's" in the next post! Stay tuned!

12 month check up! :)

So our little boy has come a long way from his 7lbs 5oz and 21inches long!
He is now 21lbs and almost 32 inches long! He is a big boy that loveess to eat! We haven't found a food yet that he won't eat.  I get questions a lot about what do I feed this child? I must be feeding him bricks, right?

(Our little man got two shots also yesterday.  Big sister was more emotional then he was!)

Well, no. Not bricks.  I actually make all of his food.  I think baby food is okay but I would rather make his food of my own.  I'm a meal planner anyway.  I take one day a week (normally Sunday or Monday) and make or prep breakfast, lunch and dinner for all of us for the week. It helps my busy week so much! It also helps with keeping my kitchen clean! I only have one big mess to clean up and whatever plates we use during the week. So this is what a days worth of food looks like for Alexander:

Breakfast is normally cheerios with cut up bananas or pancakes with strawberries or blue berries. He loves fruit! He loves feeding himself and the floor even more!  We don't use syrup (anymore). It was more of a hair product then a condiment!

Zanderbutt always gets a snack between breakfast and lunch.  This week it is rice cakes and peanut butter.  We just introduced peanut butter and he is doing very well with it. This also has the potential of becoming a hair product!  Snacks may also include some kind of fruit and crackers or veggies and crackers.

Lunch time is now mini grilled cheeses or what Alli likes to call "cheese tacos". Its just cheese rolled up in a tortilla with veggies.  This weeks veggie on the menu is zucchini.   Other lunches he likes are peanut butter and banana sandwiches,  pasta and veggies, or chicken and rice.  I do not give him store bought meals lunches.

Ahhh the p.m. snack! This time of the day is always hit or miss.  He isn't a huge fan of snacking in the afternoon.  If he does want to snack in the afternoon then I keep it light.  It normally is just cheez its or those little puff things.  Sometimes I can even get him to eat a gogurt, some black beans or green beans.

Dinner time is our favorite meal! We always get to sit down and eat together so we love dinner time!  Last night, the baby devoured ate turkey, string cheese and peaches.  Normally I don't feed him a different meal then we eat but last night was ribs since it was my "cheat day" and I wasn't ready to feed him that. Tonight he will be eating garlic chicken with sweet potatoes, celery, squash and onions.

 I make it a point to have him eat what we eat for dinner.  We did this with Alli and she is not picky. I don't give my children an option. I am not a short order cook and I refuse to make different meals. I also refuse feed my kids fast food, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and french fries every day.  I want the kids to love food in a healthy way!

Over the weekend, we went over to our friends Sean and Allison's house for a bbq to celebrate Seans birthday. Back story: Sean and Kiko have been friends since basically birth and Kiko hops at every chance to spend time bromance Sean! Back to Alexander! So I was getting the kids ready and the baby actually let me put sunglasses on him for long enough to snap a picture! Caution: photo include Alexanders cute little moobs!

He also let me do his hair. Super cute! He sat so patiently while I blow dried it (on the cool setting of course) and even let me put some hair spray in it.  His hair is a lot of fun!  Unfortunately the sunglasses didn't last very long. Alli and I got into a fight about what she was going to wear.  She saw that Selena Gomez was wearing combat boots on a T.V. show so of course she wanted to wear the combat boots that she has. Combat boots would be totally acceptable in Ohio at this time in the summer but we live in Florida....where its 100 degrees.... and humid....and we were going to a pool party!  So in the end she won but look how cute she looked:

I'll leave you all with a little story from Alli and Alexander.

While I was working on my food prepping for the week, Alli thought it would be fun to teach Alexander how things feels when you touch them.  I humored her. So she went to get her "teacher" glasses" and supplies for her class.

She grabbed toilet paper, a spongy candle, and a could of hard toys.  By the time she got back, the baby was in one of those "just please put me to bed" moods. I let her know that her brother was tired but that wasn't stopping her!  She started to put the smushy candle on the tray of the babys high chair and what happens? He puts it right to the mouth and doesn't pay attention to Alli!  So she freaks out and says "Mom, I can't deal with this kid." Then I get this face......

Dramatic much?

Yep! That was my weekend! How was everyone else?!

Alexander the Great....is ONE!

Our little Alexander is one! I'm not exactly where the time went.  This year flew by.  He is already feeding himself, walking, talking and terrorizing his sister!  This has been such an amazing year for our little family.  Alexander continues to follow his road of a healthy life! We have not had any health problems since he was let go from the hospital.  It is a miracle that he has continued to thrive.  He is the happiest little kid around (as long as he isn't hungry).  He spends his time laughing, smiling and being cute.  He completes our family!

The morning of his birthday, we flew to Ohio. That is where Alli was for the last 3 weeks so we have been traveling up to Ohio every weekend. I cried twice on his birthday.  I really wasn't ready for Alexander to enter into the "toddler" world.  I was fine until I got an email saying "Happy Birthday to your Toddler!".  I immediately started crying and of course Kiko looked at me like I was a nut case! 

Puffy eyes? Check! Puffy lips? Check! Yep! Thats me after crying the first time!

So we got to the airport and did our normal "airplane routine" to get him ready for the plane. I will write a blog about how I travel with my kids.  I always get questions about how I travel with two kids and not turn into an alcoholic.  Believe me, I've had some TERRIBLE flights with Alli. I like to call her my "practice baby". So by the time Alexander came, we were pros at traveling! 

Waiting for our flight!

We were going to have a big party in Ohio like we normally do but it is Jamboree in the Hills time and I know all of my friend and family like to be there! So we decided against a big party and opted for a small tiny party.  We plan on having a huge "End of summer/ First birthday bash" in August to celebrate the baby here in Florida.

I knew I wanted to have a baseball theme birthday party for the baby since I found out I was having a boy! My mom loves a theme and so do I! So baseball it was! Alli even helped make some of the baseball cupcakes! She did a great job. 

I wish we could have stayed in Ohio but life still happens here in Florida when Monday comes around.  On the way back to Florida, it was terrible weather and longgggg flights but the kids were excellent!  We weren't going to let bad weather ruin our awesome weekend!

I want to thank everyone who has been there for us throughout this last year.  It has been a seriously wild ride but here we are! Happy! Healthy! Adorable!

If you are in Central Florida and looking for a photographer,  we use Tracy Staggs Photography.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tracy-Staggs-Photography/267941709946332

Alexander the Great: A year of pictures!

I wanted to start back up this blog because Alexander is becoming a funny little man! He walks like a drunk, cusses, and likes to pretend he is an airplane.  I'm sure now that he is growing into his personality, I will have a lot to blog about!

But for now I want to reflect on this past year and post some of my favorite pictures over the last year.  It's still a little insane to me that he is a year old already.