Girls Traveling

SAWYER | TWO MONTHS

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

my muffin! isn't she the most beautiful?! oh wait...

anyway, she's two months old. i've absolutely fallen in love with this squishy newborn phase...a lot more so than when kaye was a newborn. with kaye the learning curve was so steep. i had no clue what i was doing. i was constantly questioning myself and i was a nervous wreck wondering what i was doing wrong all. the. time. they say the first kid is practice anyway, right?

regardless, the fact that my sawyer is exiting the newborn phase and entering the infant stage is totally bittersweet. i've loved loved her as a newborn. she's beyond perfection. however, i find myself thinking about our near future and how fun it will be when sawyer is kaye's age and kaye is four. no more diapers. we'll be able to skip naps every now and again (gasp!). breastfeeding will be but a distant memory. shoot...i may even have my ladies fixed up at that point.

but before i fantasize about a boob job too much, here is my sawyer-muff at two months.

SAWYER | 2 MONTH

nicknames | sawyer-muffin, bitty, bittles, sister...but it's the very best when kaye called her bitty.

weight | our muffin will have her two month well-baby visit next week (shots...sob!), so we'll officially know her height and weight at that time, but for now we think you're about 12.5 pounds.

you blew through all your sweet newborn clothing and are quickly skipping by your 0-3 month outfits. girlfriend...i have got to stop buying you clothes...especially since we already have all of your sister's old goodies.

sleep | sister...you are owning it in the sleep department. the past few nights you have been waking sometime between 3 - 5 am for a little nursing session, then you're back to bed until 7 am. no complaints here. i'm feeling much better rested.

eats | if there was a word stronger than opposite that's what i would use to describe your eating habits compared to your big sister. food? it really seems like you could care less.

kaye? that girl had to eat every two hours or we were in for an epic scream-session. i literally couldn't keep up.

but, you don't seem to be lacking considering your growth and that nice little gut you've put on. oh...and can we talk about your chubby cheeks? i could nibble them all day, err day.

loves | oh my little sweetness...you are sugar through and through. you LOVE smiling and chatting. again...this is not what your sister was like. i had to bring in a marching band with clowns to get that girl to smile...but you? you smile all day long. we have deep conversations marked with laughter and cooing. you're basically the happiest baby there ever was. i'd like to think i have something to do with this...but i think you just love being...if that makes sense.

dislikes | oh girl. you hate showers, which is something we didn't expect because your sister loooooved and still loves showers. so we aren't even prepared with a baby bath. i guess it's something we could go buy, but, we'll just keep showering you until you love it.

other dislikes? nothing really. you don't even mind when your sister is far too rough with her pat-pats and kisses...or your farmer's pokey beard.

new oh hey, friday! button for the new year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

i was going to do a christmas recap today, but i'm not done milking the vacation from blogging bit.

however...i do have two orders of bizz -

1 | today is your very last day to get your tweet and comments in for the New York Life's Keep Good Going Campaign. you can read all the details here!

i'm partnering with New York Life's Keep Good Going campaign in hopes that you will share a photo promoting the good things in life. are you baking something delicious for your family for the holidays? are you going to go look at christmas lights? did you have a family photo session for your christmas card? share the good in life!

we can also participate in the New York Life Keep Good Going campaign by tweeting a holiday tradition or memory. just use the hastags #KeepGoodGoing and #FeedingAMillion. each tweet with the above two hashtags will trigger a donation of 25 meals from New York Life to Feeding America! this is amazing people! spread the word!

through 1.09.2015, New York Life will donate $2.50 for each approved post, with a minimum of $25K and a maximum of $100K. see terms for details. find info about Feeding America at feedingamerica.org.

we also have the amazing chance to win not only a $50 VISA gift card, but also a $50 donation on behalf of BlogHer in the winner's name to Feeding America!

2 | call me crazy, but i'm all about changing up the oh hey, friday! button to keep with the seasons and celebrations.

obviously new year's needed something extra snazz-tastic, right? right. nothing like going big with gold and polkadots!

so don't forget to grab your new snazzy button and link up this friday for the first oh hey, friday! of the new year!

resolutions for 2015

Monday, December 29, 2014

i did it.

i actually thought of some resolutions this year that are important enough to me that i might actually follow through.

i'm all about the goal-setting, but my follow through is far less than acceptable.

here we go...

1 | kaye + television time

i have shame with this one. a few months ago kaye started to get really into cartoons...particularly disney movies. she loves them and will sit with a smile on her face. she'll laugh at appropriate times. cover her mouth at scary scenes and say, "oh no!" it's adorable. but...it's time to cut the tv time waaaay back. i think no more than two 15 minute shows a day is what we'll shoot for. this is going to be hard because it's so cute when she says, "mickeysouse!" (mickey mouse.)

2 | meal planning

it's no secret...being in the kitchen isn't my favorite. i'd way rather go for a three mile run than spend 30 minutes preparing a meal. i also used to be a pretty terrible cook...but i've shaped up in the past few years. it's time to start putting together a meal plan each week, do a big shopping trip so i have all ingredients on hand, and make dinner for my sweet family at least four times a week. that's the goal.

3 | budget

this is going to shock the hell out of my farmer...but girlfriend (me) has got to get a budget together. i don't know what that budget will look like, but i'm going to make a concerted effort to be more mindful of my spending.

4 | one cheat day a week

i have some big goals in the "in shape" department. my farmer and i are headed to a wedding in scottsdale, arizona in late february and the hotel we chose has a killer pool. and guess what...this mama doesn't want to rock a one piece...mostly because i can't find any i like. i'd also like to feel comfortable in front of the camera instead of awkwardly holding my breath as i suck in my gut.

so...now that the holidays are over and the treats are mostly eaten, it's time to throw the remainder in the trash and stop buying ice cream. i'll allow myself one cheat day a week...but above and beyond that i really need to start eating more nutritiously. this also means reintroducing veggies into the rotation...ugh.

those are my goals and resolutions! what have you all come up with? what are your strategies to stay on track? i'm going to need to steal your ideas to keep in my bag of tricks.

merry christmas from september farm

Monday, December 22, 2014

eeeee! christmas is right around the corner and i couldn't be more excited...for a few reasons.

1 | my sister and her fella are driving in from california! this is big because last year they stayed with his family...and since that was the first year i've ever had to share kelli...well, i didn't like it. but they'll be here this year and...yay!

2 | our little ski hills here in idaho are finally getting snow! we just might have a white christmas after all!

3 | this rocks because the turtle may find a few ski accessories in her stocking this year. let's just say girlfriend is going to look good on the hill...even though she should probably get a few lumps of coal after the stunt she pulled during family pictures.

4 | speaking of family pictures...i can share ours with you all because i finally mailed ours late last week!

C H R I S T M A S C A R D 2 0 1 4

this is real people. kaye screaming. me holding a newborn looking like i want to tear my ear off. my farmer smiling through it all. #hotmess

you can't get more genuine than this!

but no worries. the amazing stephanie mballo (who also took my maternity pictures) snapped some absolutely beautiful pictures to be included on the christmas card as well.

so...merry christmas from the farm! drink lots of champagne and eat lots of yummy food! i'll be back in 2015!

oh hey, friday! | it's christmas! (practically)

Friday, December 19, 2014

happy friday and happy weekend before christmas!

question - do you have your shopping complete?

in a minor panic attack yesterday i threw both girls at my farmer and said, "take them! i haven't purchased any presents for anyone!"

and just like that...that's how i completed my christmas shopping in five hours.

now...oh hey, friday!

please note! we won't be posting for oh hey, friday! next week because i'll swimming in a pile of wrapping paper. but we'll see you all on january 2nd for the first oh hey, friday! of 2015!!

maybe we should all post a picture of our new year shenanigans? just a though.

moving on...

grab the new christmas oh hey, friday! button.

write up a little post about five things. anythings.

head back over here and enter your link at the bottom of this post.

and pretty please don't forget to link back to our blogs and/or add the oh hey, friday! button (found just above) by copying the HTML into the HTML section of your post so that others can link up as well! that's it. now get busy.

MY FIVE - a holiday house tour...kind of

1 | decorating for christmas has been especially fun this year. kaye is super into it and sometime around thanksgiving picked up who/what santa is. i don't know where she learned this...i hadn't introduced her yet...unless you count last year?

now any time she's sitting on the kitchen island helping me...she picks up the head of the santa cookie jar and yells, "santa!" impressively, this ceramic santa has only been chipped once.

2 | kaye and i made this little art project last christmas and they are just as cute this year. keeping with tradition, we'll do sawyer's feet next year when she's old enough to complete her own abstract canvas...such as kaye demonstrated below.

3 | this year i put together a little holiday bar...and i can't say it's helped me save on calories. how do you turn down a spiced apple cider or bailey's in your coffee when it's right there!?

4 | this year i inherited an advent calendar that my sisters and i have had since we were little little girls. the poor ornaments that velcro to the tree have been glued, glued, and re-glued...but i loved it then and i love it now, and i just know kaye and sawyer will look forward to putting an ornament on the tree each morning the month of december. kaye's in for a rude awakening when she has to share the duty next year.

5 | our tree! our lovely lovely tree. yes it's fake, but i'm so glad it is. we're not worried about burning down our house. there are no needles i'm obsessively vacuuming up hourly. we don't have to water it. i can leave it up for as long as i want! yay for fakesies.

and i really love our tree topper.

and that's it! have a wonderful wonderful weekend!

now send me some christmas cookies and get linked up...

cakepop 101 | a tutorial to cakepop success

Thursday, December 18, 2014

cakepops. i love them and i love to hate them. once you pop, the fun don't stop. am i right? or am i right? i'm right.

you know who else loves cakepops? this girl...

does she deserve christmas cakepops? not with this scowl. does she get cakepops? of course. how could i say "no" to that scowl?

back in october when i was getting my brag on about the cakepops i made for kaye's 2nd birthday i received quite a few requests to post a little tutorial. well, the time came for me to make some christmas-themed pops and now i have step by step instruction to cakepop delight!

CAKEPOP TUTORIAL

supply list

1 box cake
1 can frosting
2 packages lollipop sticks (found in the cake decorating section at walmart)
1 - 2 package(s) candy melts. (also found in the cake decorating section at walmart)
sprinkles!
craft foam wrapped in tin foil for placing the cakepops in to dry (found in the craft section at walmart)

step 1

this is the easiest part. bake any flavor of box cake you like, cool it, cut it into equal parts, then crumble it into the tiniest of tiny granules. the tinier the better.

step 2
then take any flavor of canned frosting (it doesn't have to be the whipped version) and add 1/2 the can. do not add more than half the can or your mix will be too heavy to be supported by the stick causing it to fall right off during the dipping process.

so as i was saying, add half the can of frosting to your crumbled cake and mix thoroughly.

step 3
take a large tablespoon of the cake/frosting mixture and roll it into a nice ball. i've found that by squishing it a little to start, then forming the ball makes the cake bind really well. once all your balls are formed, place them in your freezer to firm up.

step 4
it's time to melt your candy melts. this is super easy. just take a small saucepan and fill it about 1/3 full with water and bring it to a boil. once it's boiling, you'll remove the saucepan from the heat.

next take a glass bowl full of your candy melts and place it on the saucepan, over the water. (obviously, your glass bowl should be large enough that it doesn't fall into the saucepan.) make sure the bottom of the bowl isn't actually touching the water or you risk scalding the candy melts.

step 5

gather your sticks and your firm balls (that's what she said) from the freezer.

dip the tip of the stick in your candy melts and push the stick about halfway down into the cake ball.

once all the balls have sticks, place them back in the freezer.

step 6

at this point i remove about six at a time from the freezer to start the dipping.

dip the entire cake ball into the melt and tap all the excess candy melt back into the dish...quickly. you don't want the melt to firm up before you have a chance to put the sprinkles on!

place the dipped cake pop over the bowl of sprinkles and sprinkle sprinkle.

step 7

place your completed cakepop in the craft foam to dry!

then gawk at your perfect baby in the background.

how did i get so lucky that my two best gals napped at the same time?

and just like that you have between 50 - 60 adorable cakepops to share with your nearest and dearest...pending you didn't eat any in the creation process.

ps. i TOTALLY didn't eat one single one! i'm so proud of myself. this NEVER happens.

final step
take pretty pictures of your cakepops all around your house. because that's what some of us stay at home moms do when our kids are sleeping. take random pictures that make us look a little crazy.

i think i like the way they look in front of the chalkboard the best.

and here's a closer look at what my setup looks like...

happy cakepop making!

birth story | sawyer made us a family of four

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

seven and a half weeks ago sawyer-muffin made us a family of four.

i told myself at the time we were done-zo after sawyer. two kids and two adults. that's a nice ratio.

but day after day sawyer proves to be more and more perfect. a perfect baby. a patient little sister. an excellent running partner. a notable cuddler. she's just...the best.

if i were guaranteed five more perfect babies like sawyer...well, i'd have like, two more babies. definitely not five.

our muffy-muff arrived on october 24th. 10.24.14 - all even numbers if you care about that kind of stuff.

it started with me waking at 4 am to get showered, blow dried, and appropriately make-up'd before our family of three drove the hour to the big city for the scheduled induction.

when we pulled into the hospital parking lot, kaye's nana was there to pick her up for the day and night. when we said goodbye to kaye i couldn't help but wonder if she had any idea what was about to happen to our world.

my farmer and i made our way into the hospital where we got checked in and whisked away by the very best labor and delivery nurse there ever was. cathie - my bridesmaid, the nurse who helped deliver kaye, and now the nurse who would help deliver sawyer.

it really doesn't get better than that.

i decided a scheduled induction was the way to go for sawyer, because after going nearly two weeks overdue with kaye, with still no sign of any action, resulting in a scheduled induction with her...well, it just looked like the same situation all over again. my body was not responding to anything, i wasn't dilated, and i was 100% positive i didn't want to go past my due date. some may call me a quitter...i call me a winner with a plan.

once we settled into our room our doctor came in and gave me progesterone (in my whoo-ha) to get the party started. i was told i would start to feel cramping after a little bit and contractions after about an hour. we chatted for a bit more about ????

i have no clue what we chatted about because within two minutes of receiving the progesterone i was definitely feeling contractions. all i could think was how i wanted the doctor to leave so i could take off my brave face and start complaining about how badly my back and abdomen hurt.

our doctor left and i immediately confessed to cathie that we needed to order up that fancy epidural...stat. on the double. right now.

within thirty minutes i was sitting on the side of the bed, curled around a pillow, cathie holding me stable through contractions as the anesthesiologist prepped my back for the goods. no shame in my game...i began feeling relief within minutes.

several hours passed and everyone gave their predictions as to when they thought sawyer would arrive. the general consensus amongst cathie, our doctor, and my farmer was between 3:30 and 4 pm. call it mother's intuition, but i just knew sawyer had other plans - quicker plans.

an hour or so passed - my water was broken, i watched some netflix, and all of a sudden i could feel some contractions. i was like, pump the brakes! i didn't pay for an epidural to feel contractions. my new best friend came back in and injected my line with what i now refer to as the hippo tranquilizer. all of a sudden my legs were gone. as in, i may as well not have had a lower body. i could feel 100% nothing. i can't say it wasn't a little freaky, but i can say it was better than feeling those contractions. the only bad part was i had no ability to move myself. i had to be flipped several times so the medication was distributed evenly between the left and right sides of my body...so my farmer and cathie physically had to pick me up and flip me. it really isn't fun to feel that helpless.

less than an hour passed - i watched some more netflix and all of a sudden cathie was back in our room explaining that she needed to see how dilated i was. i thought this was confusing because she had just told us that after my water was broken they wouldn't check me for awhile because of the risk of bacteria. so i asked cathie why she was checking me already so soon? low and behold, sawyer's head was right there.

i'll never forget cathie telling me she was going to go out of friend mode and into business mode and then she asked me if i was ready to have a baby. i laughed. this was hysterical because sawyer wasn't supposed to arrive for at least two more hours.

cathie was buzzing about the room getting everything ready, when our doctor came in, sat down, and asked for gloves. apparently sawyer was well on her way out. i gave a push and our doctor told me to stop. someone said something that i thought was funny, so i laughed again. (epidurals are awesome.) our doctor told me i should stop laughing or sawyer was going to make her debut. again, i found this funny, laughed some more, and just like that sawyer arrived.

cover your eyes if you don't want to hear this, but sawyer was either really small, or i have a huge vagina, or i dilated to 27. maybe it was a combo of the three. but seriously, who laughs a baby out?

and the rest is history. we are a family of four.

SAWYER BELL SCHIERMEIER

october 24, 2014

12:58 pm

6lbs 3oz - 20 inches

my farmer cut the umbilical cord. i held sawyer to my chest. and the feeling in my legs finally returned 45 minutes later.

we had sawyer so early she was given a bath, a bow, and we were positive we would be headed home the next day to introduce her to her big sister. (kaye couldn't come to the hospital because she was just getting over a cold.)

unfortunately, sawyer decided that she didn't want to show the hospital staff that she could go #1, which is mandatory before we could be discharged. i was so frustrated because all i wanted to do was to hold my newborn in one arm and cuddle my first born in the other.

sawyer eventually did her business by the second day and we were out of the hospital by 10 am. kaye was finally able to meet her little sister, and the introduction was the sweetest. every day kaye proves that she can be a great big sister...even with all her wild animal ways.

again, i can't believe how wonderful our sawyer-muff is. she makes our family that much more complete and brings smiles to our faces daily. she's beyond perfection.

a packed weekend | parties, champagne...and bowling

Monday, December 15, 2014

this weekend was one of those weekends i didn't want to end. as in...now it's monday morning and i'm sad about it because my farmer is headed back to the grind and i'm...well, i have no excuse to put bailey's in my coffee.

it all started on thursday when my farmer and i got all dressed up to attend a christmas party at a nice, little restaurant downtown. said party always takes place in the restaurants wine cellar, which means its always really chilly. this also means i left my down jacket and scarf on the entire evening, covering up my little black dress and the spanx i squeezed my booty into. but that's okay, because i got to sip champagne all night, eat the very, most delicious food, and chat with wonderful people. yay for the holidays! (ps. i'll do a full party recap soon-ish. but just know i didn't fall asleep at the dinner table this year.)

kaye had a fun weekend, herself. she attended a little birthday party and played so hard she got sweaty. (i guess girlfriend takes after her mom.)

not only did kaye get to attend a birthday party, but the next day we loaded up the family and took her bowling for the very first time with some good friends. we weren't sure how kaye was going to do because she decided to skip her normal three hour nap, but she was the best turtle-muffin we could have asked for. she threw zero fits, did lots of cuddling, got excited when she threw a strike, and only starting bullying the other kids around 7 pm...when she was past the point of exhaustion. please note how poorly we kept an eye on her. she's standing in someone else's lane...in the gutter.

in other news...i bowled a 151 in nine frames. the game shut down when we hit the hour mark. i would have loved to see how that 10th frame shook out.

and those good friends i mentioned...they have a baby girl named harper who is just four weeks older than sawyer. in a magical moment both of the gals were sleeping in their dad's arms. it'll be so fun to show them this picture years from now.

christmas parties, birthday parties, beer, and bowling. weekend...come back to me.