PSF: Stamps

Hosted by Cecily and Emily

Sophie asked me if she could play with her new stamps the other day.

Why did I assume postage stamps?

And why did I think it would have been OK to waste postage stamps--since obviously I didn't ask or even think to go check?

OH WELL--the money saved in potentially ruining a book of stamps was much better spent on soap and water and the three showers it took before the stamps finally cleaned up off her skin.

PSF: Say Cheese!

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

He did! I can't wait to hear how it sounds, but it sure does look beautiful to me.

What do you think? Is he going to be a redhead? Or is that just my over-editing skills?

PSF: H.A.N.D.S.

Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

H.A.N.D.S.

They way I see them: Honoring And Nurturing my Darling Sam!

They way Sophie sees them: Helping A New Dear Sibling

They way Sam sees them: Hooray! Another Nummy DinDin! Scrumptious!

This is what I call "Hands On" parenting.

PSF: An Introduction

Hosted by Cecily and Angie

Finally, without further ado, here he is::::::: Samuel, Sam, Peanut, Sammy, Little Monkey (Sophie is little Mouse), Sammikins, or SweetPea--we haven't officially decided on the fun nickname. For now, he is my little man--and I just love to snuggle and cuddle with those cheeks!

WELCOME HOME BABY SAM!

PSF: The New Big Sister

Hosted by Cecily and Linds

I have been missing from the blog action for quite some time now. Before this little blog of mine changes in a big way, I thought I would jump back into PSF's with a little tribute to the one who started all of my blogging.

Therefore, in honor of my first favorite person in the world, before I officially introduce my other favorite person in the world, I thought I would tell a photo story with photos.

I have just a couple of comments of course--to help the story along.

Sophie about 10 days before her new job begins.

This was Sophie last night making sure we all still new who's the boss.

While waiting to meet Sam when he was still in the hospital, Sophie practiced with one of his new teddy bears. She LOVES her new title as big sister.

Instant best friends for life!

I have been absolutely blessed and amazed at the amount of love pouring out of this little girl. I admit I was nervous about her reaction to our new peanut, but Sophie has proven -once again- that she truly is the best little girl in the world--by being the best big sister in the world! So even though everything is turning to baby blue--Sophie is our shining star who will forever remind us that PINK is her signature color!

PSF: Spell Check--Mastercard style

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets from CostCo: $9.99

ABC Tator Tots: $4.29

Princess Crown Plate: $2.00

"MOMMY! You spelled ME!!!!!"

Making Sophie's night while her daddy was out of town: PRICELESS

PSF: Happiness is......

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Happiness is .....

Red-Eyed Tree Frogs! Especially when you can eat them and they have names like Cha-Cha!

We had taken Sophie to the Rainforest Cafe down in the big city (Chicago) a few weeks ago, and she was so excited to see the real-life version of these frogs wandering the restaurant while we lunched. His name is Cha-Cha and Sophie talked about him for days! THEN we saw this yummy Jello-O creation in the June issue of Your Big Backyard so of course she wouldn't stop bugging me until we made them.

**AHHHHH** So this is what normal feels like--it's been so long for me, I was starting to forget!

Sophie enjoyed it too! It was one happy day.

PSF: A Yummy Recipe

With the amount of lemons thrown at me this week, I could easily open a fruit stand right in my front yard.

Now, at the beginning of the week-I would have simply thrown those lemons at anyone who happened to walk by--and probably chucked handfuls if you dared not to even think to say HI!

However, once my terrific Tuesday was underway, my entire attitude was transformed and I figured out a way to make some whoohoo lemonade instead.

And it tastes fantastic!

This is my favorite recipe to share although to be honest I've experimented with tons of recipes this week-and I love them all. If you are interested in some more--feel free to email me!

Susie's Digital Whoohoo Lemonade

The cooking time varies in this recipe by the amount of creativity you have to add to the mix.

Ingredients:

One broken camera (lemons)

1/2 dozen old pictures waiting for editing (pitcher of fabulous ice water)

Premium package at Picnik (yummy sweet sugar)

A dash of your own creativity. (your very own special secret ingredient)

Instructions:

Once you have broken the camera, before you get to purchase a new one, you need to go back through your older pictures and find the millions that went unedited because time just moves to quickly.

Choose 6 of those unedited photos and upload them to your premium Picnik account. It's important that you have the upgraded version of Picnik so you can enjoy the FANCY COLLAGE version and scrapbook the pictures very easily for flavor.

Add a dash of your own creativity and viola! You now have some beautiful scrapbook pages! Picnik will easily store any unused photos for the next rainy day until you replace the broken camera!

For more recipes and some super photo stories please click below!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

PSF: No picture can describe....

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Since this is PhotoStory Friday I need a photo:



This photo was taken about a month ago when Sophie was painting her rock collection. Today's story has little to do with this photo except that it is one of the last three pictures I ever took with my handy-little-pocket-sized-go-with-me-everywhere Sony Cybershot.

I'm feeling a little lost. Sophie through a fit and knocked the camera out of my hands My camera broke and a replacement has not yet been purchased.

So far, I've been OK. It's been about a week and a half, and besides EASTER (argh) I've not missed being able to snap pictures. The weather has been icky and we've been stuck in the house.

This morning however, I got my first pang of Man I need a camera--NOW! You see because Sophie and I were coloring the other day and she loves to give me her finished pictures with a little flourish like TaDa! I immediately say, "This is gorgeous--I'm putting on the fridge for the world to see." and I do.

Well, this time I actually finished a picture so I promptly gave it to her. TaDa! She immediately said, "It's gorgeous Mommy, I'm putting it on my refrigerator."

Now her refrigerator is a Step II plastic one. Very cute, but magnets won't work. I didn't give it another thought- thinking she would just end up throwing it around the room somewhere--or--eventually come and beg me to give her the tape dispenser. Nothing ever happened.

Until this morning. I just happened to glance over at Sophie's fridge.

Here's what I saw...

TaDa!

((Insert picture of my picture half hanging out the door of her refrigerator for the world to see.))

SIGH.
I want a picture of this! And it's not because I want the world to see my beautiful, almost-in the lines coloring either. She is totally smarter than me and figured out a way to hang a picture that I never even thought possible. Since I have no picture to describe--I'll have to stick with words . UGH!

Moral to this story? Don't drop a digital camera.

Oh well. Here's to a beautiful wordy weekend full of family (SHOPPING) time!

PSF: Right Now

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I'm not the happiest of people immediately after opening my eyes in the morning. BUT,

When Sophie wakes up--you'd think she was rushing to see if Santa came --every morning. I usually give a cheerful 'good morning' or a quick little 'hey sleepy head!' That's about all I can muster up until I'm fully awake.

However,

I've noticed that if I give her an enthusiastic "HEDDOE Butter Bee--How are ya?" As if I haven't seen her in two years--she always -always- breaks into gigantic smiles and giggles and comes running to give spontaneous hugs and kisses. ALWAYS--just like it's Christmas morning.


It doesn't matter that the house isn't clean, or her playroom doesn't exist yet, or her stubborn cold just won't go away, or that it's cloudy and cold AGAIN outside, or she won't get to go to the zoo yet, or that she didn't get to play her favorite game last night, or that I said NO to the millionth cookie that she wanted instead of dinner last night.


None of that matters because she lives in the moment. She is concerned with being happy right NOW.
Not tomorrow because it's not here yet and not yesterday because she knows it's gone and doesn't give it a second thought.

My new goal: make that' Christmas Morning' face appear on my little mouse as often as possible and start learning everything I can from my offspring who is most noticeably smarter than me.

So in the words of the great Van Halen--Right Now is Everything!

Life is good!

PSF: 12 weeks? 13 weeks? Who's counting?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I was going to post this picture on my pregnancy blog and compare Sophie when she was in-utero to the new unborn baby, until yesterday when I discovered that I can't find any of Sophie's ultrasounds!!!! WTH???

I NEVER throw anything away. EVER! I still have clothes--no lie--from college in my closet. And yet I go to find VERY precious pictures of my favorite person in the world? nothing. nada. zilch. I've looked everywhere.

I'm so stressed! ARGHH!

Anyway, it's still fun to take a peek at my insides, so here's new-baby-on-the-way Widloe at her/his 13 week appointment. (The doctors said I was only 12 weeks 2 days--whatever.)

One of the best things about having to see a perinatologist is that they have all the best toys-- ultrasounds are AWESOME and all in 3-d! Whoohoo for complicated pregnancies!!
Oh, this is a profile pic and I went ahead and labeled some key parts-so you can see that he/she is throwing up her hands by ears-maybe to cover some of that giant head of his/hers!



Believe it or not, having that little nose show so soon is a VERY good sign that the risk of chromosomal abnormalities is very low. Well, that and all of my blood tests all came back normal. phew! I still can't believe I was brave enough to take those scary tests-especially after I heard 3 of my friends had false positives!

So there you have it--my uterus is alive and kicking and growing right on schedule. At least not everything about pregnancy is stressful!

Now, if I can just find Sophie's pictures, then maybe I'll relax--for a moment anyway.

PSF: Relax Mommy, I'm ready.....

You're ready. Really? Am I ready?


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Once again, Sophie has proven to me that all of her developmental milestones happen naturally. Sure, I need to provide certain tools and encouragement but eventually she always chooses to move forward and try out her sea legs when it's time to grow.
Of course, for months before she makes the decision I am always sweating, worrying, sometimes even defending why I haven't done something about it sooner-to the people I think follow the real status quo, or what's "normal."

Here are my big examples:

1. At about 2 1/2 Sophie still drank one last bottle before bed. Did I push? Nope. One night she just said, I don't want to drink a bottle. OK. That was that. No more bottles. sniff.

2. When it was time to be diaper-free, she again made the decision. OK, Mommy, I'm ready to just wear the undies. OK. That was that. No more diapers. sniff.

3. Out of the blue, before I even thought about it, she decided all on her own that she wanted to take showers instead of baths. What? OK, That was that. No more bathtub. sniff (she did recently re-discover the joys of the tub, and will choose a bath 'just for fun' sometimes. phew!)

4. The doctor's office has always been tough but for her 4 year old appointment, she boldly announced to me that, "I will be brave Mommy, and I'm not scared." Normally, I have to surprise her by just taking her, and bribes of sprinkle donuts and skittles are always involved. Not this time. Not only was she brave as she flew through the check-up with flying colors, but she also even dared to take a peek in a pediatric dentist office on the second floor of the building. OK. That was that. No more bribery for health. sniff.

5. Last night at bedtime I offered the option for the millionth time to try sleeping in her own big-girl bed, and she quickly said, OK Mommy, I'm ready. OK. That was that. No more co-sleeping. No more family bed. big giant sniffs!

After it was lights out- see you in the morning- you're the best big girl in the world- sleep tight-I love you, she totally fell asleep. (Oh, and she announced that she will be the best big sister if new baby is a girl, and the best big brother if new baby is a boy!)

What? Hold it--you're not supposed to be ready yet, I'm not ready yet. But I didn't say that.
My entire reason for not pushing on these matters was that I wanted Sophie to be emotionally ready for the changes, not just physically. I've always gone slow and at Sophie's pace--so that she can appreciate and welcome change--not be afraid of it.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, and these examples are giving me glimpses that I am accomplishing my goals--but I forgot one little thing--ME!

I'm was a complete mess. Seriously. I wasn't ready for her to be on her own last night. I offered it, but I didn't really think she would do it. Holy Crap.
I was downstairs happily watching my favorite Grey's Anatomy, completely uninterrupted, when all of a sudden I had big boo-hoo tears running down my cheeks. Where's Sophie? Oh yeah, sound asleep in her own room like every normal 4 year old. I dreaded going to bed. I wasn't ready.
I dragged myself up anyway. I brought up our at bedtime Popsicle and popped in my comforting Gilmore Girls. I couldn't relax, couldn't sleep, and I missed Sophie ridiculously.
So around 10:30 I went back downstairs to sit with my husband who was shocked that I was still awake.
I realized then that I was experiencing the exact kind of anxiety change can bring when you don't know it's coming. I wasn't so sure I could handle it and I knew I didn't want to go back to bed anytime soon. So, I put on some eating T.V.--Triple D from the food network, and ate my way into exhaustion: pepperoni, bread & butter pickles, and jelly beans. Yep-I'm preggers all right. All of the emotions I was having were what I had been trying to spare Sophie from--at least until she's old enough to handle it.

It was then I finally got it that I am the one who is old enough to handle it. So off to bed I went.
It was so weird. The hallway bathroom light on-the bedroom doors propped open just a smidgen, and every in their own room happily dreaming away. SO WEIRD! The dog was excited though. He came up on the bed and sat right in the middle where Sophie's pillow used to be--and put his head on my pillow.

Alright, I guess I can be grown-up about all of this. I am the mom after all. OK. That IS that. No more baby. sniff.

PSF: A River in an Ocean and a Potion~ Moving On.......

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Sophie: Mommy, I want to sing that song that makes you smile.

Mommy: Awww! Let's hear it!

Sophie: (in the CUTEST little singing voice ever):

Like a River in the Ocean,
My Potion
Move On,
Like a river in the minute, move on.

Move On, is what we did today! The flu is over (THANK GOD) the SUN is shining and the breeze--although very brisk--was WARM! It was a beautiful day and we wasted no time getting outside. We played at the park, took a bike ride, and then played hopscotch on our home-made sidewalk hopscotch board. PERFECT DAY!
Life is good!


Sophie was so happy today she even posed for a quick picture. This kid rocks!

Yep, that brought down the house!!!!!!
Any guesses to the band? Anyone?
Well, how about this--I'm combining today's PSF with a giveaway--a PAY it FORWARD giveaway.
A couple of months ago a dear blogger buddy, Kelly at Close to Home, read the book, Chicken Soup for the Mother of a Preschoolers Soul, and loved it so much she wanted to share the wealth. I jumped on it because I love all things Chicken Soup and this book did not disappoint.
Plus, Kelly, being the awesome blogger that she is, sent me some goodies that Sophie and I adored--take a look:



Now it's my turn to share. I want to send someone this copy of the book and keep it going. If you would like to read it, just say so in a comment. I'll pick someone Monday. Oh, and please leave me an email so I can contact you!

Have a great weekend!
and Thanks Kelly! The booked rocked and I am finally paying it forward!!!!!

PSF: Sunny skies and Skittles are here to stay!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Life is good.

What? WTH does that mean anyway? That is the question of the year.

I've seen this little slogan everywhere for as long as I can remember, but until about 3:30A.M. today I had completely forgotten it's existence. and Truth.

Life is good. Period. That's it. Nothing to it.

For what seems like 2 years really only to be 2 months I've been living in a cave. A dark, scary, smelly, depressing cave of gloom and doom. I couldn't see something good if it came up and bit me on the nose.

Today I realized -- Life is good. It's totally true. All you have to do is look for it-and sometimes you don't even have to do that-it just shows up.

I forgot that when all else fails, I can always come back to my land of rainbows and butterflies because after all, the GOOD is the glue that keeps my family tight as can be, and what's not good about rainbows and butterflies? They are pretty, cute, gentle, colorful, bright, hopeful, and sweet.

In the past whenever we have experienced bumps in the road I have simply focused on all of the fun that is my SOPHIE and everything we do together. The more I focused on the good stuff, the less important the problems seemed.

I can't believe I forgot about this little trick!

Unfortunately, it works the other way too as I have learned the hard way. The more I focused on problems the less important the good stuff seemed. EEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!!

It got so bad I even stopped blogging, and I LOVE BLOGGING!!!!
That's it!--no more nonsense. no more ickiness. I refuse to dwell on the bad stuff. It only proves to help crumble what my husband and I are painstaking trying to build--so from now on--I'm focusing on the glue that keeps us together--the good stuff.

Life is good.

Here's an example: February 7--not a cloud in the sky, not a speck of snow remaining, it's 65 degrees out and Sophie gets HOURS of outside time.

Life is FABULOUS!

I even got a little color on my cave-dwelling cheeks! (and you all know how much I adore being in the SUN!)
Fun!
This picture was taken on the 10th when the same kind of day happened again! BAM! Spring, right in the middle of winter, how cool is that??

I have also decided that in addition to focusing on the good stuff with Sophie I am going to journal on my other blog that I have renamed, It's All About the Baby, about all of my trials of being pregnant. I think it will benefit me because even when I am focusing on the positive, sometimes pregnancy can be downright scary. It is certainly GLAMOROUS if you know what I mean.

But I do want to keep it separate from the world of jelly beans and High School Musicals that is my journey with Sophie.
Oh yeah, we did have our HSM3 party complete with Mickey's D's and Shamrock Shakes on our famous magic table--totally fun! Plus, we recently discovered a yummy new cereal in honor of the terrific trilogy. Whoohoo for that!
Life is good!

PSF: Animal Magic

When I was a kid February 2 was always a very fun day because Groundhog Day was just cool-well, as cool as in "let's celebrate a rodent day" can be. Now, as a kid I wanted lots of winter-playing in the snow was awesome-loved it and never minded being cold.

This year the stupid rodent chickened out and ran screaming back into his den. Damn--6 more weeks of winter.

I think somehow Sophie used psychic powers to zap poor Phil back home.

I guess kids are still the ones who love the snow.

BUT From what the weathermen are predicting though maybe Phil just ended up in a tree house somewhere because it really does look like spring is a-comin' oh yeah! 50 degrees this weekend I.can't.wait!

Fingers crossed everyone!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

PSF: Strike a Pose

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I wanted a cute picture of Sophie the other day and when I said 'smile' she immediately made funny faces with noises to go with them.

So I said, "C'mon strike a pose for me."

"There's just something about a woman in a hat that's just so vogue, you know what I mean?"

(what movie?)

About six months ago Nate was laughing at my Susie~bubblegum~ness and said that if he was a millionaire he would buy me a cable station and call it the 'Susie Channel.'

(if you know anything about me, then you know I really hope he makes this one come true--I am just this dorky. )

Since then, we have been critiquing movies, music, and shows by if they will ever make it to the Susie Channel or not. The question is, "Is it bubblegum enough?"

Madonna's music and videos will all make an appearance on the Susie Channel-although not ALL of her stuff is bubblegum enough (I'm thinking TRUE BLUE is my greatest hit); the movies Twister and Practical Magic will be run once a day --everyday; and T.V. reruns will consist of The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, and Sex in the City. For evening time I will show The West Wing, NYPD Blue, and of course, The Gilmore Girls.

Cheesy huh?

Well, that's me-all things bubblegum.

Oh, and one last thing--we just heard yesterday that coming on February 17 High School Musical 3 will be out on video and you can bet your booties that Sophie and I will be celebrating with an entire week long High School Musical tribute and the "Susie Channel" will air the trilogy weekly!

My only last question is this, "What's on your channel?"

(and if you guessed the movie from the quote above you can bet all of your bubblegum it will be run as well)

PSF: It's official:)

Sophie's smarter than me,
AND she's not even 4 yet! Here's the evidence:

(at dinner last Sunday, pizza night) Sophie: Can I have a root beer too?

Me: Sure kiddo, just leave it at the table, please don't take it in the family room.

Sophie: Why not?

Me: Because it might spill.

Sophie: You take yours in the family room, annnd I've seen it spill!

Want to know how my outstanding, patient, spectacular, self answered?
Because I said so~! Then I went on to calmly yet matter-of-factly say, "When you pay the bills, feel free to do whatever you want. Until then I say." (like I'm some sort of big shot)

When did I turn into my parents?
big heavy sigh.

The picture doesn't match the story, but I was just too plain flabbergasted during that particular moment to snap a pic of her brillance, so I choose a more happily-go-lucky one this week. THis one cracks me up with those ears!






Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

PSF: A Crazy Sweet Christmas!!

I wouldn't mind the title of Mrs. Claus.

At all.

In fact, I decided this year to pretend. In my mind she's in charge of the cookies. She's in charge of the belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly.
That grocery list is real. I bought that stuff. Almost all at once.


So I began with 14 1/2 dozen Spice cookies to shown above. In the past my hubby has called them 'heroin' cookies, because upon consumption, you are immediately addicted to them and actually go through withdrawal if you run out.

Unfortunately in the batch you see above, I had forgotten the baking soda. Took me a day or two to figure that out, but I did and simply chucked them all and re-made them. This time I only made about 10 dozen, but they came out almost perfectly. I have to say that these little morsels are a special treat because not only do you have to sift all of the flour before measuring (a total of over 20 cups) but you have to hand roll them each--twice! This is a total of about 294 spice cookies, individually rolled twice.

Then came the rest of the baking.

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS: 2 batches ~(188 individual balls-hand rolled)

FUDGE: 1 batch (78 pieces-individually wrapped)

SNICKERDOODLES: 2 batches (8 dozen, individually rolled)

SUGAR COOKIES: 4 batches (half frosted, half plain)

APRICOT SURPRISES: 2 batches

PUMPKIN ROLLS: 8 (that's right 8 since Thanksgiving!)

This picture includes ALL of the sweets in the house at the present moment.

You see, Mrs. Claus isn't just in charge of baking, she's also responsible for all of the delicious visions of treats that dance around in the heads of millions of children each year.
I started with my own child by decorating a gingerbread house and tree shown here in the middle of the table with BUCKETS of candy also shown:

spice drops, dots, skittles, MnMs, licorice, tart'n'tiny's, peppermint ribbons, raspberry filled, candy canes (4 kinds), special-ordered red, green, and white swirly lollipops in peppermint and fruit flavors, peppermint nougats (my fave) and of course the Wilton special decor candy that comes with each kit.

The candy list also includes an assortment of Christmas chocolates--mostly left in the advent calendar--chocolate Santa's, Hershey kisses (regular and peppermint), Reese's Christmas trees, and chocolate coins.

I don't mess around with my Mrs. Claus responsibilities. Neither does my hubby when it comes to helping Santa out on Christmas morning. I think I'm more excited than Sophie!








This is ready for December 26, along with a bucket of tums, Pepto Bismal, and a sorely neglected member card to lifetime fitness.

The bellies will shrink, and probably be right back to normal by next Thanksgiving when it starts all over again.



Oh, and if anyone wants to play a Christmas prank on their endocrinologist let me know; I'll let you borrow the pictures!



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek