Buttoning Up

I'm sitting here trying to breathe. It's always a challenge during pregnancy but throw another bad cold on top and I'm open-mouth breathing, gasping for breath pretty much all the time. And yes, this makes about the 16th cold I've had in the past 12 months. I think I'm just worn out. So I'm going to just button up the loose ends. Simple.

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Ada likes to pick out her own clothes now. It started with just shoes and socks but has expanded to include the whole outfit. This was part of her ensemble last weekend as Tim, Ada and I went out to do errands. Stupidly, I didn't bring my camera - she was quite the picture running down the sunny city street with her hair streaming behind her and her ruffled skirt kicking up and her brand new magic wand that I made for her that morning out of a stick and bits of left over ribbon. She says, "Hi!" to every single person we pass and they must like it because they all pause to say "Hi" back and they smile. She is so friendly and I love how at her age all people are equal, including the drunk, smelly homeless ones.

Would you like a tour? That's a satin plaid skirt with an under-ruffle, white tights with hearts down the sides, lime-green edged socks with mermaids on them and her brown and pink Dora sneakers. I had nothing to do with this. Nothing. 

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Fizzy Tub Colors
This was an absolute impulse buy when we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get some stain remover. Actually, I was looking for Calgon (do they even sell that stuff anymore? Where can you still buy it? My mom used to keep it in a pretty jar in the bathroom and it smelled so good) when Ada spotted Elmo. I let her carry the jar around the store to keep her from having a tantrum and we ended up buying it. Excellent use of $5.00, by the way. Every night she is actually excited to pick her bath color. I like to pretend we're doing a little science/art experiment when she sees that yellow and red make orange. Oh, and they don't stain or smell.

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There are a few lemon trees in our neighborhood. Man. It just kills me to see unharvested fruit trees. On our way to run errands or go to the playground Ada likes to stop at a pair of lemon trees a few houses down from us. She gets really excited about it and says hello to every single lemon on the tree.

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Smoothie Recipe

Five different times in the past week I found myself typing out this recipe. We have smoothies probably about 4 mornings a week. Other mornings I make a fresh-pressed green juice. The liquid breakfast is working well for me right now. Plus, this is way healthier than jamba juice.

Start with 1 banana, about 3/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt, and about 3/4 cup milk. Zizz it in a blender.

Then, add a scoop of protein powder and something green like spirulina, kale (I love lacinato) or spinach. Don't freak out. I swear you will never, ever know the green stuff is in there. Start small if you're new to this. I like it green and Ada can't tell so I add a lot of spinach.
Zizz it again. Should look something like this.



Then add enough frozen strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and/or cherries to make it a pinkish-purplish color. If it gets too thick you can thin it out with more milk or some juice. Here's what we use, for reference.



Let the small child pick her favorite cup and which color of straw she wants. Enjoy!!

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Just for laughs, I LOVE THIS POST. Someone just passed that on to me and it's too friggin' hysterical to not share.

And then there's THIS POST which just made me pee in my pants.

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I'm pretty sure the weekend is going to be good. I'll be back later with more pictures and stories. The "magic" and new sandbox deserve a little more space. See you later!