Saturday brought the best weather we'd seen in months and with Jason working afternoons/nights, I decided Katherine and I could use some outside girl time.  So, after her nap we headed out.  I figured the parks would be crowded with others enjoying the warm weather, so we headed to the outdoor outlet mall.  It seemed like a great idea at the time - outside time and shopping.  The perfect girls' Saturday afternoon.

I decided to go to an outlet mall that I thought wouldn't be as crowded.  Every time I'd ever driven by, it seemed almost deserted.  Unfortunately, on this particular Saturday about half the population of St. Louis must have had the same idea because the parking lot was packed.  Even with a crowd, it would still be nice to walk around the outdoor mall, so we continued with the plan.  Have you ever tried to maneuver a stroller in a very crowded mall or store?  It's a nightmare.  Fifteen minutes in, we were headed back to the car, due to the over populated mall and the over abundance of teens who refused to let me get near any store entrance.  Fail.  

It was now 4:30.  Was it too early for dinner?  Of course not, and since it was just me and Katherine we'd be able to eat before the dinner crowds arrived.  So, we headed over to Chick-fil-A, where the parking lot looked half empty.  I've only eaten out in public alone with Katherine a couple of times before.  Both times were disasters.  I thought this time would be better, but it too went downhill.  Fast.

Even though the parking lot was almost empty, the dining room was not.  It was full of high school aged boys running amok (there must have been a sporting event going on nearby), taking over most of the dining in area.  Katherine kept chanting "Chicken!  Chicken!  Chicken!" so I knew there was no turning back now.

After working our way through the rowdy crowd and ordering, I then had to find a hair chair and a place to sit.  I found the high chairs stacked neatly against the front entrance and located a clean table on the complete opposite side of the restaurant.  With a toddler in one arm, a diaper bag on my shoulder, and two drinks in my hand I wheeled the high chair through the crowd, only slamming it in to two different people until a nice man offered to help me.  After pointing him in the direction I was headed, he helped get my high chair in place, just as they called my name to pick up my order.  I juggled our tray of food back to our table and got everything set up, then had to hunt down some ketchup packets.  Katherine was already seated with her food in front of her, now chanting "Ketchup!  Ketchup!  Ketchup!"  I darted to the condiments counter where there was everything except ketchup.  When I couldn't get the attention of a single Chick-fil-A worker, the family sitting next to us, probably noticing my overwhelmed state, offered up their unused ketchups.

We were in the middle of our dinner when Katherine started having what we call her "poop fit."  When she has to "go," she throws somewhat of a fit, insisting that you hold her and rub her back until she's "finished."  When she wouldn't stop shouting "pooooooooop!" I finally picked her up and held her in my lap while I finished eating, rubbing her back and hoping for her to get her "job" done.   I finally felt her starting to "go" and was wondering how I was going to change her.  It was just the two of us and I'd have to leave our food at the table.  Would someone clean it up while we were in the bathroom?  I obviously couldn't leave everything behind.  I was starting to stress out when I felt it.

No.  No no no no no no no....

She had filled her diaper and then some.  We were having our first "blow out" in over a year.  We were alone in a restaurant.  I didn't have an extra change of clothes for her.  My mind started racing.  I gathered up our belongings and rushed to the bathroom, leaving our food on the table and praying it was still there when we got back.

Sure enough, poop everywhere.  I opened my bag and yep.  Out of wipes.

No.  No no no no no no no.....  

If you've ever gotten poop on you, you know that there's not enough soap in the world to make you feel like you've gotten it all off.  After finally getting both of us cleaned up (and getting Katherine's pants to a semi-wearable state), we headed back out to where our food luckily was still sitting.  Because I was able to clean out Katherine's pants, she was able to sit back down and finisher her dinner.  Obviously I was done eating after that, but Katherine picked right up where she left off.  Dinner fail.

We were back home by 6:00, where a bath was very necessary.  Saturday night isn't what it used to be.

This face pretty much sums up "girls' night."

 

I mentioned earlier in the week that when we're snowed in the house, I tend to make lots of sweet snacks.  Swimsuit season seems so very far away so why not add some extra "insulation" during these cold months?  It's probably just boredom, but I always make more snacks during the winter.

This week I made Monster Cookie Dough Dip, for no other reason than:
a) It required a bunch of random stuff that I already had in the pantry
b) It let me use some left over Christmas candy
c) It sounded good and I was bored....and hungry

On Friday morning, we headed downtown to take Katherine to see Disney's Frozen On Ice.  Dressed in her "Elsa" dress, we told Katherine it was "Coronation Day" and that we were going to see Elsa and Anna.  She was so excited.  We left the house promptly one hour before show time.  This was not enough time.  At all.  We arrived downtown only to be stuck in "Frozen" traffic with only 30 minutes left before showtime.  After taking a few side streets, it became obvious we were not getting any where near the arena where the show was being held.  We ended up having to park four blocks away and literally running to the arena with only 10 minutes left until showtime.  After wandering aimlessly and scaling a wall (yes we climbed over a wall to get to our seats), we finally made it to our seats as the show was starting.  Talk about a close call.

Anyway, Katherine absolutely loved the show.  She couldn't take her eyes off of the ice.  Even when the show went to intermission, Katherine stood at the rail and watched the empty ice, not taking her eyes off for a second.


She was completely worn out on the ride home.

For dinner, we took advantage of Fish Fry season here in St. Louis before hunkering down for yet another snow storm.

Katherine loves the snow and sometimes calls it "icing," at which point she grabs a handful and shoves it in her mouth.  This gave me the idea to make Snow Cream (using this recipe), but unfortunately if the snow isn't coming straight from the ground, Katherine doesn't want to eat it.  Fail.



What else do you do when you're snowed in?  Make as many sweet treats as possible.  So, I decided to make homemade donuts (recipe here).  I had some trouble with the dough, but they still turned out fine.  I even added some chocolate ganache to some of them.  My poor misshapen donuts looked ridiculous, but tasted great.  Fail-ish.



A quick Katherine story before we go:

Katherine loves watching The Voice.  She'll sit and watch it for hours, clapping and cheering on each contestant after their performances.

Katherine (after almost every contestant) : "Yay song!  You did great!"

After a contestant chose a coach:
Me:  "Katherine which team would you pick to be on?"
Katherine:  "Elsa's."
Me:  "You'd pick Elsa's team?"
Katherine:  "Elsa's or Daddy's."

I always like to see how other's spend their days.  While I may not have the most interesting day most days, sometimes it's fun to see what all I accomplished in one day (aside from keeping a toddler alive).

Here's how our Wednesday shaped up:

7:30 a.m.
 8:30 a.m.
 9:30 a.m.
 10:30 a.m.
 11:30 a.m.
 12:30 p.m.
 1:30 p.m.
 2:30 p.m.
 3:30 p.m.
 4:30 p.m.
 5:30 p.m.
 6:30 p.m.
 9:30 p.m.
 10:30 p.m.

One day back in September, I was browsing away on my iPhone when I noticed that I wasn't connected to wifi.  I was at home at the time and my phone always automatically connected to our wifi when I was at home.  I went to double check the connection when I noticed that the wifi button on my phone was "greyed out."  It physically wouldn't let me connect to wifi.  A little while later, I recieved a text message saying I had used up all of my data for the current billing cycle.  No kidding.  I had been unknowingly using up my data for days probably.

Upon further research I learned that a lot of phones like mine had had problems with the wifi chip inside the phone after the phone was updated to the current software.  I read tons of complaints online on the Apple chat boards how phones weren't working properly for no reason and out of the blue.  I also found several videos on how you could temporarily "fix" this wifi problem, most of which seemed a little crazy (putting your phone in the freezer, applying heat using a hair dryer, etc.).

I searched online for answers.  I even went to both my cellphone carrier and the Apple Store, neither of which were helpful.  I will say Apple was the least helpful of all, but that's a whole extra story.

Anyway.

About a month after the wifi stopped working forever, I noticed that my on/off button on my phone was permanently in the "off" position.  Though my phone was on, I could no longer turn my phone off, or restart it.  Anyone who has a smartphone knows that occasionally you have to restart your phone for whatever reason, so not being able to do so led to a whole new set of issues.

Before long, my apps stopped working.  And my voicemails never came through.  And finally (and this one stung the most), my text messages stopped working.  My phone was now just, a phone.  To make calls.

Every possible solution to my phone dilemma that I found online said the same thing:  Step 1 Restart your phone.  

Thanks, but I can't do that.

For a total of five months, my phone wasn't working properly for one reason or another.  I know.  First world problems.  But when you count on your phone for your business, not to mention your daily life, it's a hard pill to swallow when your "smart" phone is no longer that smart.

So, I got into the habit of manually checking my emails and messages and left my phone setting on the kitchen counter.  I found ways to do things online that I used to do from a handheld device.  Did you know you can post to Instagram from a laptop computer?  Well you can.  It doesn't always work and you can't use hashtags in the captions, but you can.

And poor Jason.  I complained a lot.    

Before long, I was getting used to setting my phone down and not looking at it again for hours (but yet the battery still drained super fast....what gives).  It was actually liberating.  I wasn't distracted by it and was able to focus on Katherine and family life.

My phone upgrade finally came due and I took it.  Happily.  I now have a brand new phone.  The latest model.  It's glorious.  I forgot how easy it was do things from your phone instead of hunting down a tablet or logging on to a laptop.

While it would be super easy to go back to my old ways of distraction by iPhone, I'm trying to keep my same habits that I had while my phone wasn't working.  I try to not constantly be checking my phone when I'm supposed to be spending time with my family.  It's hard.  We live in an age where everything is instant.  We want to look up something, or answer a text, or check an email, or browse social media now.

Ironically enough, the hardest part of breaking this smartphone habit is when I want to Google something.  As Katherine and I were watching Sophia The First, I knew one of the characters' voices sounded so familiar.  I wanted to grab my phone and look up who it was.  I refrained until later when Katherine was down for her nap.  It was Bonnie Hunt.  Bonnie Hunt is the voice of "Aunt Tilly."

Who knew my broken phone would actually be teaching me a valuable lesson:  Put your phone down more often and complain less often.

But it's still way better to have a phone that works.  I think I'll post something to Instagram.

Aaaaaaaaand done.

I hope you all had a wonderful and lovely Valentine's Day!  We kept it pretty simple around here (like we do most years).

Saturday morning, Katherine opened her Valentine's (with crazy wild bedhead), and of course did some dancing in the living room.



When Jason got home from work later, we had our family Valentine dinner at Jason's (and Katherine's) favorite restaurant.  It was the perfect Valentine's date.


Valentine's Day was followed by frigid temps and snow, which I was actually excited for since our last snow was back before Thanksgiving.  We spent Monday morning eating cinnamon rolls and watching Frozen, before heading out to play in the snow.




Katherine had so much fun in the snow.  Of course, she danced in the snow.  Because that's what she does.  She dances.

It looks like the cold temps are sticking around this week.  I can't complain too much because it's been a fairly mild winter for us so far.  I mean, last week we were playing outside in 70 degree weather.

We're busy planning our second (second?!) birthday around here and waiting anxiously for spring.  And recovering from a long snowy weekend.

Happy Tuesday friends!

I haven't done a "What I'm Loving" post in a while, and since it's Valentine's week I decided it was the perfect week to share some of my favorite things right now.

I'm loving this candle from Target.  My Bath & Body Works candle was finished and I randomly selected a replacement while on a Target trip last week.  I picked this candle because the jar was pretty and it smelled nice.

Next up, I'm loving Keep It Shut by Karen Ehman.  (This is actually the book I was picking up when all hell broke loose a few weeks ago.  Imagine the irony.)  I'm actually doing an online Bible study with this book right now and it's really helped me to not say things I shouldn't, even when I'm super frustrated.  It's a good read.

I absolutely love Philosophy products, so I was super excited when I got this body wash and body creme to match the perfume I already had.  Another awesome product by Philosophy is the Hands of Hope hand and cuticle cream (not pictured because mine is empty).  I use the hand cream all the time in the winter when my hands get so dry.

Speaking of winter dryness, if your hair gets super dry and frizzy in the winter like mine, you have to try the Macadmia Oil products.  I've been using the shampoo, conditioner, healing oil treatment, and nourishing leave in cream and my hair has never been softer.  I also haven't seen a bit of static in my hair either.  I also recommend the Deep Repair Masque.  

I usually watch more TV in the winter, since I'm stuck inside more.  I started watching Chasing Life on ABC Family after seeing a preview for it during an episode of Pretty Little Liars (yes, I watch PLL and no, I'm not ashamed).  Even though it's about a girl with cancer, it's actually a pretty decent show with all of the unrealistic expectations that ABC Family likes to offer.

And if Chasing Life's cancer story gets you down, hop on over to Branson Famous.  You won't be disappointed.  Actually, you will.  You'll think What am I even looking at? but yet you won't be able to look away.   This is a "musical reality show" about the Baldknobbers show in Branson.  I stumbled upon this little gem of a show a few weeks ago and I watch it every week.  It's literally so horrible that I love it.

And lastly, because it's Valentine's week I'm offering 14% off at my etsy shop through February 14!  Use the coupon code: LOVE14 at checkout for the discount.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The weather has literally been all over the place this week.  On Wednesday we had snow and frigid temperatures and today it was in the 70's.  It was odd playing outside in short sleeves with salt residue still on the road.

Like I said, it was pretty cold early in the week, so we spent a lot of time doing indoor activities.  We did some window art (using Press n' Seal wrap and tissue paper), made Valentine's (and a birthday card for Jason's dad aka "Papaw"), and baked a chocolate cake for Papaw's birthday.




By the time the weekend rolled around, the weather was perfect enough for lots of outside time.  Jason's parents were in town, so we headed to the park to play.


Katherine loves to dance.  Even when there's no music playing, she'll stop, drop, and dance.  When something exciting happens, she dances.  When she's happy, she dances.  When there's no rhyme or reason at all, she dances.  I guess she was super excited to be playing at the park on Saturday, because just after a trip down the slide, she stopped and cut a rug right there in the middle of the playground.


When I picked her up from the church nursery this morning, Katherine informed me that in addition to playing with the toys and the other kids, she danced.
Me: "You danced in the nursery?"
Katherine: "I danced."
Greeeeat.  

I'm not ready for the temps to drop back down to normal (or below normal) for February, but I know that each day that passes means spring is a little closer.  And warm weather means more dance parties on the playground.