...tagged...

Erin, this is for you! I just took this picture. Gross.

I tag Krista!

mexican tofu

Mexican Tofu

Saute 1/2 onion and 4 cloves of garlic in 2 tsp. olive oil. Add in a whole block of Trader Joe's Super Firm tofu, cubed. Add salt/pepper to taste and about 1 tablespoon cumin. Cook tofu until browned. Add in 1 can of corn & black beans, rinsed and 1 whole jar of Trader Joes Double Roasted Salsa. Simmer for about 12-14 minutes. Sprinkle on shredded cheddar cheese and you're done! A little sour cream & cilantro would be amazing on top. Oh and I usually serve on top of brown rice.






This is one of Dennis' favorites. You'd never know it, but it is. I made it the other night and thought I should blog about it since it's one of the easiest dinners I make when I am lazy/tired/crunched for time. And I guess it's pretty healthy if (if you don't over load it with cheese like Dennis does.)

Easter 2009

Easter was amazing this year. I'm so happy we got to spend Saturday with friends and Sunday with family. It was a perfect balance. I hope that happens again next year. Saturday, we attended an Easter egg hunt at the Stumph residence. The kids were ALL so adorable. Olivia got to experience her first "real" Easter egg hunt. I thought she would have no clue what to do, but she started running around looking for eggs like a pro. She became a little attached to her basket though. She wouldn't even let me hold it for her when it was obviously too heavy for her to carry. The candy feast began soon after. Her favorite Easter candy this year: Rolos and jelly beans...oh and Pop Rocks (I put them in her Easter basket.) After the egg hunt, the kiddies got the incredible opportunity to ride a miniature pony! I was sooooooo excited for this. But when it was Olivia's turn she was too scared to ride him! Sad!! I'm glad Shaun got a picture of it though.





Sunday morning, I was so excited for Olivia and Dennis to open their baskets. Olivia got caught up in all the candy of course. She had like 5 Rolos in a row before I made her stop! She was sneaky with those. I LOVE Easter baskets. I remember every year my mom would make me, my brother and sister the most amazing baskets. They were color coordinated. Mine was all purple of course. She would even get us these fancy truffle eggs that were personalized with our names on them. Well, those days are over but at least now I get to have fun with Olivia's. We went over to my parents where she was spoiled beyond belief with a basket bigger than her filled with clothes, toys and mostly tons and tons of Play-doh. We hid eggs for her, they all had Play-doh in them and her excitement afterwards just wasn't the same as the day before. hahaha. We watched The Tale of Despereaux. It's pretty cute, a little on the depressing side though. Olivia took a nap on the couch WITH my mom while my brother and sister FORCED me to watch The Fast and the Furious (the first one.) It was way better than I thought it would be, I have to admit.

go back to bed!!!

The is an update on Olivia's toddler bed transition. It's been a few weeks and I can honestly say...it's NOT going very well. At first, she did some crazy things, i.e. trying to sleep on her changing table, but after a few days I thought it was getting better. Then after a couple of weeks it's like she did a complete 180. She tries to get out of her room numerous times before falling asleep for the night AND she continues to wake up 2, 3 or MORE times every night. I thought having Dennis back would make things easier, but I'm afraid it may have made things worse. This is a separate issue, but when Dennis is with us Olivia is extra attached to me. So I've been doing 99% of the baths & bedtime routines. Oh and she only lets ME walk her back to bed in the middle of the night. Lucky me!

I've tried bribery. "You can have a surprise in the morning if you stay in your room tonight!" "Ok!!!", says Olivia. She is at her door about 30 seconds later.

I've tried punishment. "If you get out of your room, I'm going to have to take your Tinkerbell light away." She is at her door in 15 seconds. I take the light away and let her scream for about 10 minutes. That night she slept without the light but got up about 10 times.

I've tried the silent treatment. This is the Super Nanny technique: I walked her back to bed without saying ANYTHING and without making eye contact. This made her really frustrated at first, then she started thinking it was funny and she tried coming out about 20 times before I couldn't take it anymore. Dennis took over and ended up having to stay in her room for her to fall asleep.

I've tried singing/reading her to sleep. I will say this HAS worked a couple of times, but one night took over an hour! I almost sang MYSELF to sleep that night. And I really don't want to start the habit of her needing me to fall asleep.

I bought this light today (saw it in Parents magazine,) you can buy it at goodnitelite.com. It is supposed to help with the night wakings. Supposedly, you can help your child learn the difference between night and day by telling them it's "wake up time" only when the light turns into the sun. It's a "moon" during the night and you program it to turn into a "sun" at the predetermined a.m. time you choose. It's pricey, but worth a try in my opinion! I should get it in a few days.


I also bought the following book by Dr. Richard Ferber. Since we used his "Ferberization" technique successfully when Olivia was 9 months old, I thought I would read about his ideas on toddler sleep.

I pretty much research this subject any chance I get, but if anyone has any ideas I would LOVE to hear them. I will try anything other than putting a lock on her door. I just don't feel right about that one. I am thinking about starting a progress/sticker chart but I think she might be a little young to grasp the concept...