July 18-20: Grace's Cinderella Camp

Back in June, I took Grace to her dance studio for 3 days of Cinderella Circle, which is for little girls who love to dance. Well, after day 1, she got a stomach bug so we rescheduled to come back in July instead. I'm so glad we did because she loved it! They do crafts, have a tea party, shop for goodies with Cinderella money and practice a dance to perform at the end of the week. It's only 1.5 hours per day, but it is so fun! And, she gets to dress up each day in a different costume of her choice! Here are some photos and a video of her cute dance she performed!

https://youtu.be/vrTKT53IwFI

Friday Favorites: Neighborhood kids

ONE

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Pop! 

TWO

Conversations with Atticus:

The kids have been playing outside a lot the last couple of weeks with the neighborhood kids. We have some great kids on our cul-de-sac, but we have one that is a little more to handle. Generally, when the kids are in the front yard, at least one parent is sitting out to watch them. This tends to give the other parents a chance to go in and out to check on them and not have to stay every second which is really nice! Well, this one particular kid is a few houses down and his parents are NEVER out to watch him. He's almost 6 and he has two older siblings so maybe his parents are less cautious. So, basically we have an extra kid to keep an eye on while they play. This should not be a huge deal, but this kid makes us and our neighbors a little crazy. A few things that have made us question and/or laugh/cringe about him:

• He comes down at least 2 times a day and will even come as soon as you pull in the driveway to ask if Atticus can play. It's almost always a no until Vic comes home because with 3 kids, I can't sit out there the entire time. But, he is persistent and I've even had to send him home from my porch where he sat, for at least 30 minutes, to wait on us. 
• He will look through the little skinny windows on each side of our front door whether he is waiting for us to come to the door OR to see if we are home. One day, he knocked, looked through the windows and made eye contact with me while he waited. I was nursing, so Vic went to the door but by the time he got there, the kid was gone. Vic thought he heard the gate open. He went back to the backyard where he and the kids were playing and sure enough, this kid comes into the backyard and said he saw Atticus in the backyard playing! He could see through the front windows to the back and just came on around! Vic sent him right back out.
• He comes into the house to make himself at home in our toy selection. We have a rule among our other two neighbors that kids need to play outside and not in and out of our houses. But, again, this kid's parents are NOT around.
• He hangs on the small branches of our smaller tree. We've told the kids not to do this because it they will break...but he has to be told a lot.
• He uses language that is not nice. I'll explain in one of the conversations below.
• He has a pocket knife. Seriously. It's been taken away since the first few times we saw him with it, so I'm thinking his parents must not have approved it.
• He gets mad and throws toys at kids...hard toys. This has happened more than once, but it was happening A LOT one day while I was watching them in my front yard. I had to get onto him pretty good after trying to nicely ask him not to throw toys. He told me "You're the meanest one!" ha!
• I honestly feel kind of bad for him. I know he wants to play and while I'm sure his parents are not bad people, they just let him roam free and our neighbors and us have to deal with him. It's not a really big deal yet because most of the time, the group of kids have fun together. And, Atticus has even come in on his own when he thinks the kid isn't playing nicely. And, Atticus and Grace are not always perfect when playing with other kids, but it's almost comical to wait and see what will happen when this boy comes down to play! And, he's just not a kid I will invite to come over for a play date!

So, while the kids were setting up to play "camping" one day, I see this kid get a pocketknife out to work on a stick for their pretend fire. As I realize it is a REAL knife, we have this conversation:

Me: "Is that a knife? Do your parents know you have that knife?"
The kid doesn't say anything as he is working on his firewood.
Atticus: "It's OK Mom. His mom and dad said he's ready for it."
Me: "Okay, but Atticus, you are not ready for a knife yet so I do not want you to hold it."
Atticus, states proudly: "No, but I can use a spreader!"
Me: "A spreader?" as I wonder if he is talking about a butter knife.....
Atticus: "A spreader can cut things too and I can use it."

Yes, he was perfectly happy and content knowing that he was old enough to use a "spreader". Ah; I love that he is no naive.

Another day, only he and this kid were playing outside when all of a sudden, Atticus comes into the house with all of his guns he takes outside to play with the group each time. He doesn't look very happy.

Us: "Atticus, are you done playing?"
Atticus: "Yes; but Aaron didn't want me to come inside."
Us: "Well, what happened?"
Atticus: "Aaron was saying things that that the devil made him say!"
Us: "He did? Well, what did he say?"
Atticus wouldn't tell us at first but we told him we needed to know. It looked like he was afraid to repeat them, but he said "He said stupid and dumb and words that the devil made him say. Why did the devil make him say those?"

Whew. But, after, Vic and I couldn't stop laughing at how serious he was when he told us this. We were so proud of him for walking away from something that made him uncomfortable! And while sometime in the past, we have discussed that the devil tempts you to do things you shouldn't, we thought it was so funny that it stuck with him and he said it! This same type of incident happened again last night, when the kid called him a "stupid dumb face". So, it may be awhile before we let him play one-on-one with this kid again.

THREE

Checkups with Grace have been a constant this week. She sings the Doc McStuffins song to me while she uses all of her doctor tools to check on me and tells me "it's time to get a "diag-nos-ees". She tells me what to say and how to react whether I should be sad or cry or tell her the medicine is yucky. She's hilarious!

So, that's about it for this week! We've had swim lessons, playdates, gymnastics and even naps. And Everly even slept from 9:15 pm to 5:30 this morning! We are ready for the weekend!

Friday Favorites: Weather, Recipe, Gymnastics, Conversations, and more!

Here are some of my favorite things from this past week:

ONE

After an afternoon of thunderstorms and tornadoes and watching the news constantly on the computer, Atticus and Grace decided to make a shelter for their legos and princesses and ponies. The next day:

Atticus: "Daddy are the storms over yet?"
Vic: "I think so, why?"
Atticus: "I need to know if my legos can go back to legoland or if they need to stay in their shelter."

During the storm, out of the blue, I hear:

Atticus: "Mommy, we have two options: we can take shelter or we can panic. I choose panic!" and then he runs around like a crazy 5 year old.

And a couple other funny, non-weather related statements:

Atticus (talking about Everly): "She's just so cute I can't keep my eye off her." (note that it is a singular eye; not both. Every time, he says it this way.)

Atticus talking to Everly from a few feet away: "Oh Everly; look over here." (as Everly bobbles her head around and doesn't look at him)
Me: "Everly probably can't see you very well. Babies can't see very far away when they are little."
Atticus: "Yeah, but they do have their instincts."
**um...what?"
 

TWO

These kids are really into using their imaginations lately. They will play so well together or apart and I haven't heard too many phrases of "What can I do? I don't know what to do." The funny thing is that sometimes they are SO proud of how well they are using their imaginations and will tell me. And Grace will say "ima-ination". And sometimes when they know is having fun, the other will tell me so sadly that they do not have ANY imaginations and the other one does...as if it's a tangible object.

THREE

This week, we started gymnastics for the kids at Power Sports in College Station. Or as Atticus sometimes calls it "Nim-gastics" and Grace calls it "Nim-Nastics". I get it; it's a tough word. So, we attend at 4:15 for 50 minutes every Wednesday for 6 weeks. They start out stretching together and then they break up each year (2 thru 5) into groups. This week they rotated and did trampolines, balance beams, somersaults, and hopscotch. The kids had a great time! And while Atticus isn't very limber, I was SO proud of him for trying something new, although at the end he told me "Balance beams aren't really my thing." ha! But, he really liked the trampoline. The only bad part...we were soaked through with rain when we arrived. It started POURING a few minutes before we left our house and even after trying to wait it out in the parking lot, the rain didn't stop. And, Grace fell asleep on the way over. So, after I get Atticus out and have him holding an umbrella, I get sleepy Grace out. And keep in mind it is not just raining, but POURING! Then, I tell them to start walking the long sidewalk to the covered area. I grab Everly in her carseat and thankfully have a carseat cover that kept her completely dry. So, I start walking and the kids have barely moved. Grace is getting wet and doesn't want to walk and when I do get them walking, they must think that you have to walk slower under an umbrella. Oh my goodness! I was getting drenched because I didn't have an umbrella and thought "oh I don't mind getting a little wet as long as the kids stay dry". I didn't think we would ever get to that covered area and door. Then, we get inside the door, dry off and I ask where we are supposed to go and they tell me it's the second building for their classes. Oh my. So, back under the umbrella, walking slowly, with carseat in hand, we head to the second building. At this point, I'm nervous Grace is so overwhelmed because she just woke up and is wet and cold and confused, that she may not easily go into the gym class. But, thankfully, she and Atticus were together and Atticus put his little hand on her back and led her in there. By that point, he was excited, so she was fine too. And, then the class was great! The building is two story so you have lots of windows to look through to see them in each area of the class and even on a TV monitor upstairs. So, when Atticus spotted me, he smiled and waved. But, when Grace spotted me, she smiled really big and then put her fingers in her mouth and gave me her "token silly face". It was so funny because the other kids were doing their thing and she is looking like a crazy kid! Hopefully there will be no rain next week because this week was really fun for the kids!

 Here they are stretching in their class.

 Here is Atticus on the trampoline.

 Here is Grace on the balance beam; we could watch her on the TV screen.

FOUR

We started Family Book Club this week. We read the book The Day The Crayons Quit and did a bunch of activities associated with it. I copied this exact idea and every activity from a blog I follow. I plan to do some more this summer and just copy her ideas. I have these grand ideas to get on pinterest and dream these up on my own, but let's be honest here....3 kids. Anyways, I am going to blog about Family Book Club in a separate post. But, it took 3 hours of our day and was a success!

FIVE

One of my favorite things this week involved conversations with Grace. She is hilarious. The other day, while she and Atticus were playing, I heard them calling each other "Sweetie" and "honey". And, yesterday while I went to check on Everly, who was crying and up from her nap, Grace followed me in there and said "Evva-wee, sweetie, what's wrong?"  

Everything she can try lately is said with pride: "I do it myseff!"

She also knows what a selfie is. And yesterday she brought me her toy makeup mirror and said "Mom, wetts take a seffie". 

SIX

The kids have been playing outside a lot lately with neighborhood friends. So, yesterday, I took a photo of Vic in front of our house. Check out the difference in both trees. The tree on the bottom is the same tree as in the top picture on the right. We moved into our house 7 years ago in July and this is how much it has grown. Vic loves his trees and really does a great job trimming them each year and helping them grow!

SEVEN

Meals. We had 13 people bring us food after we had Everly. I was shocked. We got evening meals, breakfast muffins, desserts, and some even brought Atticus and Grace gifts as well. And, it was amazing! Knowing that dinner was coming or having a sweet or treat for the kids was just so fun. If you know someone who is having a baby, do something for them. They will appreciate it so much! Anyways, this recipe is my favorite this week. Someone brought it to us as one of our evening meals and it was so tasty. I even made it for a friend this week who had a baby. It's easy and still filling for an evening meal...especially if you eat as many in one sitting as Vic and I can eat. Plus, the kids liked it! Here it is:

Hawaiian Ham and Swiss Sliders

Ingredients:

1 large packages Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls 

1 package deli sandwich ham (or about 3/4 pound)

12 Swiss cheese slices (we also have used provolone)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. brown or dijon mustard

1 tsp. onion powder

Slice tops from rolls and place bottoms in baking pan. Layer ham and cheese on rolls. Replace tops. Combine butter, poppy seeds, Worcestershire, mustard and onion powder and mix well. Drizzle over rolls. Refrigerate until butter is firm or overnight. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook 2 additional minutes. Serve warm or cold. 

EIGHT

And, finally, my last favorite of the week is this little 7 week old girl, who by the way, has slept 12 to 13 hours in a row starting at about midnight to about 1 the next day and only waking for about an hour and a half in the middle to nurse. Amazing! The other two did NOT do this. Fingers crossed that it will last! However, the not so easy side...from about 6 to midnight, she is only happy when held, eating or asleep in your arms and if she's awake, she prefers that you are walking her around. She knows it's the end of the day and we have two other kids, right?

Friday Favorites: Bedtime

So, each evening, we love bedtime. Typically, this is Graces most fun time of day because she is bathed and fed and happy and wants to crawl everywhere and laugh and play and then is easy to put to bed. Atticus is also fun, but very wild as baths tend to hyper him up instead of calm him down. But, it's always fun because Vic is home and we are just playing with kids. And, another great part of bedtime for kids? PAJAMAS! They are just so stinkin' cute! So, last night I attempted a pajama picture of the kids. Here is how it went:

We get both kids put on the couch. Both stand up instead of staying put.

Grace pulls up to knock Atticus' cup over.

 Then, she realizes she has been caught.

 She tries to get out of trouble with a cute grin.  

 We try again to get them to pose.  

 Atticus heads to the side of the couch.

 And jumps up.

And he crashes down.

 

Just wanting to get one little picture, I bribe Atticus with a "pawty teet" (Hershey kiss) while Vic plays the Goofy Santa to get Grace's attention. We lose the "patient parents" award - we just wanted a picture.

 And we finally get a sweet bedtime picture. Love these two sweet babies!

Friday Favorites: Just a Friday

I haven't done a Friday Favorites post in awhile, so today's is just because today is one of my favorite Fridays! This morning, we got up and went to the Texas A&M Saddle & Sirloin Petting Zoo at Pierce Pavilion. It was great! It was setup in the barn, so the kids could run and play and look at animals to their heart's content. And for Atticus, this is a GREAT day as you all know his love for am-mulls. There were not too many kids there so it was relaxing and fun. There were chicks, a show lamb, a meat goat, a steer, a shetland pony, a horse, a couple of show pigs, and a tractor. Apparently, the show animals were all from the State Fair. Anyways, there was a college student at each pen and Atticus had no problem walking right up to each animal to pet them; except the horses. He walked up, but a horse is pretty tall compared to Atticus. He pet the Shetland Pony, but not the horse. And, what was better was that my friend Megan and her two kids, Cole and Nathan, also came. So, Atticus and Cole ran from each animal pen to the next laughing and checking out the animals. He truly didn't want to leave, so I was glad I could convince him by telling him our next stop. We were headed to Lupe Tortilla to meet with some other moms and kids to celebrate our dear friend Meghan's birthday! But, what convinced him was that there was a playground at the restaurant! I was not aware of that, but it could NOT have been a more perfect setup. The mom's sat outside under some canopies eating lunch and visiting while our kiddos, who could walk, played in a giant sandbox and playground area. We spent 2 1/2 hours there and for those of you with kids, you know that you are usually satisfied to last 45 minutes in a restaurant when you have your small children with you. It was just so much fun to visit and spend time with some great moms and kids!

 Our day began with a pumpkin picture. It has gotten cool this week and was in the 60's today. And, of course, this now means I can pull out all of Grace's cute fall and winter outfits!

 Atticus was so fearless with the animals today. He is getting less cautious around them all the time, which of course makes me want to move to the country as soon as possible and buy some goats! He loved these little chicks.

 

 He even reached right through the fence to pet the steer. Texas Aggie Animal Science major in our future?

 While we want him to show goats and not lambs, he was very interested in the sheep's wool. It is really soft!

Atticus kept telling people who would walk up that the "piggies are seeping".

 Atticus was very concerned about what the horse was eating.

 This place was so big and perfect for Atticus to run in.

 

 Even Grace got to see the animals up close. She didn't have any problem petting the little chick and got a little too rough at one point. I was fearful for the chick's life....or at least the chick's eyes.

 

 The boys were having such a good time!

At the restaurant, we had Courtney, Noble, Brenda, Luke, Mason (I think?), and Jessica at one table.

And Meghan, Lane, Cecilia, Isabelle, Evelyn, Atticus, and Grace at another table. We were all together, until is started raining. By the time we split the tables to be out of the rain and got everyone situated, it stopped raining!

I could not believe how perfect this playground was for our day!

Friday Favorites: Packing

So, today is a busy day. This is the day before our week long vacation to Port Aransas!!! We have taken trips to Port Aransas almost every year since 2005, when Vic and I started dating. We have gone with some of his childhood friends. Now, as the years have gone by, we have all gotten engaged, married, and had kids. I think we missed one year that everyone was too busy and pregnant. But, otherwise, it is something we always look forward to. Port Aransas is a neat little town and when you go when kids are back in school, it is even calmer and less crowded. Last year, we went in September. This year we are going this week! We are missing our friends, Todd & Emily, and their kiddos (now at 3!) because they are moving and settling into a new home. But, Joe, Cassie and Wesley and Mandee, Derek, Beck & Ben and our little family will all go for the week. We will probably get to have some additional visitors as well if they can get off work to come by.

So, today I pack. I enjoy packing and unpacking. I enjoy unpacking more, but as long as I have good lists and plenty of time, I like to pack. With kids, you need a lot of stuff and lot of backup stuff. I am better than I used to be and do not overpack quite as much, but we still need lots of stuff. Clothes, diapers, beds, toys depending on age (jumperoo for Grace; colors/toys/coloring books/trucks/dvd's for atticus;) swim gear (floaties, towels, suits, sunscreen, etc.) plus mine and Vic's clothes. Then, we bring lots of snacks and food to prepare while we are there because it is sometimes just as fun and way easier to just eat at the condo.

Anyways, we are excited. Vic is coming home early today; we have dinner with our neighbors tonight and then we are leaving at 9am tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I am packing us and being as organized as possible. We are making a pit stop in OG for Granny Irene's 90th Birthday Party on Saturday night, so I am trying to keep us from unpacking everything for one night and making separate bags. And so many to do lists. But, I love to do lists. They are so much fun to make and then to cross off!

I must also mention how much I love unpacking. Before we leave our destination to head home, I try to make it easy for myself. I separate all of the dirty clothes, organize all of our leftover belongings, throw out anything we have accumulated (fruit snack wrappers, etc.). Then, when we get home, I like to unload everything and put it away immediately. There is not a better feeling than immediately washing, drying, and putting away clothes and unloading every bag and every suitcase so that you can rest easy that night and wake up ready to go the next day. If I leave things unpacked, they are likely to sit there a week before I mess with them again.

And do you know what is EVEN BETTER than just being efficient with packing and unpacking? Doing it all with a clean house. Earlier this week, I cleaned every room - dust, vacuum, mop, sweep, move furniture, do laundry, clean bathrooms, etc. So, I do not have that looming when I get home either.

I do love some organizing...which reminds me that earlier this week I really wanted The Container Store in College Station to go shop. I am needing a trip this fall. I love that place. I could spend a fortune. I bet I could even find better ways to organize my packing for trips.

Have a good day everyone! Oh and here is a picture to show you how I started my packing. In this picture, I take everything on my list and dump it on the bed in the guest room. Then, I continue to organize and put into suitcases all at once. No running back and forth or forgetting something in the suitcase and having to carry extra bags just for those items. Efficiency. Organization. It's like I'm a mom or something.



Friday Favorites: Surgery

I would like to tell you about my favorite surgeries:

1. The C-Section: this is my favorite surgery mainly based on the outcome. I get a baby!!! Having had 2 C-sections already and knowing all future children will be delivered via C-section, I am a fan of this one.

2. Gallbladder Removal Surgery (aka Cholecystectomy): This is the actual reason for my Friday Favorites Post. For those that didn't know, I had my gallbladder removed on August 5th. Hallelujah. And, just so I remember it many years from now, I thought I'd post the details.

3 weeks after Grace was born, I sat down to dinner on the Friday night of Easter weekend with Vic, GG, Ana, and Charley and begin to feel what I thought must be heartburn. It was a terrible pain in my chest, but nothing that made me think "chest pains". I have never had heartburn, but assumed this was it. Over the next 4 hours, I went through bad pains, crouching over the toilet thinking I might have a stomach bug, walking around trying to ease the pain and taking every kind of heartburn medicine we could think of. It was terrible, but after about 4 hours, the pain subsided. It didn't help that I needed to nurse Grace every 2-3 hours and that I was exhausted anyways. It was terrible, but the next day I thought "whew, it's over!". That is-until it happened again. I believe it happened 3 times before I went to the doctor. He agreed it was probably severe heartburn and that I needed to just take Zantac, Naproxen and give my body time to rest, as it had just gone through a shock with pregnancy, delivering, C-section, etc.

Off I went glad to have a diagnosis and a pain relieving plan. However, over the next 2 months, I continued to have episodes of "heartburn". They ranged from 3-15 hours with pains moving from my chest to the top of my stomach. Pain would radiate terribly in my back. I couldn't pick up the kids and it was tough to nurse. I would walk; I would sit still; I could never lay down to sleep or get comfortable; I would take Pepcid AC, Tums, Alka-Seltzer, Zantac, drink milk (which I hate!), eat crackers, drink tons of water, eat nothing. After each episode, I would go over exactly what process I had completed between the time it began and ended and assume it was the new process to get through the pain. So, the next time I had an episode, I would do the same thing. However, it wouldn't work. I had in my head that my body just had to heal as the doctor said my stomach lining was inflamed and needed to heal. So, each and every time, I would hope that was the last time.

But, after those 2 months and a terrible episode the previous night, I went back to the doctor and asked him about a specialist who could scope me or do something more. But, first he wanted to move me to a stronger heartburn med (Protonix - generic brand). So, we did and for 3 weeks, I had nothing happen. Part of me was thrilled because it must working! The other part of me was not thrilled because I didn't want to be on medicine forever. Then, one night 3 weeks after I had a minor episode, I decided to go back to the doctor again and he finally ordered an ultrasound for me. At this point, my entire family and some friends had decided this could not be heartburn. I never got relief from heartburn meds. And, some thought it sounded like gallbladder. So, on appointment #3, I mentioned gallbladder and while I didn't have exact symptoms for it, he said we would know with the ultrasound.

Sure enough, a few days later they called with the results: gallstones. I was so glad! I was glad I wasn't crazy and a big wimp with heartburn and glad to have a final diagnosis with a probably solution: removal. I met with a surgeon, scheduled the surgery and finally had that thing removed.

The surgery took all of an hour and I was at the hospital for maybe 7 with pre-op, post-op and discharge. I had no problems with general anesthesia. The recovery was not bad. 4 small incisions meant that I was sore for about 10 days and fortunately, GG came to help take care of kids while I recovered. The worst area of soreness was my bellybutton; or when Grace would kick me while nursing. It turns out, after talking to the surgeon, and my extensive online reading, that women around 30 who have had a couple of kids fit the pattern for gallstones. And, actually I read that about 30% of women actually have gallstones form during pregnancy. Only about 5% actually have issues that cause pain and need it removed. I CAN. NOT. imagine having gallbladder stone attacks while pregnant. It was horrible.

So, while not a very exciting Friday Favorites post, I wanted to document this so I remember it one day. I hope these are the only two surgeries I ever have! Though I do not want to be done with C-sections anytime soon!

Friday Favorites: The British Royals

Due to traveling and company, I've missed a couple of Friday Favorites posts. But, today, I am going to come clean about one of my guilty pleasures: keeping up with the British Royal Family. I do not claim to know everything about the history of the royals, or even keep up with every outfit Kate wears or every place they are visiting when they visit. But, since we visited London in December 2010, I have been taken with them. Vic and I started watching The Tudors when we got back from London and I thought it was very fun. Then, we had a baby, and all planned TV watching became second priority. However, of course, as with everyone, Kate and Will are currently my favorites. I think Kate and William are just a classy, modern day couple that just happen to have fancy titles, wear crowns on occasion, and live in extraordinary homes. I mean I feel like, if given the chance, Vic and I could totally be friends with them. And our babies could play together. And we could attend BBQ's at one another's houses. And we could send each other Christmas cards. And we could even vacation together one day. Granted, our vacation site budget would be Port Aransas and theirs is probably Greece. But, I still have that random thought, when reading about some noble, or even just normal thing they are doing, via People.com, that one day we just might run into one another. You never know!!

I digress. But, truly, today I am excited because earlier this week, on July 22, William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a BOY! I love that they chose to wait until the baby's arrival to learn the gender. I love that they did not tell anyone the name right away. I love that they kept the details to themselves, for now. I remember that the day after I was put on "house rest" and the day before I gave birth to Atticus in 2011, Kate and Will were married in Westminster Abbey in London. Westminster was my favorite place to visit during our London trip. And yes, I did record it on TV so that I could get up and leisurely watch the 6 or so hour coverage of the Royal Wedding on that Friday while Atticus stayed cozy inside my tummy, preparing to make his arrival the next day.

Also, I am just excited for Kate and Will (again - I am practically assuming they are my regular ole friends). What a special day Monday was as they welcomed that little boy into the world and held him for the first time. Although he is 3rd in line to the throne and has a future already setup for him in many ways, for now he is just a wee little baby who will be loved and tenderly cared for by his parents as all newborns should be cared for. I feel like Kate has joined this special club for moms and that she and I now share that overwhelming feeling of finally holding your own newborn baby, that you have cautiously carried for 9 months, in your arms. Mmmmm. It makes me happy. I should confess that I really wanted them to have a little girl first. This is mainly because I think Grace Caroline, after my own little Grace, sounds like a perfect princess name and I would have let them use it. But, boys are wonderful as well! George Alexander Louis is his name. Although I always stay a little confused about what the royals last names really are?

So, now, I can go back to my normal life and leave my fairy tale thoughts about the royal couple and royal baby. But, the Royal Family is one of my favorites to follow. I mean, what little girl grown woman doesn't love a good prince and princess story? And I will love looking for pictures of him and his parents and his future siblings and watching him grow up for years to come through our social media outlets. And, though, unless I truly run into them one day, they will never know this, but I wish them a world of happiness!

Friday Favorites: Pulled Pork and Carmelitas

Today's Friday Favorites are two recipes I've cooked this past week: Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot and Carmelitas. If you remember from last week, we made the pulled pork for our family summer fun night, but it made a lot of servings. I mean...a lot. We ate it from Friday night until the following Wednesday at noon. But, honestly, it was just so juicy and delicious and one of those kinds of leftovers we did not tire from! My tip: put it in a soft tortilla with some pico de gallo and you are set. Here's the recipe for Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot:

2 1/2-3 lb pork butt (also known as a pork shoulder)
24 oz. (2 cans) Dr. Pepper1 medium onion, cut in quarters and then again in half
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dry ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
Barbecue Sauce of choice (we used HEB Texas Style BBQ Sauce)

Place the chopped onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the pork butt on top of the onions and add the garlic, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour the Dr. Pepper on top and cook on high for 4-5 hours (or on low for 8 hours).

Very carefully, because the pork will be hot, remove the meat from the slow cooker and place on a large cutting board. Using two forks, shred the pork by pulling away from each other. The meat should be very tender by this point. Place the shredded pork back into the slow cooker and continue to cook for an additional hour.

Drain the remaining juices and toss the meat and onion mixture in the barbecue sauce of choice. I don't have an exact amount listed-just add a bit at a time until you get to your desired sauciness!

And here is the Carmelita Recipe: (I always double it!) I have made these twice now. Saw the recipe on this blog via Pinterest. They are ooey-gooey delicious but also kind of heavy that even just eating one square is pretty filling. Do I want to eat more than one square? Yes. But, I can get my sweet fix very easily with just a little.

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.
*A stint in the fridge will help them cool off if you're pinched for time. They shouldn't be served cold, but all of that molten caramel takes a long time to cool down. They should be stored and served at room temperature.
**If you want to use homemade or store-bought caramel sauce in place of the caramel/cream mixture, use 1 1/4 cups of sauce.
***To make a 9x13" version, simply double the amounts.

These are my favorite recipes of this past week!