Grilled Cheese Bar Birthday Party

Birthday celebrations are fun, but can sometimes bring challenges. In my family for birthdays we tend to get together for dinner – either out to eat at the birthday person’s place of choice or dining in with a favorite meal – give gifts and eat cake. It’s a great formula for birthday success! This year, I felt home bound by our adorable kiddos. Dining out is just not much fun these days, so I didn’t want to get everyone out just to be forced to wrangle kids in an unfamiliar-to-them environment and be stressed through all of dinner. But, what to eat?! After much deliberation and restaurant take-out research, I landed on a favorite childhood meal, but with a twist.

Enter the grilled cheese bar. My mom makes a mean grilled cheese, so I wanted to take advantage of her mad skills, plus see how we could adventure to make new, maybe more adult grilled cheese combinations. I Googled this grand idea, and sure enough, it’s a thing! Bloggers and celebrities have shared the idea, so I took what I thought would work best for our family and pitched the idea to my family. Thankfully, they were game. And, we had quite the spread!

Grilled Cheese Bar Spread

Gear Up! Nursing Essentials

Breastfeeding is hard. There, I’ve said it. It’s true. It’s a challenge and it’s not for everyone. No judgement here. I didn’t end up breastfeeding Lil’ O, but have been able to stick it out with Lil’ Chica. It’s different for every mom, every child, every life situation. Part of finding balance is picking our battles. For those determined to give breastfeeding a try, bravo.

If your breastfeeding journey is like mine, and I sincerely hope it’s much easier, you may benefit and find encouragement in gearing up for the task. Through much trial and error, here are the products I’ve found to be essential on my journey. I hope other moms find this useful.

The Rocky Road of Breastfeeding – My Breastfeeding Trials & Triumph

Lil’ Chica is now eight months – eight months! – and through some strong determination, coupled with the grace of God, I am still breastfeeding her. It has been far from easy, but she and I persevered. If I’ve learned anything from this, it’s that stubbornness can sometimes be a virtue. My crazy goal was to breastfeed her for six months. We’re already passed that, so everything now is bonus.

Sometimes struggles turn into personal journeys. We persevere, we grow, we learn.

Staying Positive – This Week’s Pick-Me-Ups

This week has been the usual grind of kid care, house chores, errands and more. So much to do! Maybe it’s that we’re getting into a pretty set rhythm, so it feels like we’re just coming up for air, but I feel so behind! And, so tired. Now that we’ve managed the basics, there are hobbies to pick back up, blogging to do, Lil’ Chica’s first year baby album to compile, family memories to capture, and friends to catch up with. Phew!

I’m trying not to get overwhelmed or bummed out by it all. In that effort, here are some of the fun things that are getting me through this week.

Celebrations: Lil’ Chica’s Baby Dedication & Lil’ O Turns 3

So much to celebrate! We’ve just concluded a jam-packed two weeks of festivities, complete with Grandparent’s Day at Lil’ O’s new preschool, Lil’ Chica’s baby dedication at our church, and all the birthday celebrating we could muster for Lil’ O’s transition to the big three. (I should probably stop calling him a toddler now, hmm?)

G'pa, Lil' O, G'ma and Meema. G'dad behind the lens. Of course.

OH Grands Visit

As they do each winter, Husby’s parents, Meema and G’pa, came to visit, fleeing the Ohio winter and celebrating Lil’ O’s birthday. This time around, since we had lots of advance notice, they extended their trip slightly so they could attend Grandparent’s Day at Lil’ O’s school. They joined my parents, G’ma and G’dad, giving Lil’ O his full cadre of grandparents at his whim for the morning. The program was reportedly a bit long for the preschoolers, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the special day.