Clopper

Grandma & Grandpa Brannan bought Deaglan a cute wooden walker that makes a clopping sound when he walks.  The alligators' mouths move up and down to create the clicking noise.  At first, D wasn't the biggest fan of it.  He just tried putting things in the alligators' mouths or he would kneel and push it around the house on his knees.  Well, he has finally become obsessed with it.  The trouble, however, is that he can't figure out how to move it when he hits walls so then he cries every few seconds because he is stuck.  We have found that the best place to clop around is outside on the sidewalk.  It is great exercise for him and he loves that the clicking sound echoes quite loudly for all neighbors nearby to hear.

 

Did I mention we live on a hill?  His poor little calf muscles are probably burning by the time he gets to the top but he always turns the corner and heads up the next street!

He has to point to every tree, leaf, bush, flower, car, stick, butterfly....you catch my drift. 

Deaglan also has to stop and pick up leaves, crabapples, sticks, etc. to put on top of his alligators while he walks.

The best day was when he found three pinecones.  He was the happiest little dude on the block even though happiness turned to pure exhaustion when I tried snapping a photo...

So, we will keep clopping on as much as we can before it gets too cold outside!

Clean Coffee Pot

This has been on my mind to post for awhile...

The inside of our coffee pot has always been brown. My dad gave it to us used so I've never seen the "stainless steel" color it is supposed to be.  I've tried scrubbing it with so many different cleaning methods and still ended up with a brown coffee pot.

I am happy to say that Pinterest came to the rescue yet again!  It is soooo easy to clean I wish I found this out years ago.

All you do is boil water in a tea kettle then pour it into the coffee pot.  Drop in a  dishwasher tablet. I used the Finish brand with the little red dot in the middle (I tried using a blue gel one at first and it didn't work) and let it sit for 30-45 minutes.  My tablet was in there for close to an hour for good measure.  It was gross to see the gunk pour out of the pot when it was finished cleaning.

Now, we finally have a clean coffee pot!  I had just to pass on this awesome technique :-)

 Before

After

Deaglan's 1st Birthday!

All day, I kept thinking about this time last year.  I couldn't help but glance back at photos...

Happy as can be on my way to the hospital!  Mainly, just thrilled that my water didn't break at school.

Mr. Itty Bitty was born and we were glad to have my parents and friends, Ashley & Sully, there late at night to support us and welcome him into the world.

 

Over the next week at the hospital, we had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends visit us.  It meant so much to have such an outpouring of love and support.  It helped make parenting not as scary!

I still laugh thinking back at the thought that we were going to break him if we burped him too hard.

 Newborn clothes were actually baggie.

The wubbanub pacifier was pretty much the size of him.

Some things still remain the same though...

It is noticeable when Deaglan is pooping.

He lets you know when he is upset.

Deaglan still looks adorable in preppy clothes.

He still let's daddy do ridiculous things to him.

Some things are different from the first few days and some things remain the same.  The biggest thing though that will never change is that we can't get enough of our cute little man!

Happy First Birthday Deaglan! 

Little Projects

I love doing little projects.  Maybe a little too much.  My mind is constantly going with things I can be doing so sometimes I choose to do something that needs to be done while other times I decide to do something that really isn't necessary.  Here are a few of my recent projects:

I found this tray for $2 at Goodwill and made it into a menu board.  I try to plan out our meals two weeks in advance to save money, save trips to the store, save time, and to save food from going bad.  I used to always misplace my menu that I scribbled down on scrap paper; now I can't lose it!

I am excited that in just a few weeks, or maybe days, my sister-in-law Kristi will be having a boy.  I can't wait for holidays so all of the little Brannan boy babies can play together!  For her shower, I had to create my first diaper cake because I loved all of the different "cakes" given to us at our showers.  I received a large cake, a bassinet, and a motorcycle.  All were adorable and very much appreciated.  Diapers are probably the best gift for new parents!  I couldn't really find good tutorials online of how to create a golf bag so I stared at Rory's golf bag for awhile and came up with a decent looking bag.  It didn't hold up too well on the ride down to D.C. but that's okay because I still enjoyed making it!

Lastly, I am happy to say that we finally baby proofed the fireplace hearth.  I really wanted a bumper on it when Deaglan was learning how to crawl, so it's a little late, but at least now it is ready for any babies that come to visit.  My mom was a rockstar with helping create the frame.  Do not get in the way of her and a power tool!  I covered the frame in foam (umm, why is foam expensive?) and then added pillow stuffing to add more protection.  I bought really cheap fabric from Walmart and used a staple gun to secure it to the foam and then added some decorative nails to make it not as bland.  We made it so that it can slide on and off of the fireplace.  Deaglan now enjoys crawling on top of the fireplace but at least he won't hit his head on the sharp corners.  Now, I just need to teach him how to not go headfirst onto the floor when he wants to get down...

I am currently working on a wall rack for some of our pots and pans.  I have a bunch of pans thrown in one cabinet and it is driving me nuts!  I don't want them to get scratched and it is so annoying to dig out a heavy pot.  My sister-in-law Katie gave me a really cute stencil for our wedding shower.  I had it up in our last kitchen and couldn't wait to display it in our new house.  Originally, I was going to paint it on a few strips of pallet and put it in the kitchen until I realized that I wanted to try and make a wall rack.  Rory's parents gave us a few peg boards so I am going to be putting one to use if all goes to plan...now it's a matter of hanging it on the wall.  Let's see how long that takes!

Jalapeno Popper Corn Fritters

A few weeks ago, I put corn on the cob in the freezer because I didn't want it to go bad.  Then I realized that it may not taste that great if I didn't freeze it correctly so I wanted to try to think of a recipe that had corn in it but not as the only ingredient.  My mom suggested a corn chowder recipe but soup and warm weather just doesn't mix even though it sounded really good.  I decided to make this recipe I found on Pinterest.  It was easy, different, and delicious!  Maybe not as healthy as simple corn on the cob...but hey, we aren't eating these all the time so I didn't feel that badly! I had a few strips of bacon in the fridge so that was a special add on but I probably wouldn't bother with it next time.  Rory and I could have just had these as the main meal and skipped the chicken breast!

Almost one year???

As we were talking about the fact that D is almost a big one year old, Rory and I noticed that we don't take as many pictures of Deaglan as we used to.  I believe it has something to do with the fact that Deaglan does not just sit still and stare at us and toys anymore.  He is a boy on the go so it's often hard to snap a picture of what he is doing.  I made it a point a few weeks ago to keep my phone handy so I could capture some of his every day activities so you guys could see the day in the life of Deaglan!

He loves playing with blocks and a wooden train that his Grandma Brannan bought for him.  He is also quite obsessed with banging on and eating the trash can.

 Deaglan will often stare at his toys in the basket, pull out every single one, then decide not to play with any of them & just crawl around in hopes that someone is chasing him.  Most days, he'd rather play with the remote, dirt from the plant, dvds, cable box & anything else that is in reach that he is not supposed to touch. Also, he likes going around the house and pointing towards ceiling fans!

At first, he struggled to use his walkers but now he is getting the hang of them!  He also loves to sneak up the stairs when no one is watching.  He cracks up when  you get to the stairs and try to climb after him!

We went to Ocean City with our friends a few weekends ago.  I was so impressed that Deaglan stayed on the blanket to play and didn't really eat the sand!  He loved the airplanes that kept flying over and ever since then he likes to put his hand up in the air and make a noise so I pretend he is imitating a plane.  Deaglan loved having Dublin, their large chocolate lab, around to play with.  He had no fear of the dog and liked chasing him, sharing his toys, and playing in his food bowl.

I also just took him to Richmond for a few days to visit family and friends.  Deaglan loved playing with my cousin's dog.  We are thrilled to see that he does so well with dogs because we really want one.  We are trying to hold off until next summer though to get one....we will see!  Recently, Deaglan also went onto my parent's boat for the first time.  I was worried he wouldn't be able to nap but he dozed off so easily.

So for now, our summer days have been busy.  I've been trying to keep him on the go so he doesn't get bored around the house.  This upcoming week, we are going to take Dealgan to the Maryland State Fair because I know he will love walking around to see all of the sights and sounds.  It is crazy to think that school is almost in session and that almost one year ago this little cutie was born.