The Synowiec Nest

Friday, May 29, 2009

Yogurt Snacks and Baby Sneakers

While in Omaha, we invested in some Gerber Yogurt Melts and Taylor devoured them. She gladly eats them in place of more substantial food and stuffs her cheeks so full that yogurt dribbles down her chin.

Well, in an effort avoid shelling out $2.50 for a package that lasts only two snack times, today I made what Mark likes to call "YoBaby Buttons." I took the unfinished half of Taylor's morning YoBaby and spooned it out in little drops on wax paper on top of a cookie sheet. Then I stuck it in the freezer. When I took it out and showed Taylor, she was so excited! Now we have a healthier, less expensive yogurt snack that Taylor loves. Too bad it isn't portable! The "buttons" only stay firm for a couple of minutes out of the freezer.

In other news, I finally located Taylor's Tredz! She ran off with them two weekends ago right before our visitors arrived and since then I have searched high and low without success. Today, I decided to check the guest room trash can. Sure enough, two little sneakers. Considering our history with finding lost items in the trash, I'm surprised I didn't look there sooner! Thank goodness I found it before our trip.

Butterfly House

Yesterday, Taylor and I met up with Sarah and Samuel at the Butterfly House. It was like the Butterfly Pavillion at the Omaha Zoo, but larger and with a wider variety of butterflies. I think the babies liked it. They were actually spotting the butterflies flying around and pointing at them. It was a great getaway on a dreary, rainy day.

So You Think Taylor Can Dance?

One of our favorite shows to watch is "So You Think You Can Dance." We watched the audition shows the last couple of nights and Taylor really seemed to enjoy it! She was picking up some new moves. I think we need to watch more dancing videos.

Here's another video of some of her new daring moves. She is definitely gymnast material - no fear.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Omaha to St. Louis

We had a great weekend in Omaha. The 5 mile run/walk went well. It was a very sunny day, but breezy as well so we didn't get too overheated.

Carol and Taylor stood in line to get their faces painted before the race started, but the line was so long that Mark stayed behind with them and the rest of us started running/walking. Mom and I walked slowly so that they would have an easier time catching up. Carol jumped in with the runners as they passed the two mile marker and Mark waited there awhile longer until we were made it. At that point the "sag wagon" police car was right behind us. We had been walking so slowly apparently, that we were at the back of the line! Everyone we had passed up before then had just dropped off and left.

With Taylor in the umbrella stroller we made an effort to speed up and pass as many people as possible, running whenever we reached a downhill area. When we got to the last mile or so, I decided to run, Mom wanted to keep walking, and Mark just pulled the stroller off to the side to watch us finish. I crossed the finish line at just under 1 hour and 25 minutes. It was my slowest time yet for this Boys Town run, but I comfort myself knowing that I took it easy and didn't really try to go fast anyway. I'll have to post our end-of-race photo later, as soon as I get it from my parent's camera...

When we got home we had Stetson Salad for lunch and banana splits for dessert, watched a few movies, and then had beef kabobs and corn for dinner. Taylor loved eating the corn right off of the cob!

Here are other fun photos from the weekend.

Taylor playing with her babydoll inside Phoebe's crate. Mark was worried neighbors would look in the window and think we had caged our baby, so he pulled the curtains shut.

Taylor and Phoebe enjoying the sun and nice, green grass.

Kissing Daddy through the window. They did this for a few minutes! It was adorable.

The drive home went amazingly well (thanks for the prayers)! Taylor slept for about 4 of the 7 hours, and when she was awake she was happy and playful. Phoebe, on the other hand, insisted on sitting on my lap for almost the entire drive. We got home at about 5:30pm, so it was plenty of time to unwind and relax before bed.

We had leftovers of Mark's homemade pizza for dinner (oh-so-good). I told Mark we should see how his pizza tastes once it's been frozen and defrosted. If it holds up better than store bought pizza I think we should just make large batches of it once a month and have them as our dinner back-up plan instead of other frozen pizzas.

Now I need to get to unpacking our stuff and washing some clothes...and Taylor's gunky carseat cover. Feeding baby in the car = messy messy messy. Taylor and I leave for KL in 8 days! Yikes! I need to get packing.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Weekend in Omaha

We're in Omaha now! It was a long and not particularly pleasant drive up (read: screaming, tired baby), but we made it here just before midnight on Friday. Then Phoebe woke us up at 6:30am on Sat because she was so excited to explore my parent's big backyard. Ah, a vacation of little sleep.

We went to Sur La Table and found new, fun pizza-making and grill supplies for Mark, then to Whole Foods for our yummy pizza ingredients. Mark will be making pizza tonight. Then, Mark and I left Taylor behind with my parents and went off to see the new Star Trek movie. I really liked it! It makes me want to watch the original series all over again.

Taylor and her Lola spent a lot of time outside playing with the garden hose (which Taylor also loves to do at home now). Here are the best shots:

Chris and Carol arrived late last night, so we haven't seen much of them yet. But we're all going to Dario's for brunch in a few minutes and then to the zoo.

Tomorrow is our big 5mile run (er, walk). We may prep a little bit today walking around the neighborhood. I forgot the jogging stroller, so we're forced to take it slow with an umbrella stroller my parents had around. Mom is pleased she'll be pushing Taylor for the event this year. Dad had the stroller all last year.

I'd better get ready to go - we're leaving soon!