I mean Happy Monday! I was thinking this morning how I used to dread Mondays, particularly when I was a student or working outside of the home. but now, I really rely on my Mondays to get things back in order. By Sunday night I just feel like the house is in shambles, the laundry is piled up, the boys are worn out from extra weekend excitement, the kitchen is a mess and it looks as if I haven’t cleaned in weeks. On Monday mornings Jackson is in preschool and Owen and I have the house to ourselves. He oscillates between being extra needy without Jackson around and being much more independent enjoying every precious share-free moment.   I try to find a balance between my “reclaiming the house” and spending special one-on-one time with Owen. It’s amazing how changing the sheets, starting a few loads of laundry, wiping the kitchen counters and tidying can help the place feel much less chaotic. And it’s equally amazing how a couple of hours apart for the boys can give them both some space to learn and grow and also help them to miss each other!

talking on his banana phone

Oh yes, and today is also a birthday celebration in our house! Seth is turning the big 3-3 today. When Jackson comes home he and I will spend some time baking a birthday treat. I am cooking one of Seth’s favorite meals and I am sure Jackson and Owen will sing Happy Birthday as many times as we will let them.  The rest of the evening will be spent with everyone getting over their sugar high and Jackson discussing how long it really is until it is his birthday. It’s tough that all of our birthdays are sandwiched kind of together between December and February and he has to wait until late July. Oh to be a social boy who loves to plan the next party….I just cannot imagine where he got that from.  Last night when he asked about his birthday I told him the moving men coming to pack out stuff would be his cue…but that is still a long way off.

We have enjoyed the coziness of snowy days but we are ready for some warmth, the ability to take walks and just generally ready for the cabin fever to pass. We have gone through the gamut of puppet shows, building forts, turning the playroom upside down and we are just plain ready for Spring.  BUT we know we still have a while to go! It feels like a February for sure!

every great show needs a good audience

Coming soon I have some recipes to share and a post on toddler sleep…because we have been living in a toddler sleep nightmare….don’t be deceived by the word nightmare,  we are barely sleeping. It has improved enough that I am almost ready to share.

Yesterday a friend and I hosted a baby shower for our mutual friend Haley! She is a fellow American and friend and we thought it would be fun to do the good old baby shower tradition here although it isn’t a custom in Switzerland.

We decorated super simply with fresh tulips and baby booties on the table.  The baby’s great grandmother made some precious pink booties with little socks knitted on and the baby’s grandmother made a little set of pink booties…they both looked so cute on the table! We hung a little ribbon line with vintage baby girl cards on it! And that was it for decorations. Simple and sweet.

We had punch and snacks as people arrived. After we all visited for a bit we  had Haley open her gifts. When the gifts time was done we moved into a lunch/brunch time. In case you think we didn’t feed the momma to be enough here was the menu…

Menu

strawberry lemonade punch

Prosecco with pomogranite syrup and pom seeds

hot artichoke dip

vegetables and dip (Haley is addicted to ranch)

Lunch

individual quiches

curried chicken salad

fruit salad

skewers with tomatoes and fresh mozerella dipped in pesto

bread basket with muffins and breads

Dessert

(everything was mini because we couldn’t imagine anything big after all of the previous eating! )

mini lemon cupcakes with cream cheese icing

brownies

oreo truffles

almond tarts with raspberry jam filling

Needless to say we were all stuffed by the end!  Katie hand dipped pretzels for the guests to take as a favor. They were so pretty with pink chocolate and sweet little pearl candies.

It was a really fun morning! We are looking forward to meeting Haley’s little miss!