And Max Makes Three

Thirsty for Thirsties!

2011-08-05T08:19:00.003-05:00

Corny title, sorry. Couldn't resist. I know I haven't blogged over here lately, been a bit busy. What with life and all.

Anywho, I'm popping in to talk about the makers of one my most favorite diaper covers EVER- Thirsties! Now, granted, I've used more of their products than just diaper covers, but those are the ones I've used the most, and have the most of, so I can safely say how wonderful they are.

What I DON"T have, however, are any of their NEW Duo Wraps. Why, you might ask? Well, they came out right after I bought my last batch of covers. (Thirsties, mind you.) Had they been out, that's what I would have bought.

Now, I know what you might be thinking: why are we talking about Thirsties Duo wraps? Why are we talking about Thirsties at all?? Well, besides being a cloth diapering dork, I'm also writing to let you guys know about the amazing Thirsties Thursday Giveaway that they have going on right now! It's for:
2 Duo Wraps
2 Prefolds
2 Stay-dry liners

Now, that might not sound like a lot to the uninitiated, but for those of us who use cloth diapers all day, every day, that is a great prize! And I seriously want to win.

Seriously.

So much so that I almost forgot to link back to the post on the Thirsties blog!!!

Don't try this at home!

2011-02-14T22:20:00.000-06:00

Today I attempted to make peanut butter cookies with my 2 1/2 year old. And my one year old thrown in for good measure, about half way through.

Do I need to go on, or do you already know where this is going?

Well, for those of you who haven't interacted with a toddler lately, I'll continue. The rest of you can just continue laughing at me and close the tab.

She did great helping turn the mixer on and off, adding ingredients, etc. Except that she thought the shortening must taste similar to peanut butter since it was in a similar container. The main job I gave her, however, was to roll the dough balls in sugar. Easy enough. Simple. And she did it, very well, I might add. The trouble started when she 1) discovered how good the dough tasted; and 2)when she decided she didn't like the feeling of the sugar on her fingers between rollings. Sooooooo to fix number one, she started pinching off bits of dough to eat. And to fix number two she would stick her whole hand in her mouth to suck all the sugar off.

Yeah.... we won't be sharing these cookies with friends and neighbors.

Quotable Max Quotes

2010-11-29T19:02:00.001-06:00

... and other things of interest.

The other she was trying out the potty, again, and had a toy cell phone with her. She starts talking on it and says "Hi. I on potty. I have pink toes. Bye." She pretended to call Ryan the other morning "Hi Daddy. I love you."

Victoria has a large vocabulary and can communicate her thoughts and feelings quite well. She and "E-sha" play together more and more which is great! They even have conversations using Elisha's current vocab.

The weather here changed almost overnight, it seemed. It was quite sudden, actually. One day we ran the A/C for naptime, the next day we didn't need it at all. Haven't used it since, and that was back in September! It has been dipping down into the 40's lately, so I had to dig out some of our winter paraphernalia. In fact, it even snowed last night! It's definitely harder to get out the door with having to bundle not only one's self up, but two little ones as well. Esp. when one or both of those two little ones don't see the need to do so, or have the desire to stop playing long enough to do so. That definitely makes going anywhere a challenge, and, to be honest, it's quite frustrating. Like I tell Ryan often, we have a great day, except when it is time to try and get out the door. Other than that, things go well! It's often a fight to get everything on both of them, keep it on both of them long enough to get out the door and into the stroller, AND remember to grab my jacket and the backpack. It took us half an hour just this morning. Sigh. A traveling circus sideshow, that's us. We are quite the entertainment for the Korean grandmas and grandpas.

Elisha crawls very well now, and pulls up on everything. He can walk around while holding onto our hands or furniture and walls. He's quite fast, and loooooves playing in the toilet, pushing the buttons on the washing machine while it's running, or pestering his sister during her nap. (Although yes, they do normally nap at the same time. Sometimes he goes down later than she does.)

Almost 5 months...

2010-11-24T20:16:00.002-06:00

...since I last wrote. Seriously? Craziness.

Well, we moved. To South Korea. (In case you're wondering, yes, I am still entering giveaways as I have time, as I am still a resident of the US, just not there at the moment.) Ryan is teaching High School Social Studies at an International Christian School. He is loving it, and working really hard. The kids are growing by leaps and bounds, and we are enjoying making new friends.

So, between setting up our apartment, maintaining it, taking care of two kids and a husband, cooking, shopping, laundry, etc., now you know why I haven't been around lately. =)

Why...?

2010-06-25T00:00:00.002-05:00

...do I write most of my blog posts late at night? I don't know. Maybe it's because everything else is done, or as done as it's going to be for today, Max is asleep, and the TV's off. I don't know. I'm sitting here with Jack passed out on my lap, FINALLY, and thought I'd hop on here and write a quick post. I'm also not normally up this late, but Jack was sleeping fine, then got all super fussy, so we moved down here, so as not to disturb his daddy, who has bronchitis, or his sister, who is sleeping soundly and I'd like to keep it that way. (How's that for a run-on sentence??)

It was definitely one of those days where "when it rains, it pours." Sigh. And yes, it's technically over now (although it won't be until I'm sound asleep in my bed). And yes, tomorrow is a new day. But I don't really anticipate tomorrow being THAT much better than today was. Maybe a bit. We'll see.

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

2010-06-12T22:21:00.002-05:00

Doesn't help that I just drank a cup of coffee, does it? Decafe, since it's almost 10:30 at night (I guess I should say 22:30, but then how many of you would have to sit there and do the math to figure out what time it was??). But still coffee. I should be going to bed, and I will be, shortly. Just wanted to stick my head in (yeah, on my own blog, go figure) and say hi.

HI!

Randomly, (What?!?! Corrie's random?? NO!), the buttons down the right side of my blog aren't ads. Okay, they sort of are. But they're there so I can get extra entries into various and sundry giveaways I enter. I've mentioned said giveaways before, just never what the buttons were there for. They do, indeed, link you to that particular blog (or should, anyway. Sometimes they have issues.), which is the point. But they're there for me, not as like, an in your face type thing.

And with that, I will go. Short, sweet. Not insanely long like the current book I'm reading. 1072 pages, to be exact. I'm on page 572. Woohoo!

Good night.

Ask me if I care. Go on, ask!

2010-05-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

About LOST? Nope. Watched some, maybe all, of the first season while in Suriname. Tried watching more of a later season while living in the states for year. It had already gotten too weird and hard to follow, and that was 3 1/2 years ago.

About the new Sex in a City movie? Nope. Didn't care about the first one, didn't care about the TV show. Pretty sure I never watched even a bit of it.

About car seat safety, esp. as it pertains to infants and small children? You bet your last dollar I do. Why are people in such a roaring hurry to turn their kids forward facing? It's 5x safer to rear face. FIVE TIMES, people!! It isn't "bad for their legs." They're not "uncomfortable." They can see perfectly fine. Winter coats and car seats do NOT go together. I know it's the end of May, so this is a moot point now, but they didn't go together last winter, and they won't go together this winter, either.
She is rear-facing in this picture- I'm in the seat next to her, with Jack on the other side.

About baby-wearing? You betcha! I won a Sleepy Wrap when Jack was a baby and I adored it. Sad day when he got too heavy for it. I'm currently using an Oh! Snap by Babyhawk, and really really like it. I just strap the baby on my back and off we go.

There are, of course, tons of other things I do and do not care about. Some of them you've probably figured out if you've been paying attention. Others, well, if I don't care about them that much, no need to waste time writing about them, right?

It's Friday!! I think...

2010-05-28T08:30:00.000-05:00

wooo hoo!

That is all. Have a good day!

A few things you may or may not have always wanted to know about me...

2010-05-27T22:08:00.004-05:00

...inspired by another fun mommy blog I follow. But I can't remember who (whom?). So you'll have to take my word for it. Oh, also, you may or may not care about the following. Can't say I didn't warn you.

1. I cloth diaper my babies. I love it, and it's highly addicting. Except I realized the other day that if I spent as much time and energy sharing the love of Christ and the good news of the free gift of salvation He offers, there would probably be more Christians in the world. How's that for conviction?

2. In case you didn't just figure it out, I'm a Christian. If you didn't already know, I'm sorry. That means I haven't been doing a very good job showing Him to the world.

3. My three most favorite people in the entire universe are my husband, Max, and Jack.

4. I wish my first OB had not been as scare-tactic-y as he was.

5. #4 stems from just having finished watching "The Business of Being Born." WOW.

6. Said movie was amazing. Totally inspiring and empowering.

7. I have driven on the left side of the road more than the right. Because it was law. Figure that one out!

8. I wish I could still jog. But it ends up hurting my knees too much. Bummer, dude.

9. I became a Christian in 2nd grade. Around Easter.

10. I've been trying to do a Random Act of Kindness every day (at least once) since reading that post I referred to in my previous post. A little bit harder to find ones that don't involve money, but I'm working on it. Any suggestions, hit me up!

11. I turned 29 years old this year. I will not be aging any further, however. There will be the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday, the 2nd anniversary of my 29th birthday... you get the idea.

12. My kids crack me up. They are both a hoot! Does anyone ever even say that anymore?

13. I'm also addicted to thrift stores and yard sales. Is there a support group somewhere for that?

There are, of course, more than 13 things you may or may not have always wanted to know about me, but I'm tired and having a hard time typing. So I'm going to add a picture, or two, then take Jack upstairs and go to bed. Ryan is playing a game with some of his friends. A playdate, if you will.
Not the best picture ever. Bummer. This was at Max's birthday party on Saturday.

The baby on the left is mine. The one on the right is 2 months younger than Jack, and they had a good ol' time playing together on that quilt. They slimed each other, touched each other's heads and hands, it was pretty darn funny.

Well of COURSE!

2010-05-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to finish getting the house clean for Ryan's aunt and uncle's (on his father's side) arrival. And of COURSE I manage to break the vacuum cleaner.

Finished sweeping and spot mopping the kitchen floor. Of COURSE I drop food on it.

Max turned 2 today. (Can you believe it??) Of COURSE she has to act like it. (Bless her heart. <-- That's what you say in the South when you're really ticked at someone but still want to be sweet about it.)

BUT, one of my friends on Facebook posted a link to a blog where the lady and her kids did 35 random (ish) acts of kindness on her 35th birthday. WOW. Go read it. I'll wait. ...... Did you read it? Weren't you inspired? If not, why not? I was!! Can't wait to think up and execute RAKs!!!

Diapers I NEEEEEDDDDDD...

2010-05-19T14:38:00.002-05:00

...okay, my KIDS need them. But, um, either way- they're on the need list. These particular diapers are called Bagshot Row Bamboo diapers, or BSRBs for short. Why are they a need? Well, they're bamboo. And we all know the amazing reasons to use bamboo. Oh, you don't? Well, where HAVE you been? Bamboo is SUPER absorbent. Super soft. Sustainable- it grows insanely fast. (Some think it grows faster than kudzu. They're wrong. Don't know what kudzu is? Google it.) The list goes on and on. But what makes this particular brand of diapers so desirable for me right this moment are two of her custom fabrics. Annnd there's not current pictures of the fabric I want. So you'll just have to take my word for it. One is the "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" fabric based on the Wizard of Oz. I'm a big Oz fan. (But NOT Ozzy Ozbourne. Nooooo.) The other is a retro-Pac-man fabric, which, when Ryan saw it, he wanted it. And he doesn't usually do that with diapers.

Sooooo I'm trying to win two custom BSRBs from Emi at The Cloth Diaper Report. Unless someone feels the need to stalk her hyenacart site and buy them for me. =)*hint hint hint*

What's new?

2010-05-19T14:28:00.005-05:00

Hmmmm...well, Jack has two teeth now. And he knows how to use them, so WATCH OUT! He can move around on the floor on his tummy. A lot of times he just goes in circles, but hey, it's progress. He is still a very very happy baby. Loves to smile and laugh. And grab. And stick things in his mouth. And grab some more. He's a very grabby baby- I don't remember his sister being quite this bad.
That picture's from April. Sorry. Just roll with it.

Max is going to be two tomorrow. ....cue the Whambulance.... WHAAAAAAAAAAA! I don't want my baby to be two! I don't want her to grow up! (Okay, but I also don't want her STUCK at two, kthanxbai.) She's a great big sister to Jack, and takes good care of him.
Let's see... what else is new... well, Lord willing, we should be moving to Korea in two months. Woohoo! My very own apartment to take care of! Ryan will finally be teaching again! We're going to be surrounded by signs and people that I don't understand! It'll be weird. I've been WITH people who are experiencing that, but have only ever experienced it once. In case you're wondering, that "once" was a day trip to French Guyana. (Although why it didn't happen in Brazil, I don't know. Maybe because more people TRIED to understand us and WANTED to help us. Go figure.) Guess I should get off my butt and start learning Korean. Menh, I have birthday cupcakes I need to ice first.

Did you miss me?

2010-05-03T20:43:00.002-05:00

Didn't think so! But it's all good. Been busy and such, lots of playing outdoors... once the snow melted... lots and lots of diaper changes, even more feeding of a baby and a toddler. Max isn't two yet, but you can't tell. For a while she screamed bloody murder for every diaper change. That seems to have tapered off, but she's taken up screaming over other things. But she's still super smart, generally happy, and extremely sweet to her baby brother. Who, really, isn't that much smaller than her anymore. Jack weighs approx. 21 lbs at just over 6 months. My arms hurt.

Lots more going on, and did go on, but it'd bore you. =)

What....?

2010-02-27T11:22:00.004-06:00

... will I be doing with these?

Not the toddler- the shirt she's standing on. I know what I'm going to do with her: love her forever and like her for always.

How big is the baby?

2010-02-26T08:20:00.000-06:00

....sooooooo big!!! Jack loves to eat, loves to sleep, and loves to be happy. He really is a happy, smiley, laughing baby. Even when he had both pneumonia AND RSV last week and into this week he still tried his best to laugh and smile. And yes, he's big!! Just over a week ago he weighed in at 17lbs 4oz. That was about a week before he turned 4 months. Yep, he's a big bundle of cuddles and happiness!

Something to do when you're running low on ideas...

2010-02-25T08:15:00.000-06:00

So yesterday we (and when I say "we" I mean "I") whipped out the Cool Whip -or whatever knockoff brand we have in the fridge- and plopped some on a plate for Max to play with. I put a drop of food coloring on it, gave her a toothpick, and let her run amuck. It was great. Entertained her for quite some time.

Started mixing...

Decided it was edible... (okay, I told her...)

Then she discovered that she could use her fingers and get more into her mouth...

And if she uses her WHOLE hand, she can get MORE in her mouth!

Let's put some MORE on our plate!

Or... we could just lick it off the plate.

What Will They Remember?

2010-02-24T15:07:00.002-06:00

When my babies are grown, and they talk about their childhood, what will they remember? What do I WANT them to remember? Do I want them to remember a clean house? Nice meals every night? Clean clothes? Fun outings? Reading books together? Playing together? I want them to remember all of those things, but with varying emphasis. I don't want the house to be a pigsty, but I don't want them to remember Mommy as being too busy cleaning to play. Nice meals are all well and good, but I don't want them thinking back on those and wishing I'd stopped and read a book with them. Max and Jack will, eventually I hope, be even slightly appreciative of clean laundry, but not at the expense of taking a walk outside together.

Through a roundabout way I found the story of Layla Grace the other day. She is just over 2 years old, and in what appear to be the final stages of stage 4 Neuroblastoma. As I write this, her mom recently Tweeted that Layla is having a harder and harder time breathing. The page that I linked to at the start of this paragraph is the first post I'd ever read about Layla. Her mother talks about regretting complaining about having a toddler underfoot, and wishes Layla WAS up and running around like a "normal" 2 year old. (I may have paraphrased, forgive me.) While reading this post I got seriously convicted. Now, I had thought of all this stuff in the past, but for some reason it really hit home this time. How often am I more concerned about getting "Stuff" done than I am about playing with and loving on my babies? How often do I get frustrated at Max for doing normal toddler things that are simply creating a bit more work for me? How many times have I gotten short with her because of my own selfish desires to do what I want to be doing??

In fact, right before reading that very post, I had snapped at Max for something stupid and small. It was my pure selfishness, and she hadn't done anything really wrong.

Having "met" Layla and read her story, I now am striving to cherish my babies more, spend more time with them, and less time worrying about the stuff that doesn't really matter anyway, and that they won't care about in the long run. I don't know why God is allowing Layla and her family to endure this pain and heartbreak, but I do know that Layla and her family have touched more lives, mine included, then they will ever know.

Sleepywrap!

2010-02-20T12:50:00.000-06:00

You know how Oprah has a "Favorite Things" episode where she highlights and gives out her favorite things for that particular time? (Like summer or whatever. Say what you will about Oprah, she's got some cool faves and giving them out to her audience is way cool.) Well, if Oprah had a baby, then I'd be willing to bet good money that the Sleepywrap would be at the top of her list of favorite things until said baby was too heavy to be worn in it.

When I first saw wraps in general, I was seriously daunted. It looked like a ton of work to put on, and how could it possibly be more comfortable than a Snugli (patooie!) or a ring sling? Well, the more types of carriers that I tried, and the more I read about the Sleepywrap, the more I really really really really wanted one. And finally, I won one! (Yeah, I could have just BOUGHT one, but that would have been too easy.) Now, after having used mine for just over 2 months, I don't know how I survived without it. Both with DS, now, and with my DD, who is now 20 months. With her, i just had a ring sling and a Snugli (patooie!), so I didn't wear her unless I really really needed to. Looking back, I can only wonder if I would have been more relaxed and confident as a first time mommy and if she would have been a happier, more content baby, if I had had a Sleepywrap. Having the wrap now with DS is simply amazing. I can wear him almost wherever, whenever. (The exceptions being in the car, while taking a shower, etc. You get the idea.) He's happy, I'm happy, and stuff still gets done. When he's awake he can look around and laugh and smile, and then when he goes to sleep I can tuck his head under one of sides of the wrap, and it's supported and I can continue with what I was doing.

He's well over 15 pounds now, at just 3 months, and this wrap distributes the weight AMAZINGLY well. I wore him at the mall the other day for 3 hours and had no discomfort whatsoever. When he's fussy, putting him into the wrap calms him down almost instantly. On the rare, rare occasion that he does fuss while being worn, at least I know he's okay until I can get to taking care of whatever is bothering him, and his crying doesn't stress me out like it does if he's in his swing NOT being held.

Okay, so I know a lot of people like to do lists for pros and cons, so here's mine for the Sleepywrap:

PROS:
- easy to use, after initial time or two of learning
- happy baby
- happy mommy
- truly hands-free
- ease of portability
- machine washable!!
- weight distribution is AMAZING
- can be used by almost anybody, regardless of size or weight. (I.e.- DH who is 6'6" and over 280 can wear the same wrap as I can.)

(Yes, he's striking a "isn't my butt sexy?" pose.)

CONS:
- not safe nor recommended for back carrying
- I have yet to figure out how to nurse while wearing DS in it. UpstateMomof3 says she's done it, but I haven't gotten around to e-mailing her to ask how.

Would I recommend this to a friend? YES YES YES. I think EVERYONE with a baby should own one. They are VERY affordable and, as I mentioned before, I seriously wish I'd owned one when DD was a baby.

Smiling baby!

2010-02-19T10:51:00.006-06:00

I haven't been around for a while... sorry! Did you miss me? You probably shouldn't answer that unless the answer is "yes." Body After Baby has been slightly derailed, but oh well. I've been busy sewing and fixing diapers. It's been a lot of fun! Then Max got sick. Then Jack and I got sick at the same time. Max is almost better, and Jack finally slept well last night, but I think it's going to take a while longer for him and me to get better.

Jack is almost 4 months old! So crazy. He's generally a very happy baby- loves to laugh, smile, chuckle, etc. (So when he was being super cranky I knew for sure he was sick!) And he already weighs just over 17lbs! He and Max wear the same diapers now, same sizes and all! It's nice for stuffing and grabbing!

Did you make it this far? Good for you! Ugh, now if my nose would just STOP running, I'd be set...

Things- Day 2 + Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Continuing in the Things Week, today is Things I never get tired of eating. And since it's Monday, I'll throw this week's menu plan in, too. Now I just have to go make it...

Things I never get tired of eating and/or baking:
- Christmas Crack
- hot cocoa
- twizzlers
- pizza
- lasagna
- chocolate
- Matt's chocolate chip cookies
- Pad Thai
- Surinamese food =)
- McDonald's french fries
- donuts from Country donuts

And, since I've not gotten around to it, there's no menu plan yet. Oh well.

Things- Day 1

2010-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

The other day I was washing dishes (or something like that) and thinking about various and sundry things, and I decided that I wanted to try and do a whole week of posts about "things." Today's is:

THINGS I LIKE TO READ
I love to read. My mom did a great job fostering a love of reading in both me and my 2 brothers. My parents modeled reading in their downtime in front of us, my mom read out loud to us pretty much every day while we were growing up, and they read us good stuff.
Lately I haven't had much of a chance to read. I figured out when it was still just Max and us that trying to pick up a book while there's a baby moving around isn't the easiest thing. I'd have just found my place only to have to put my book down and stop her from doing something or other. I do still use the computer because it's a lot easier to pick up and put down. =) I was also reading before going to sleep at night, but now I'm so tired by the time I can even GET in bed that I go right to sleep. Like, seriously, pass out.

But anyway, here are some things I like to read:
- the Bible. I'm not as good about it as I should be, but I do try.
- mysteries. Lee Child ROCKS, as does F. Paul Wilson, Tess Gerritson, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, and a slew of others.
- humor. Patrick McManus-good, clean fun. Comics like Baby Blues (a bit close to home...), Zits, Get Fuzzy, Foxtrot. I suppose Janet Evanovich falls into this category, as well.
- various magazines.
- non-fiction baby books. Take the Baby Whisperer, for example. She's awesome. Seriously. Oooohhh that reminds me that I meant to pick up a book at the library called "Things to Do with Toddlers and Twos." I checked it out sometime last summer/fall, and really liked the ideas it had, but need to check into it again.
- historical fiction and non-fiction. I think I've read the majority of books out there about the Holocaust.
- cookbooks and such. Yeah, I'm a dork.

I'm sure there are more, but it's time to take a shower and go to bed. And if I get up NOW I might have time to read!! =)

No, no, no

2010-01-20T12:01:00.003-06:00

So, like I said in yesterday's post, I missed last week's BAB post. But I'm here now. Hopefully. I'm misspelling a TON of words, so... we'll see.

Last week's BAB question was "What is your favorite part of your workout?" (Or something along those lines... it was my question, which I'm totally stoked about!)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE kicking and bicycle crunches. Am I weird? Probably. I save those for last because I look forward to them.

This week's question: Why do you want to lose weight and/or get healthier? What is your motivation?
Well, mainly because I HATE the way I look with this much extra weight on me. I know what I look like *normally* and this ain't it. I also want to fit into my regular clothes again. I don't want to have to buy new clothes in a larger size. I don't want to keep having to wear my size small maternity clothes.
Get healthier? Probably a good idea....

Kerplunk, sort of

2010-01-19T20:36:00.002-06:00

I didn't do a Body after Baby post last week. You may or may not have noticed. Mainly because I went a bit overboard over that previous weekend in the eating crap department. And in the not exercising department. Sigh. So I was feeling like I had fallen off the wagon.
And I'm having a hard time getting back on said wagon. Too much to do, not enough time. And so I missed last week's Body after Baby challenge link up, which is sad because her question for everyone was the question I had submitted!!! Grrrr.... silly me. I also didn't weigh myself last week or this week. I keep meaning to, but things get in the way, and I don't.

In other news... menh, same old, same old. Although I did get the GroBaby kit that I won from a giveaway in the mail today. Yippeee!! And Leg Huggers, too. =)

Food food food! Or, Menu Plan Monday.

2010-01-11T10:15:00.002-06:00

I did it again! I made a menu plan, and it feels good! LOL. And we actually DID last week's menu, so YAY!! Both the recipes I tried from that Asian cookbook turned out marvelously, and I'm trying the Phad Thai from it this evening.

Monday- Vegetarian Phad Thai (minus the tofu. Tofu is gross.), salad

Tuesday- Spaghetti with Italian sausage, carrots, bread (if I get around to making it.)

Wednesday- Chicken Taco Soup, salad, and possibly cheese fondue

Thursday- Sweet and Sour Shrimp, rice, fruit

Friday- Beef or Turkey Tamale Bake, corn

The Witching Hour

2010-01-08T17:23:00.002-06:00

Surely you've heard that phrase. Usually in reference to a certain time of day where all heck seems to break loose at once in your house. People with school age children tend to complain about that time right before dinner. For some, it's bathtime. For others, bedtime. I decided today that, for us, it's right before lunchtime. That 30-45 minutes before lunch is a nightmare. I realize that part of it is Max is hungry and tired. But take today for instance. 11:15 am. Jack is sleeping peacefully on the couch. Max is happily watching "Pat the Bunny Playdates." All of a sudden she decides she wants something she can't have. (If I remember correctly, that is...) So she starts screaming. Shrilly. Which wakes up and upsets her brother. So HE starts crying. Loudly. THEN they decide to have a contest to see who can cry/scream the loudest. I'm not even kidding. NOTHING calms either one down.

Now, I KNOW Max's main deal is that she's hungry and tired. But will she let me put her down to make something to eat? Not without screaming about it. And let's not forget the 2 1/2 month old who is ALSO still crying. After a fight I manage to strap Max into her seat, cut up some string cheese to mollify her, and hold her brother, while finishing getting something for her to eat. ARGH.

In case you're wondering, yes, I think I've learned my lesson. From now on I'll work on having something for her to eat before the hullabaloo begins.

Self-control- I haz it

2010-01-06T12:34:00.002-06:00

(In case you're wondering, yes, I know how to spell. The "haz" is from LOLCats.)

Moving on.

Yes, I have been exhibiting self-control over the last couple of days. For the most part. We GAVE AWAY most of the 2nd batch of Christmas Crack. (And NO, Grammi T, I'm not telling to whom.) *pats self on back*

I've only been putting 2 teaspoons of sugar into my coffee, instead of, ummmmm..... more.

I did really well with hopping on the treadmill and such. Except I took Sunday off, and didn't have a chance on Monday. Or yesterday. We'll see what happens with the rest of today, but it's not looking good.

I DID, however, get to my goal weight for the week (taken on Tuesday), which was 157. Yay!

So SO happy that Samantha over at Mama Notes is hosting this!! It's really helping!

Wordless Wednesday #2

2010-01-06T08:34:00.004-06:00

Then... at 3 days old...

And now (okay, last week)... at 2 months and 6 days old...

Yum!

2010-01-05T22:22:00.003-06:00

The Stir-fry Chicken with cashews that I made on Monday turned out perfect!! It was ALMOST identical to one of our favorite dishes from an awesome Thai restaurant in Suriname. SO happy! It was a hit with everyone, including Max.

A menu plan, for a change!

2010-01-04T12:26:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I've done this... I'm going to blame it on Jack again. I always dread sitting down and making a menu for the week, but then once it's done I feel SO much better! I'm not wasting my time in the mornings going "what are we going to eat???" "what should I cook???" etc.

Two of this week's recipes are out of that new Asian cookbook I talked about yesterday. Every time I flip through it I find MORE recipes I'm excited about. But I figured it was best to limit myself to 2 out of there and see how it goes.

Monday: Stir-fry Chicken with cashews, rice, cucumber salad.

Tuesday: Beef with Black bean sauce, rice pilaf, salad.

Wednesday: Orange-Scented Carrot Soup, bread, fruit.

Thursday: Salisbury Steak with potatoes, salad.

Friday: Chef Salad

And now I have to go cut up chicken and check on those gluten free banana muffins in the oven.

So excited!

2010-01-03T20:48:00.002-06:00

One of our newly discovered favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is hit up Barnes and Noble. Okay, it's a "newly discovered favorite thing" because up until it turned insanely cold, we'd go to parks and play. And then Jack came along, and we'd all take nice long afternoon naps. Well, Max and Jack still take naps, as do I, on occasion, but it's nice to get out of the house and go somewhere that Max can run around and play. We don't usually buy anything, just make a mess. I mean... nooooo we never make a mess. (I DO try to clean up after Hurricane Max...)

Today we discovered their after Christmas stuff. I remembered about the candy sale at CVS, and the sale at Kohl's, but somehow managed to forget about it everywhere else. But, back to B&N. They had tons of amazing stuff for basically dirt cheap. My most favorite finds were a "Wicked" calendar (based on the musical, which is based on the book) and an Asian cookbook. The cookbook has a recipe for what appears to be Ryan's favorite Javanese beef dish from Suriname, as well as several recipes of stuff we would order at our most favorite restaurant in the whole world- Garden of Eden. I'm SOOOO excited!!! (Hence the title of the post.) They have recipes for lots of dishes that I've had before and am looking forward to trying.

There are some things I WON'T be trying: Chilli Octopus Salad. Chargrilled Thai-Spiced baby Octopus. Peking Duck Pancakes. Salt and Pepper Squid. You get the idea.

Moving on. Also snagged a Crock Pot Made Simple cookbook and a Good-Housekeeping Best Loved Desserts cookbook. Yay!

Yesterday I made a double batch of Christmas Crack. AKA Magic Toffee Brittle. You get the idea. Kind of counterproductive, though... you know, to the treadmill and weight loss goals...

Wordless Wednesday #1

2009-12-29T22:45:00.004-06:00

Baby "Jack" with his great-aunt. (In both senses of the word!!) He's two months old, and, at today's "weigh in" tipped the scale at 14lb. 5oz. Oh yeah.

Another year over...

2009-12-29T22:33:00.002-06:00

Are you making any New Year's resolutions? Have you actually MET or KEPT or even consistently just TRIED to meet any previous resolutions? Heck, can you even REMEMBER any old resolutions?

I decided several years ago that, for me, resolutions were best made at the time I either thought of them or it was best to begin. Why wait until January 1st to start or stop doing something when you can do it RIGHT NOW? Now, I do understand the concept, and why people make this New Year's resolutions, so please don't think I'm downing that. But that is why I asked the 2nd and 3rd questions above. Chances are you didn't and you can't.

As I reflect on the past year, and think about the coming one, I do see things that I'd like to change. But why should I wait until Friday? (That is January 1st, right?? It's late, and I'm tired.) What's wrong with right now? Or, at the very least (considering it's 10:40 pm), tomorrow?

A fellow blogging mama is hosting a Body after Baby challenge, and it involves goals and plans and such. I'm in the midst of writing a blog post about that, and as I've been thinking about it over the last couple of days, I've come up with some things to include in my game plan. But again, why wait until Friday? Why shouldn't I try and remember to take my vitamins right now?? Why shouldn't I try and exercise now? You get the idea... I think there's a Bible verse about this somewhere, but as I can't remember it right now, I'm not going to try and quote it. I'll get back to you on that one.

So, what are some things you wish you'd done differently or would like to change? When do YOU plan on starting?!?

Body After Baby

2009-12-29T21:30:00.007-06:00

So, Samantha over at Mama Notes is hosting a Body after Baby challenge/support system to help mamas who want to lose some/all of their post-baby weight. I came across the Body after Baby thing while still pregnant with Elisha, but, obviously, couldn't do much about it. But, she's starting a new long-term challenge starting January first, so I get to join in! (Although, to be honest, I've already stared. See my post about New Year's resolutions...)

This is me before Max. 130lbs.

And... this is me after Jack. The first picture is about 3 wks. postpartum. (Just in case you're not sure who's who, I'm in the blue shirt in the back. Sigh. Although I DO have a picture of my before going to into surgery to have Jack, you don't get to see that one.)

And last Friday:
Last known pregnancy weight: 195. Ouch.
Weight as of Tuesday morning: 159.

Long term goals:
- lose baby weight (aiming for 135-140.)
- exercise 4-5 days a week
- drink more water!
- remember to take my vitamins 5-6 times a week (7 would be ideal, but...)
- read my Bible/devotions 6-7 days a week

Why am I joining Body after Baby? - for the support, encouragement, and accountability.s
Why do I want to lose weight? - feel better, fit into pre-baby clothes (thus saving money on not buying a new wardrobe!), and working out gives me more energy!

My plan- having never done this, and not knowing how my body will drop the pounds, and such, I think it's best to aim low and if the pounds fall off faster, than YAY!! =) I think I'm going to aim for 1-2 pounds a week and see how it goes.

More time!! I need more time!!

2009-12-16T20:36:00.003-06:00

I think that when babies are born, their mamas should be given an extra hour per day. And that should be per child, so, 2 babies equals two more hours. And so on and so forth. (So yeah, Mrs. Duggar would have almost two full days to our one.) I don't mean just around Christmas, either. Nope, every single day should be made longer. I'd tell you about my long to-do list, but that would just add one more thing to said list, and, frankly, I don't have the time. I really shouldn't be sitting here doing this, but I'm waiting for baby Jack to settle down so I can go wrap some presents and write some notes to go with presents. Cuz I know babywearing is awesome, and all, but it would much nicer if he'd just take a nap here on the couch.

And he's not a good burper, so of COURSE he just spit up. Which in turn ticks him off.... you get the idea.

While I don't mind sitting here and cuddling and comforting my baby, it really doesn't help to maintain my get up and go. And when I CAN get up and go, that's when DD, who is SUPPOSED to be sleeping, wakes up crying. If it's not one thing, it's another.

Can't see straight, but still thankful

2009-12-15T11:22:00.003-06:00

Last night when I went to bed, I was so tired I couldn't see straight and was dizzy. When I woke up this morning I was still a bit dizzy and having trouble focusing and seeing straight. I don't know why. On top of that, Max has been extremely difficult to put to bed. I know it's probably a phase, and I know it's probably normal, but MAN is it frustrating and exhausting!!

Having kids can be extremely frustrating and tiring, and I think all parents must experience it at one time or another. But in the midst of all of it, we are often reminded that we have so much more to be thankful for than we have to complain about.

Last night, right before Max started cranking up, I heard (read) about a fellow blogging mommy in FL who lost her 2 year old son to a pool accident. It happened RIGHT before I read about. It sure put things into perspective. (Or, at least, it helped.) Because even though I dislike tantrums, and sleep deprived nights drive me batty, it means I still have my babies. I can still hold them and cuddle with them, wipe their noses, read stories, change diapers, etc., etc., etc. I can only imagine a small amount of the pain that this other mommy is experiencing. I can only pray for her, and pray also that God would continue to protect my babies. I can only hug my babies tighter, and remember that they are a precious gift from God. And I can only hope to remember that when I can't see straight, or am completely fed up with them.

AMAZING baby carrier!

2009-12-05T20:01:00.006-06:00

Last week I won a giveaway for a Mei Tai style baby carrier from a blog that I follow- My Silly Monkeys. The carrier was from and made by Anna, who has an Etsy shop she started up earlier this year- Clothed in Scarlet.

I was really excited because 1) I won, and who doesn't like winning?!?! (We watched "A Christmas Story" last night, and the dad winning that lamp springs to mind here...) And 2) you can never have enough baby carriers! (Unless, of course, you don't HAVE a baby. Then that'd be weird.) Oh, and 3) I didn't have this particular type of carrier, nor had I ever tried one.

Anyways, it arrived in the mail yesterday (along with a TON of other great stuff, which was fun. Except that instead of having fun stuff arrive over several days, thus spreading out the joy, it's a big heap of joy all at once. Oh well.) and I could hardly wait to try it out.
It is made out of a big piece of gray corduroy with a beautiful piece of embroidered maroon brocade on one side (the front, although I think if DH tries it out he'll be using it with that facing in... not so manly, you know?). Attached are 4 long strips of the same corduroy. Two are sewn on straight and go around your waist, and two are sewn at an angle, and go over your shoulders. The corduroy was amazingly soft, and had little flowers embroidered on it in purple, maroon, and silver.

First I looked up the website that was listed on the enclosed card, so I could figure out how to use the carrier. Then I had to wait until the timing was right- Jack was awake, but happy and relaxed. That took a while. After several failed attempts I finally got him in and got the carrier all tied up. It was extremely easy to do (with a cooperative baby, that is) and once it was on it was SO comfortable!!

One of the benefits of this style of carrier is that it works for many different "holds" and will work for babies from the newborn stage well through the toddler age. To be honest, I haven't figured out what the weight limit is, but I know it will be able to hold Max if I want it to. It is VERY well sewn, and looks like it will last a long long time. (And it doesn't hurt that it's machine washable!!!)

Back to the "holds" part. Jack's favorite way to sleep and to cuddle is tummy to tummy, so this is perfect! (If the picture is too hard to see, try looking at it from a different angle.)
I have the long straps crossed in the back, and wrapped around to the front, and tied around him. The can be tied below him, but it's easier for me to do it like this for now. I have to say this carrier is by FAR the most comfortable I've ever used, and the most stylish, to boot! It is also the only one I own that is truly hands-free. (Okay, so I won't be doing any toe touches, but you get the idea.) I didn't feel any strain in either my shoulders or back, even after over an hour of wearing him! Jack is already 11 lbs. 8 oz. so I was starting to feel it in all the other carriers I have!!

I HIGHLY recommend Anna and her carriers! I cannot say enough good things about this mei tai, and the only downside I've found is that it's hard to put on with a fussy newborn. Other than that, it's amazing! I'll be taking it everywhere we go, and it's definitely my favorite!

A thousand words

2009-12-01T20:06:00.006-06:00

So the saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, I don't have the time or energy to write a thousand words, let alone more than that, so I'll just stick to a bunch of pictures, possibly with some captions thrown in for good measure.

Okay, here we have a good ol' family shot. Back row, L-R: my middle brother, Max, me, DH. Front row: Oma, baby Jack, Opa, youngest brother, and sister-in-law. She was asleep from pain meds. Don't hold it against her, at least we're all in the picture!

Oma and Opa playing with Baby Jack and Max.
Oh yeah. That is all.
Hanging out.

And now, I am tired. I wanted to go to bed early tonight, and it fast becoming not early. Sigh.

Finally, a good excuse!!

2009-11-23T20:45:00.002-06:00

So, by now you all know that I'm not real great at keeping this thing up. I did better this spring... but now... NOW I have a really good excuse for not being on here much! Actually, I have several. They are, in no particular order:
- serious lack of sleep
-babies to change
- laundry to fold
- diapers to stuff
- lack of sleep
- bills to pay
- babies to feed
- babies to change
- stories to read
- no sleep
- errands to run
- no sleep

etc., etc., etc.

We're alive... barely, it feels like. I can't see straight right at this moment, though, so I'm going to go to bed. And hopefully get some sleep... that is, if both Max and Jack will deign to sleep for a decent amount of time at the SAME time.

You can be praying for us. We're tired.

Three weeks and 4 days later...

2009-11-16T20:53:00.005-06:00

I'm back to post about baby "Jack" being born! Yeah, okay, I wasn't gone. Except for 4 days in the hospital, I've been here the whole time. (Can I just say that the hospital was AMAZING!?!? So much better then when I had Max!) Anyway, I've just been slacking on the blog posting front. And this is going to be short because I'm going to bed momentarily. I didn't get a nap today, and my throat hurts.

Jack is not his real name, of course, but he was born on October 23, at 10:29 am. 7 lb. 12 oz. 20 in. long. And he is growing by leaps and bounds!! His sister is adjusting fairly well to his presence, but we shall see!

So, tomorrow is supposedly the day

2009-10-22T16:52:00.002-05:00

...the day when Max becomes a big sister. When DH and I become parents to two delightful children instead of just one. Etc. Are we ready? Who knows. Sometimes we feel like we are, sometimes we don't. More like, when Max is having a good day, we feel like we're ready, when she's not, we don't. That kind of thing. We're excited about finally getting to meet him (it's also supposedly a him). And I'm done being pregnant and unable to exercise. Although yes, I do realize I can't come home next week and hop on the treadmill. LOL. We're feeling a smidge more confident this time around due to it being, well, the second time around. Of course, that will probably all go out the window here in a few days, we'll see! =)

For the love of cake... and the dislike of doctors' offices

2009-10-20T20:21:00.005-05:00

My DH made a yummy cake the other day. I don't remember what day... Sunday, maybe? It's a recipe I saw as I was pursuing the new Taste of Home cookbook. It involved a chocolate cake mix, butterscotch ice cream topping, whipped cream, and Butterfingers. Yep, that's it. He did it all by himself, and it. is. good. I was kinda bummed that there weren't leftover Butterfingers for me to eat, but it's probably better that there weren't...

And yes, I forgot to take pictures. I'm sorry, honey. I meant to. =(

So we had a nurse's visit this morning for DD to get a shot. Last week, this same type visit took like, 20 minutes, from walking in to walking out. Today? Ha. Not so much. 50 minutes. 45 of them sitting in the stupid waiting room watching EVERYONE go ahead of us. And not just everyone who was there ahead of us. That's understandable. But noooo it was all of them, PLUS everyone who came in over the next freakin' 40 minutes. We. were. ticked. I did say something to the receptionist, who did go and check/say something to the nurse, but I seriously wish I had complained more. The problem with that is that when things like this happen, I start crying, and DH just gets mad. We need a happy medium, we really do. Anyway, the lesson I learned is that when I go in next week or the week after with DD AND DS I will be calling ahead of time to see if they are running behind (even though I KNOW they weren't today) and making mention of today, as well as the fact that I'll be toting a 17 month old AND a newborn.

Did you catch that newborn part? Yep, DS is scheduled to arrive on Friday. If not before. But hopefully not before. It's nice to have a set end date, and not sitting around waiting. I have my to-do list all ready, and working on checking things off... although that's not going so well since I'm supposed to be "resting" and "keeping my feet up." (Per the various nurses' instructions. Are you for real?) So things are getting done quite as fast as I'd prefer... and we'll see if they even get ALL done before we go in Friday morning.

Random blog post

2009-10-13T21:12:00.005-05:00

Soooo I wasn't GOING to write a blog post this evening. I figured I'd write one "later." And then I looked at the date on my last post... September 24.... sigh. Okay, fine, I'll write a quick blog post.

The unseasonably cool summer here in northern Chicagoland (which is where I am, I assume) has already morphed into an unseasonably cold fall. At least in my opinion. As I write this post, at 9:15 P.M., it's already 38 outside. It's been hitting the 20's a lot of nights. We went to a fun apple orchard this past Saturday (doing no apple picking, mind you) and it was cold, BUT- we heard later that it SNOWED after we left. I mean, it was cold while we were there, but I didn't think it was THAT cold.

I don't think Max knows what to do with the cold weather... she tolerates it quite well, though, which I'm thankful for! We hit up the Thrift store in town today for some hats and mittens and such. I have an awesome hat and glove set that I got a few years ago, but darn it all I can't find it. We also grabbed some cute mittens for Max, and time will tell if she'll wear 'em or not. They're in the wash as we speak, in case we need them tomorrow. (We're visiting friends an hour down the road, and may be able to go to a park while we're there.)

While at the aforementioned Thrift store, a sweet worker (a WOMAN) asked if I was carrying twins. Sigh. I was nice and said no, just that he was sitting far forward and I'm delivering next week. Double sigh. Makes me want to eat more ice cream.

Fluff!

2009-09-24T21:03:00.005-05:00

Both edible and inedible. =) I love edible Fluff. I may have spoken of this affection in the past, but I'm too lazy to go look. We introduced Max to this delightfullness (not a real word) and she is a happy camper.

Now some of you may be wondering what inedible fluff is. It's cloth diapers!! I love cloth diapers. I've been trying out a bunch of different brands, and the most recent was BumGenius. I got two in the mail yesterday, washed 'em, and used them today. They are WONDERFUL. I love them. Love love love. And getting "fluff mail" as it's referred to, is SO addicting. So so so so addicting.

I don't have pictures. I meant to take some. I will. Later. =)

That is all.

Peanut Butter

2009-09-15T20:06:00.008-05:00

Yep. Just peanut butter. In the bottom of a jar. (A plastic jar.) Meant for the dog. Claimed by the Max. Here's what happened: Freckles is given the jar of peanut butter to lick out when it's pretty much empty. It's a nice treat for him and he thoroughly enjoys it.
However, tonight Max didn't go right to sleep, so she came downstairs for 11 minutes (yes, we set a timer) to play, and then try bed again. Well... she found it. And HER arm can reach the bottom, whereas Freckles' tongue really can't.
So she took it upon herself to clean out the very bottom. Now, she DID share with Freckles, but she also managed to get it all over her face (and hands, duh).
And the baby monitor. And the Tupperware round shapes toy thingie. And her Clifford stuffed dog. And the door. And the TV stand. And the DVD remote. And various other surfaces like end tables and Mommy. Oh, and Freckles' head. (I'll wipe that off here in a minute, Grammi Tami.)

I know what you're thinking. "Why didn't you just take the peanut butter jar away from her?" Yeah. That would have produced screaming like unto a near death experience. I'd rather just wipe everything off, thanks. And it kept her and the dog happily occupied for the whole 11 minutes.

the past 24 hrs.

2009-09-11T20:52:00.002-05:00

So I don't know how YOUR day was, but ours was... um... not calm and did not go as planned. I had PLANNED on taking Max on the Metra to see a friend of mine from college and her two kiddos. But instead, I stayed home with a sick baby. Max did not sleep well last night- almost as bad, if not as bad, as when she was a newborn. We're pretty sure her teeth are REALLY bothering her, considering we'll give her tylenol, and within 1/2 an hour, she's mostly fine. Still moody. Ha ha, very moody. She didn't take a morning nap, cried about tons and tons of things- more than normal. Even threw up this afternoon. And look a lousy afternoon nap.

THANKFULLY, I have lots of good help, so I didn't have to take care of her all by myself. =) Grammi watched and played with her so I could run some errands, and played with her while I was home, too. DH took care of her after she woke up early from her nap this afternoon, and Grandpa Fred and Grammi Tami played with her this evening and took her on a walk. (She loves walks. And airplanes. And dogs. And waving to everyone and everything. Including the aforementioned airplanes.)

Saw my OB yesterday. Everything's good, woo hoo! Picked a date for the C-section, and he got that set up. So we'll see if that ends up being it, or if baby Jack (not his real name) gets impatient and arrives sooner. Time will tell!

A new blog post =)

2009-09-05T22:11:00.010-05:00

Over the past couple of days things keep happening or even just popping in to my head that I'm like "I should blog about that! It's not too boring!" And then I end up with no time to blog. (Granted, a lot of these brainstorming ideas show up at about 10:30 at night...)

Max has started loving books. Not just sitting and turning the pages (which she's been doing for a while), but having the story read to her, and interacting with it. Namely the Spot books by Eric Hill and little touch and count books. She loves the flaps in the Spot books, and loves how we make the noises of whatever is behind the flap. Sometimes she likes it so much she just sits there and plays with the flap so we keep making the noise. In fact, she's even started bringing us books to read to her! We're so excited that she loves books so much. Here's a great picture of Grandpa Fred reading a book to her and Freckles.

Baby Jack is growing and being super active! I'm about 32 weeks now... or he is, depending on how you look at it. I thought Max was really active, but Jack is definitely trying to show up his sister. Sigh. Last night, for example, I'm sitting there, sorting clothes, and he just starts pushing out with a shoulder, elbow, or knee (I'm not sure which) so hard it really really hurt!! Which made me wonder, again, about those women who don't know they're pregnant until they're in labor. How in the world?!?! I can see writing off some movement as gas, but the serious movement?!?

Musings from a non-Muse

2009-08-29T22:23:00.004-05:00

Why is it that:

- nap times are never long enough?
- bed time can't come soon enough?
- you can spend all day doing laundry and still have a basket or so there when you get in bed?
- ditto on diapers.
- 15 month olds like undoing everything you've just done? (Folded laundry, picked up toys, swept, etc.)
- why do toddlers love something (foodwise) one day, and hate the next?

That's all I've got of those. The rest are too darn depressing to contemplate.

On a happier note, it was sunny yesterday! Cold, but sunny. But, it's August! you say. Yes, yes it is. Can I tell you what the predicted low for last night was going to be? Now, I'm not saying it hit that low, but it was predicted to be 38. Yep. Let's just say Max hasn't worn pants, long sleeves, and socks as much in her entire life as she has in the last 2 weeks.

And, I've been teaching Max to coupon! She gets all jealous when she sees me whip out the scissors and start cutting stuff up. So we gave her her own coupon envelope. Which she played with a whole day.

Random giveaway post- Ju Ju Beane Boutique

2009-08-16T19:56:00.003-05:00

Enter to win one of four gift certificates to Ju Ju Beane Boutique. One grand prize winner will get a $100 gift certificate and 3 winners get a $25 gift certificate to the baby boutique. Enter at The Shopping Mama by August 19.

Check out the sites at:

Ju Ju Bean Boutique

The Shopping Mama

Looks like fun to me!

Looking a gift horse in the mouth; Crankiness

2009-08-10T17:40:00.003-05:00

So appropo. (That IS a word, thank you very much. Google says it isn't. It is.) Anyway, yes, looking a gift horse in the mouth. Ever done it? Probably not literally, as how many of us have horses to give away? But have you ever gotten something and been like... yeah... it could/would be better if... My current gift horse would be a giveaway I found out this afternoon that I won. It's one that ran for like, two days, and the winners would be drawn and, supposedly, announced Friday afternoon. Well, I got an e-mail today that I had won. Oh, you want to know what it is? It is a much-coveted $50 off a purchase of $100 or more at Old Navy. Good stuff, right? Two catches: in-store only, and only good from 8/7 through 8/13. Soooo while I feel bad complaining, it WOULD have been nice to have this sucker over the weekend, when we had, you know, more free time to go shopping. We'll still use it, don't get me wrong! I just wish they had been a bit more on top of things, you know?
That's looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Max is apparently teething some more. Pain meds help, but she's still a cranky little bundle of energy. She still goes and goes and goes, but gets more upset than normal when corrected, moved, or generally doesn't IMMEDIATELY get her own way. Naps today were... depressing. For me, mostly, but the lack thereof definitely don't help her little bad attitude.

My adoring fans have spoken....

2009-08-08T15:53:00.003-05:00

Okay. One spoke. And it was a question. But a good question, one that deserves an answer. It was something along the lines of wanting to know where I found those deals I talked about in my previous post. So here are some links. I am not promising anything, vouching for anything, or... anything else. Just things I've run across and signed up for, or noted to keep in the back of my mind. Sometimes they're too far back there and I forget about them... for instance, the Coupons by Dede website offers whole inserts as well as clipped for purchase. So had I remembered this little tidbit on Monday when I found out about the whole Target couponing combining thing, I would have purchased a Kellogg's insert or two and saved a couple more dollars. Oh well. Next time.

So without further ado, here are few blogs, websites, etc. that I either subscribe to or keep bookmarked.

Thrifty and Chic Mom

Bargain Briana

Stretching a Buck

Printable Coupons Blog (I've never used this site. No guarantees.)

Hot Coupon World (I can't remember if I've used this one.)

Coupons and Things by Dede

Wherein you will read of Pop Tarts, Giveaways, Cold Weather, and the FlyLady

2009-08-07T19:29:00.003-05:00

Pop Tarts!!! Aren't they beautimous??

Yep, 10 boxes. Okay, I know what you're thinking. "She's pregnant. Got a craving for Pop Tarts. Went nuts at Target this morning." Close. You got the last part right, anyway! Every Sunday or Saturday, or sometimes even Monday, I get the e-mail feeds from some blogs I subscribe to and they lay out the sales from various stores and combine them with coupons available and show you how to get the most bang for your buck. This week was my first time using coupons and combining them with sales. Okay, so the first time, Tuesday, I saved $5 using coupons, and one of those items (out of two) was on sale. Not the point. Back to the Pop Tarts. Target had/has Pop Tarts on sale this week, there were/are printable Target coupons for 75 cents off a box of 8, plus coupons in the Kellogg's insert. AND if you buy any combination of 10 Kellogg's items listed in that insert you can mail in the receipt, UPCs and the form and get a $10 rebate. Oh yeah.

So today Ryan, Max and I went to Target and bought 10 boxes of Pop Tarts. They were on sale for $1.69, Target printable coupon for 75 cents off 1, two $1/2 from the Kellogg's insert, as well a coupon we had from an old box. Soooo 94 cents each, minus $3 more. (Although to be perfectly honest I'm not sure both the Kellogg's coupons got scanned.) So, theoretically we spent$6.40 for 10 boxes of Pop Tarts. Although maybe it was $7.40. And I'm mailing everything in on Monday, so HOPEFULLY I'll get $10 back. I'm excited. And now we have a ton of yummy Pop Tarts.

Ahhh Giveaways. I won another fun one the other day. My Mom's View had a giveaway for some clips from Lemme Klip-Itz and I won! I'm so excited about getting some cute hair clips for Max!

So we're here in Illinois staying with Ryan's parents, and the WEATHER. You totally could not tell it was July during July. And today? I think the high was 71. Maybe. I'm not complaining, though!! Pregnant, in the summer, and it's cool weather? Yes, thank you! Although Max has never worn pants as often as she has in the past 4 weeks.

I wanted to talk about the FlyLady, but I'm tired of typing. So I'll talk about her later. =)

Good times!

2009-07-23T21:50:00.002-05:00

So yard sale-ing today rocked. And so did my FIL. I found a cappuccino maker at a yard sale right down the street- Max, DH and I walked down and checked out a couple. Yay! I found two DVDs for the Maxster at another place (which had proclaimed itself on Craigslist to be this wonderful 14 family/houses deal... and it was a let down)- a baby Einstein DVD and a Max and Ruby DVD. (Get it? Max and Ruby??) She loves the baby Einstein DVD already. I found a great booster seat at yet another place. It has an adjustable seat and back, which is really cool, and all the straps needed to keep Miss Max in her place. It didn't have the straps to attach it to the chair, but I rigged something up and it works marvelously. So so so happy. =)

And I had blogged yesterday... the day before...? about how I wanted a clothes drying rack, as well. So FIL reads my blog (cuz he's cool) and remembered that DH had a drying rack stashed in the garage. So he dug it out and it made me very happy. I wasn't happy about having to dry my pocket diapers in the dryer every time.

Of course, I did diapers this afternoon, loaded up the rack, put it outside, and NOT EVEN 15 minutes later the clouds roll in and the sun disappears. A bit later, it rained. So, moral of the story- if you need rain, let me know. I'll bring my dirty diapers over, wash them, and put them outside to dry. Rain will arrive almost instantly.

Yard sale-ing, rummage sales, and my new favorite place

2009-07-22T11:14:00.003-05:00

So I'm at the in-laws house in a suburb of Chicago. And the yard sales here start on Thursday. And run through Saturday. Yep. Three days of yard sales. Why doesn't EVERYWHERE do this?!?! So far we've only gone one day, last Saturday. Oh, wait. I did run out the day before real quick and found a great infant car seat. You know, for that baby that's coming at the end of October. Have I mentioned it's a boy? It is. Anyway, so Saturday Dh, SIL, Max, and I went yard sale-ing and hit up a rummage sale, too. That rummage sale made everything else look like we were shopping at Nordstrom's. Right after we got there they had a "fill a bag for a buck" deal. And we're thinking, that's pretty good. You get a grocery bag and fill it and pay a buck. Oh noooooo... it was a GARBAGE bag. SIL filled it with books. I got some books, some sippy cups, and some clothing for both Max and the baby. Good times.

Considering they start tomorrow, I'm going to look around a bit in the morning and hopefully find what I'm wanting. Which is a sassy seat OR a booster seat with all the straps, a clothes drying rack, and a cheap cappucino maker. Doesn't take much to make me happy. It really doesn't.

Country Donuts. Oh, how I love thee. Not only do they have AMAZING donuts, but DH Just told me that they're open 24 hours a day. 24 hour availability of glorious Boston Cremes.... 24 hour access to glazed...

I got busy doing other things just now and forgot what else I was going to say... oh well!

ahhhh procrastination

2009-07-20T11:09:00.004-05:00

But is it really procrastination if you've been busy doing other stuff? Not just goofing off??? I didn't think so.

I just realized I didn't mention this in my last post. The one I wrote 17 stinking days ago. Yeah. That one. Bad me.

Ryan, Max, and I were supposed to be moving to South Korea to teach on August 1st. Tickets had been purchased. Bags were being packed. Stuff was being bought. Paperwork was being completed. We were excited. And then.... and then. And then the South Korean government decided, in their infinite wisdom (please read that with sarcasm, mkay?) decided that because the school we were going to didn't own their property, they didn't the six new teachers they had hired. They could make do with the ones they already had. And, oh yeah, they had one year to either purchase their property or a different one to move to. So visas were denied. Flat out. No ways around it. Trust me, we looked. The school looked. We prayed. The school prayed. Everyone we know prayed. Nothing. Soooo.... tickets have been cancelled, for a small fee. (Although hey, $300 OOP is better than over $2,000!!) We are in limbo. Jobless. Not homeless, thankfully, as both sets of parents have offered us rooms until we find something... somewhere...

So for the last two weeks or so we've been looking for a job for Ryan. In case anyone was wondering, he teaches High School Social Studies. He'd prefer a job at a Christian school, but as those options are slimming down, being that it's the END of JULY, we're broadening our horizons. So, you know, if you know of anything... anywhere.... let me know. =)

In other news, Victoria is walking better and better. She is FINALLY doing her own versions of the signs for please and all done. She is sleeping better. She loves loves loves my in-law's dog, Freckles. They're bestest buds.

I suppose I should go find my camera so I can add pictures...

It's July!

2009-07-03T19:27:00.002-05:00

Duh. Just thought I'd point it out. In case you were stuck in June. As for me, I am painfully aware of time marching on. My baby is walking AMAZINGLY well. She was just taking a few uncertain steps when we left our little tiny 3rd world country on June 15th, and now she is doing far more walking than crawling, can walk backwards, can stand up without first lifting her booty in the air, can carry things in both hands, and the list goes on. She's so big. And we found out yesterday that our new baby is going to be a boy!

I suppose I should do the right thing and load some pictures here... but my head hurts. So I won't right now. Maybe later. As in... sometime in the future at a yet to be determined time. Might be complicated by the fact that I have to do more packing next week. I'm making myself not do any until Monday. I did send three footlockers with my little brother who was driving north, so I'll have less... that's always good, right?

Traveling, Beaches, and Randomness

2009-06-26T08:56:00.007-05:00

Yes, yes, I've been slacking off here. I apologizing. Life was (is?) hectic. We packed up and left our teeny, tiny, 3rd world country in South America, traveled to Miami, then North Carolina, and are currently on vacation at a popular beach in South Carolina. And tomorrow we go back to North Carolina. See why I haven't been around??

And now would be the time where I would make lots of promises about how I'll be around more often, and will be better about posting pictures and bits of randomness... however I can't promise that. =( My parents don't have wireless internet, so it's hard to get on-line. And even if they did, our computer is going to the computer doctors at Best Buy tomorrow afternoon, so it will be out for a few days. Sad times. But it is sick, so hopefully they'll make it all better.

Cloth Diapers- why do I do it?

2009-05-27T10:47:00.003-05:00

How many of you knew that I cloth diapered? (Henceforth to be referred to as CD, CDing, etc.) Well, I do. Except at night. But even that will be coming to an end soon. There's a lot of buzz right now surrounding cloth diapers, disposable diapers, which is easiest, which is cheaper, which is more environmentally friendly... etc. Gotta have something to argue about, right?

I chose to CD because for us, it's cheaper. Right now I'm just using your basic prefolds, liners, Snappis, and covers. Nothing fancy, heck, the prefolds are Gerber! At the time when I was buying the diaper covers, I felt like I was spending a lot of money. I really wasn't. Really. Diapers are cheap where I live. $10 for a pack of 40. (Okay, at least I think that's cheap...) We use disposable at night, so it normally takes us about a month to go through a pack, factoring in the occasional middle of the night leak. But if we were using solely these disposables, we'd go through approx. a pack a week. That adds up. All our ultilities are being paid for us this year, so all we have/had to pay for were the diapers (again, Gerber- $13 for 12, we bought 4 dozen, but are really only using 3, so 4x13=$52), covers ($100, I think...), Snappis ($4), liners ($30), and detergent (I don't know how it works out for the detergent). I'm not a math whiz, and I don't have my calculator open over here, but it looks to me like we spent less than $200 for start up, and are now just paying detergent costs. $200 would have bought us 20 weeks' worth of diapers. Max is now a year old, so you do the math. We saved a lot.

Yesterday I spent almost $300 on pocket diapers, inserts, and one PlanetWise wetbag. I will probably have to buy a few more in late June or early July before we head over to Korea, so I'm figuring on about $400 for diapers for soon to be two children. These should last us until Max is potty trained, and possibly even the new baby. I have no idea how much disposables cost in Korea. But I will be shocked if it worked out to be cheaper. Shocked.

Beyond the whole cost issue, there's the landfill thing... it takes possibly hundreds of years for a disposable to decompose. Now, you could use gDiapers, which are biodegradeable, but they're really expensive. Otherwise, all those diapers just sit. And sit. And sit. I read somewhere this morning that by the age of 2, a child has been changed approx. 13,000 times. That is a lot. of. diapers.

And the chemicals. I looked into that a bit, but really don't remember much besides the fact that I was grossed out by what was touching and leeching into my baby's bottom.

Anyway... I also hopping onto Etsy last night and typed in AIO cloth diapers. And, WOW! I found some AMAZING deals from sellers with stellar feedback!!

I think I've rambled long enough... and considering nobody is paying me to even type this post, no PR, no nothing... I'll leave you with the websites I use(d) for buying cloth diaper stuff. =)

Green Mountain Diapers

Nicki's Clearance

Nicki's Regular site

Random Things I like

2009-05-25T08:16:00.003-05:00

As I picking up a paper clip off the freezer earlier, it struck me that I really like paper clips. I don't know why. Maybe because they're so versatile... (what, you don't believe me!?!? Trust me. They are.) or maybe because they do their job so well. I don't know. But it did give me the idea to write a list of random things I like. Hopefully it will make you laugh, or, at the very least, smile. And sometime later I will come back and post about Max's first birthday.

Random things I like:
-paper clips
- post-it notes
- rain
- clean sheets
- empty kitchen sink
- checking things off my to-do list
- adding things I've already done to my to-do list just so I can check them off
- winning giveaways (ha ha, maybe that's not so random after all...)
- captioning pictures

Okay, that's all I can think of right this second. What are some of yours?

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-05-14T18:18:00.000-05:00

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Milk Weed Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-05-14T18:09:00.000-05:00

Milk Weed Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Things I'm Thankful for Thursday

2009-05-13T12:09:00.004-05:00

Various things were running through my head on Wednesday, so I decided to do this post today. (I actually started it yesterday, but "Things I'm Thankful for Wednesday" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.)

So here are some things I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

~ my husband
~ my daughter
~ the good health of the above mentioned people (you see, Baby Kayleigh passed away on Monday, so I'm reminded of how fragile life is, and that I really can't take anything for granted.)
~ electricity
~ water
~ washer AND dryer
~ air conditioners in all the rooms of our house
~ good parking places (yep, I pray for a good one when I remember! Worked today!)
~ a working computer
~ decent internet

That's all I can think of right now. My brain is being taken over by my to-do list today. (Ha ha, To-Do List Thursday.) Guess I should go get started...

Sigh

2009-05-12T18:59:00.003-05:00

I joined yet another social networking site. I guess it makes 3- Facebook, Blogspot, and now.... Twitter. Why did I join Twitter? Honestly, again, it's more for the extra giveaway entries than anything else... and before anyone CYNICALLY asks, YES, yes I've won stuff. 5 stuffs to be exact. 2 books on Finanaces (counts as one win): huge set of waterproof, washable name labels for the Maxster; Skip Hop Duo diaper bag (never heard of it? check it out on Amazon!); a Rubbermaid container set; and, just this evening, a children's book called "The Quiet Bunny."

My house is still fairly clean. Thankyouverymuch. There is a pile of dishes in the sink, BUT I discovered bright and early this morning that the Rottie that we're taking care of this year dug through my water line from the street! I'm SO mad at him right now. Good thing he doesn't belong to me. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... so we're conserving water.

I remembered something I wanted to mention last time I posted. It's a "note to self/PSA"- tuna tastes a heck of a lot stronger when heated up. That is all.

Oh, and just in case anyone cares (and I'm totally okay if no one does) my Twitter ID is newwife777

I forget

2009-05-11T08:49:00.002-05:00

All weekend long I've had random thoughts bouncing around in my head that I keep meaning to post. Now I can't remember any of them. Pregnancy/mommy brain. Gotta love it. My most recent thought was just now when I eating one of my hoarded Fruit Rollups (the red one) and as I was opening the package, I noticed that there was a note on the flap "PEEL FRUIT FROM CELLOPHANE BACKING BEFORE EATING." I kid you not. Caps and all. Now you KNOW some idiot tried to eat their Fruit Rollup WITHOUT peeling it from the cellophane backing. Actually, my almost 1- year old DD would probably do that. But not intentionally. That kid eats anything and everything. Including green beans. Did I mention that in my last post? Sorry if I did. Yeah, she loves green beans. Ryan hates them with a passion. He's not entirely sure that she belongs to him anymore.

Once, a long time ago, I jotted down my thoughts that I wanted to blog about so I wouldn't forget them. I should try that again.

Oh, I SHOULD mention that Ryan and I finally hammered out a decent looking budget. We're both horrible with budgets. Like, really bad. But some friends of ours are really really good at them, so last week while I was having coffee with E (and Max), I asked her about it, and she showed me how they did it. I was super impressed and super motivated. I tried to aim a little higher than I thought we might actually need in some areas, because I'd rather pare down than have to up things. That always irritates me.

I need another Fruit Rollup.

Argh!

2009-05-07T11:46:00.002-05:00

No, it's not Talk Like a Pirate Day. That was last year sometime. I missed it. Back to the post. TWICE now I've written out really good posts (do I write any other kind?) and both times they've gone all nutso on me! The last one had a picture of a can of green beans and everything! I'm too tired to explain why right now.
I COULD go take a nap. But Max's sleeping times have been so erratic that I never know how long she's going to sleep. Few things are more frustrating than laying down for a nap yourself and JUST falling asleep when the baby wakes up and decides she's well rested. GRRRRRRR...... I'd rather not even try at all, thankyouverymuch.

Tyson!!! Yum!!!!!

2009-05-04T18:43:00.002-05:00

Okay, yet another post about a great giveaway I found! You may be getting tired of these. Tough bananas. Busy Mom is giving away $100 worth of Tyson Any'tizers coupons/vouchers! I looked at the different Any'tizers, and YUM! The one that caught my eye and made my mouth water was the Stuffed Chicken Cordon Bleu Minis. mmmmmmmm I could go for some of those right now. I'm not a big wings fan, so those don't do anything for me. =(

AIO Reviews and Giveaways!!! Part 2

2009-05-04T10:06:00.002-05:00

So, I know I said I'd come back and just edit that other post about the AIO showdown week over at Your Mama Reviews. But when they revealed today's diaper, and it's source, I decided it needed it's own entry. To be perfectly honest, this isn't so much about that one individual diaper as it is where they got it from, and the sites that this lady runs. Nicki has several sites, and they all look AMAZING. The first is Nicki's Diapers, and it has seemingly everything you need to cloth diaper. (I say seemingly because I haven't had time to explore the whole site. I'll tell you why in a minute.) Her prices look the same, if not lower, compared to everywhere else. I'm excited. But wait, there's more!
Nicki also has a Cloth Diaper Clearance website! It has 'seconds' and old models of diapers, along with a few other things. I'm all about this sort of stuff!!
Next, she has a site dedicated to swimming and babies, and everything you might possibly need for that!!! I think it's great to have all these items together in one place, instead of having to search through on-line sites of other stores. Happiness.
And last, but NOT least, she's got a new(ish?) website called UnderMyCrib, and it's an auction site solely for baby items!!! Cloth diapers and their accessories take up a large portion of that, but there are other categories, as well. It's not very... full? shall we say. It looks like it's just starting to take off, but, the prices for things that I saw were good enough to prompt me to register, and I will be buying from there. Possibly even today. And that whole registration thing and drooling over all the sites is what made it so I haven't had time to fully explore each site individually.
Overall, I'm extremely excited!

Virtual Summer Block Party!

2009-05-03T08:54:00.002-05:00

So, I had typed up a nice blog entry about the Virtual Summer Block Party that the Mom Buzz is hosting, and then Blogger went all nuts on me and lost the post. Grrrrrrrrrr.... So I will try this again.
Anyway, the Mom Buzz is throwing a huge Virtual Summer Block Party!! They have tons of amazing stuff lined up to giveaway, including 3 hugs prize packs, and then numerous individual prizes! Everything looks GREAT!!!

SIZZLING SUMMER PRIZE PACK
(Prize Pack A - $900)

Vado Pocket Video Camera
Bumbleride Flyer
Peek for E-mail
UV Skinz Shirt
Shapewear

Toddler Glasses from Eyes Cream Shades
Blurb.com
VictoriaPZurcher Personalized Kids Stainless Steel Water Bottles
VanOodles CDs
No Throws
Dunkin Donuts
Intelligent First Aid Kit

WEAR-YOUR-SHADES PRIZE PACK
(Prize Pack B - $700)
Vado Pocket Video Camera
Tuga Sunwear
Shapewear
Blurb.com
Keeta Collection - $70 Gift Card
Kokopax Baby Carrier
VanOodles CDs
No Throws
Safety Mate Talking First Aid Kit
VictoriaPZurcher Personalized Kids Stainless Steel Water Bottles

"COOL SUMMER" PRIZE PACK
(Prize Pack C - TOTAL VALUE $400)
Vado Pocket Video Camera
Shapewear
UV Skinz Bucket Hat
Blurb.com
Kushies
VanOodles CDs
Cuisinart Icecream Maker

Other $900 worth of prizes from other fabulous sponsors include:

Bissell Versus
Casio EX-S12
Boob-Eez
LTDChix -Laundry Shirt
Blurb.com - (2 More Winners!)
SockGram
FlipFlops
Going to Grandma's Suitcase
Protectabub-stroller shade or car seat shade
Pedipeds
Breezy Bags reusable bags
Anklet from The Jewelry Box
Baby Banz
Mutsy Grow Up Seat
Eyes Cream Shades
Revolution Foods Jammy Sammy Sampler and Kids TShirt
WallarooHats
gr8x.net Diaper Bag
Dozen Dunkin Donuts
Little Fit
Popits
Sheer Tan Starter Set with 6 Sheer Tan Sunless Tanning Aerosols

Told you it looked amazing, didn't I?!?

AIO Reviews and Giveaways!!!

2009-05-01T17:25:00.002-05:00

So the website (blog??) Your Mama Reviews is having an AIO (All In One) Showdown week. What are AIOs, you may ask. Well, they're a cloth diaper, a cover, and a fastener all in one. (Get it?) They may have doublers, for more absorption capabilities, or inserts, to make changing quick and easy.
Back to the Showdown. Thus far this week, these lovely ladies have reviewed: Dream-eze AIOs, Swaddlebees AIOs, Bumkins AIOs, DryBees AIOs, and FuzziBunz Perfect Size diapers. The latter is technically a pocket diaper, not an AIO. But it's all good. They're reviewing, and then giving away, a total of 6 different brands of cloth AIOs. So one more to come tomorrow.
Why am I all of a sudden blogging about this? Well, to be perfectly honest, it's to give me more chances of winning some of these babies. You get an extra entry into each giveaway if you blog about their AIO Showdown. So here I am. Because I really, really, really would love a good stash of AIOs. But I can't afford a ton of them, esp. on our lovely salary. (Dude, you know what I just realized? I should of told people I wanted these bad boys instead of piles and piles and piles of cute clothes!!! I'm not complaining about the cute clothes, don't get me wrong. But a couple of AIOs thrown in would have been just ducky.) But, I didn't. So here I am, attempting to win them. We shall see.
I will come back tomorrow and edit to add the last diaper these ladies review.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

2009-04-29T14:17:00.004-05:00

I had the lunch of champions today. Yup, a PB&J sandwich. (Or, as my youngest brother used to call it, PB&JJ. Why? I don't know. In fact, he may well still call it that. I haven't seen him in almost two years. So I'll have to get back to you on that.) Anyway, we bought grape jelly yesterday, along with some more fabulously smushy white bread. (Remember how I said I'm all about cheap, but not necessarily healthy? Yep. White is smushy, and that's what DH and I wanted.)
Now, my favorite kind of jelly is that Smucker's Strawberry Preservatives stuff. The stuff with big ol' globs of real, live, yummy strawberries in it. My Opa introduced me to this gooey goodness. At least, that's my earliest memory of it. (If he didn't, and someone else who may or may not read this blog did, I apologize.) However, they didn't have that at Choi's. In fact, their jelly selection was rather disappointing yesterday. But we settled on grape.

You know what else is good? Fluff.
Yep. Good stuff. I did not take that picture, I found it and copied it, but I do love the paper plate on the basket. Y'all remember those?? Do people still do that?!!? Anyway, yes, fluff..... how I love thee. I had some late last year. It was a happy time. Until the container was empty.

Right this moment, however, my daughter and I are enjoying candy necklaces that Ryan brought home from the mall. I gave Max her own, to see what she would do. And it's a good thing I did, because her's is all gross and slobbery now. And mine isn't. She's just lying on the couch next to me, sucking away. Occasionally she'll stop and wave it around in the air. Then it's back to sucking and gnawing. Boy, is she going to be mad when we take it away in a little while.

A few random thoughts

2009-04-24T20:18:00.002-05:00

I got this idea from another blog. This one, in fact. Although I will say that earlier today I was thinking about just writing up a random list of stuff for the day. Because I can. So here are a few random things from me, right this second.

1) I promised myself I'd take a shower at 10 and go to bed. It's 10:19, and I'm typing this.
2) I am addicted to giveaways in blog land.
3) I haven't won anything from aforementioned giveaways, but I did just start last week.
4) Surprisingly, my house is relatively neat and clean. Ryan did help pick up toys and books, though, so I can't take all the credit.
5) Well, I COULD take all the credit, but considering he went out and got me what I REALLY REALLY wanted for dinner, I won't.
6) Max had a great day. She destroyed the house by "playing," but she was happy. So who cares.
7) She loves to clap now. It's so stinkin cute. And if we say "clap, clap, clap" she'll keep going.
8) She likes to "dance" to music. This dancing is, at this point, just waving her arms and sometimes shaking her head. But the kid can't walk yet, so give her a break.
9) Until recently, said dancing would only happen to theme songs on TV. I haven't told my mom that yet. She dislikes TV. But now Max will dance to music she hears other places.
10) My eyes hurt. It's been a busy day.
11) I'm hungry. I wish I had some leftovers from dinner. I would eat them right now.

More cool giveaways!

2009-04-24T17:09:00.003-05:00

Sorry I haven't done a "real" post in a while. Been busy with getting ready for baby shower for a friend, taking care of Max, taking care of the house, entering more cool giveaways, and, of course, taking care of Max. I already said that? Darn right.

Crockpot Giveaway

Another new blog I came across is having a Mod Mum Baby Sling contest! So many cute patterns, so little time!! I'm excited about this giveaway! Check it out here:
thearmywife

Another cool giveaway!!

2009-04-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

Mommies with Cents is hosting another amazing giveaway!! It's for a TON of cool looking Crayola items. Can you imagine the fun Max would have with some of this stuff?? Check it out!
Crayola Giveaway

And yet another cool shoe giveaway! For Max, not me... but do you know how expensive baby and children's shoes are!?!? It's outrageous! It would so great to win a pair of SeeKaiRun shoes, let me tell you that!
Shoes Giveaway!

I've gotten addicted...

2009-04-16T09:17:00.003-05:00

... to GiveAways!! I keep stumbling upon great website and blogs that are hosting some amazing giveaways! It's been so much fun to enter!

Here are some that I'm dying to win:

[In]Place System by Peter Walsh

Nuby Natural Touch Pack

Belli Essentials Kit

Totally Toddler

Vincent Shoes

Happy 2nd Easter!

2009-04-13T17:31:00.005-05:00

Yep, 2nd Easter is a holiday down here. Not bad, huh? We have 2nd Christmas, too. It rocks. Not the point. The point is that today was a holiday, along with last Friday and yesterday. Saturday we went swimming, which was lots of fun. We have this blow up thing with a seat in it, and Max loved sitting in it and kicking around. She had a great time. It even worked to put her in the baby pool and she could sort of walk around on her own. Well, she could move, but not really control where she was going. But she liked it.

Easter Sunday was nice- we were all able to go to church, and we had a bunch of friends over for a delicious lunch afterwards.
Lots of fun, lots of fun. And ham. Lots and lots of ham. I love ham. And would you believe that I did not take a picture of it?!?! I just realized that. My first time baking a ham, and it was delicious. And I didn't take any pictures. Sigh.

This morning we went to an Easter brunch, complete with games and an egg hunt. Hung out with more friends, ate more yummy food.

More Zoo

2009-04-08T08:16:00.008-05:00

We went to the zoo with some friends yesterday, and had an absolute blast! It was a lot cooler than the first time, and we got to enjoy the animals more. Max had a great time, and she loved petting a goat. (Sheep? I'm not sure...)
I actually remembered to take more pictures this time. =) We watched the otter for a long time, too, but he was too busy battling a rock to notice. Oh, and we got to see the really cool monkey exhibit where they have their own island with trees, a hut, and rope swings to play on. They were all over the place, and a couple of them even came down to the waters' edge to look at the kids I was with.

Let's see.... I've been working on a baby shower for a friend of mine down here, and that's been a lot of fun. Planning games, food, making invitations, etc. I found so many fun games, it was tempting to extend the time of the shower just to fit more in. =) But I won't.

Meals have been haphazard still. Last night I made a dish that involved cream of chicken soup, vegetables, a box of Stovetop Stuffing, chicken, and cheese. I used too many vegetables. But it was still really, really, really good. And next time I think I will add some bread and seasonings to the stuffing mix to stretch that, since I love stuffing so very, very much.

Whatchagot Chili

2009-04-06T17:59:00.002-05:00

So I was doing great on that whole weekly menu planning thing. Going great guns, finding new blogs, new recipes, new inspiration. Then I got pregnant. And thinking about food unless it was absolutely necessary went out the window. We're going on week 3, I believe, with no set plan. We're still eating, it's just lots of hits or misses.

Tonight I made Whatchagot Chili. Never heard of it? Good, cuz I invented it. With a little bit of inspiration from the CrockPot lady, Stephanie, and lots of thawing of ingredients, I created an amazing Chili. It was yum-o. Why did I call it "Whatchagot Chili?" Because I couldn't call it "Whatchagot Stew", that name is taken, and I had added chili powder. Which makes it Chili.

(Never read Patrick McManus? Never even HEARD of him? I'm not sure we can be friends any more. He is a HYSTERICAL author. Okay, his older books are great, anyway. I don't like his newer ones. I tried, I really did. But I'd rather read about the Troll, and all of the other loveable people in his books, whose names escape me right now. But they're funny. Really, really funny.)

Back to the Chili of which I am so proud. I thawed:
- 2 bags of beans (equal to 2 can of beans)
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- less than one big can of spagetti sauce. I don't know how much. Just that we freeze whatever we don't use out of a big can. =)

Threw it all in a big pot, and added:
- a bunch of chopped up tomatoes
- some oregano
- some basil
- some chili powder
- some garlic powder
- some sugar
- a bay leaf, for good measure.

After it simmered and all for a while, I broke up some spagetti noodles and tossed those in.

It was really yummy. We added some cheese and sour cream. =) I think that, to date, it is the cheapest meal I've ever made. Nice.
BTW- it really only made enough for one meal for 2 adults.

Playing Catch Up

2009-04-06T17:16:00.009-05:00

Hello my loyal blog readers/followers! (If there are any of you out there, that is...) Sorry I've been MIA for so long... I lost all motivation here for a while. But I'm back! Let's see, since I last posted, I announced that DH and I are expecting a younger sibling for Max, Max and I went to the Zoo, we had an international food fair at school, I had a birthday, and I was able to purchase Caffeine Free Coke. Happiness in a can.

So, in the order in which they occurred:
Max and I went to the Paramaribo Zoo with the 3/4 class and Kindergarten from school. It was warm. Really warm. Max complained about the stroller a bit, but she enjoyed looking at the active animals. Her favorites were the otter and the donkeys. However, I apparently didn't get any pictures of the donkeys. So here is a toucan, and otter, and 5 Caimen. =)

Every year the school hosts an International Food Fair, and all the nationalities represented at school provide some ethnic dishes. It's always soooooooo good. This year was no exception. Unfortunately, I was too busy eating to take pictures of the food or the displays. I apologize.

And, every year I have a birthday. Like clockwork. Except I decided I'm stopping at 29. So once I hit that, I'm not getting any older. I made myself an Angelfood Cake. Which I was okay with because I knew there was no way Ryan would want to. It was my first time making one, but I did pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. It wasn't as fluffy as it should have been, but I had absolute fits folding in the flour/sugar mixture. Guess I'll have to keep practicing.

And the caffeine free Coke.... ahhh.... I had been asking the guys at the most up-to-date grocery store here to get some in for me and some friends of mine. So they FINALLY did. I bought 10 cans. My friends were able to snag 6. They went back the same evening that the Coke was stocked, and it was all gone. Take that, managers! I told 'em that if they brought it in, it would get bought!!! =)

Pray for baby Stellan

2009-03-24T08:53:00.001-05:00

Please pray for baby Stellan. He's very sick. Here is his momma's blog.

Yum!!!

2009-03-18T17:24:00.000-05:00

So, remember that Grilled Caribbean Chicken that I put on the menu for this week? Yeah, it was for Thursday, but I didn't feel like making what was on the menu for today, so it got bumped up. And it was soooooo good. Wow. I will confess that I didn't quite follow the recipe... due in large part to availability issues. And I cooked the chicken on the stove. It was yummy. We WILL be having this again, very soon!!

In other news.... we had a smallish St. Patrick's Day party, and it was a blast!! A bunch of different people brought bread, and it was all sooooo good. Somebody found baguettes at a bakery here, and they taste JUST like the ones from Panera. I will be buying some of my very own soon. We also made Shamrock shakes, like the ones I've heard they have at McDonald's in the states around this time. They were yummy, too! =)

Food!

2009-03-14T17:22:00.004-05:00

Okay, so yesterday I made Pumpkin Chip Muffins, and they're really good! They'd be a bit better if I hadn't accidentally turned off the timer instead of the oven, like I intended. So they're a bit dryer and darker than I would prefer, but still edible! I used Mini-semisweet chips instead of big normal ones, and I think it worked out great.

Now, on my weekly layout of what I'd like to accomplish each day, I have down for Saturday to do the next week's menu. Up until today, this had yet to happen. But for some reason I actually got it all done today!! I don't know why, let's not ask too many questions, mkay?

Monday: Chicken tacos
Tuesday: Veggie/hamburger stew (we're having people over for St. Patrick's day, so there will be more than that...)
Wednesday: Onion Beef Muffin Cups- never had these, but just looking at the picture made my mouth water. And something on the side.
Thursday: Grilled Caribbean Chicken, Mushroom Rice Pilaf, and probably salad. Or something.
Friday: Hot Dog Soup. Sounds weird, I know. We shall see. I do love me some hot dogs!!
Saturday: Best Chicken Ever, and some side dish.
Sunday: Corn dogs (home made!!!), french fries.

Saturday we're going to go on a boat trip, so I will try and make the chicken dish in the morning, or something like that... And since I read that that Caribbean Chicken needs to marinate, I think I will throw it all in a zip-loc bag after grocery shopping on Monday, toss it in the freezer, and pull it back out on Thursday. That's my big plan.

Tuesday and Thursday are looking kind of busy, actually, so the freezer idea, and the veggie soup in the crock pot are good ideas! *pats self on back*

Well, the rain finally stopped for the most part! It rained a bit this morning, but then was sunny and hot the rest of the day. And it rained off and on yesterday, like, oh, when Ryan needed to go to school... so I ended up driving him because I didn't want to be trapped in the house again all day. When we're trapped at home all day, Max ends up doing stuff like this:

Randomness

2009-03-07T07:10:00.011-06:00

I suppose a better title may have been "Story of My Life," seeing as how the two are synonymous. Because in this post you will see not only pictures of Max playing in the living room, but also Ryan co-hosting the "Night of Talent" at school, and singing the "Million Dollar Song." See? Told you it was random. =)

Max and I had some new friends over on Thursday, and before they arrived I pulled out some more toys. Which worked out great for Max since I'm pretty sure she was bored silly of the toys that have been out for a long time at this point. Yeah, she was pretty happy with all the new stuff she could throw on the floor and/or shove in her mouth.

We also played some tunnels and such, which she semi-enjoyed. Still a bit too young for those, but she crawled around them.

So it's raining. And it's been raining for quite some time now. It started Sunday afternoon... and it's now Wednesday morning. It might pause for a few minutes, enough for our street, at least, to drain. Then it starts again. Most of the city is under some amount of water. Cool to look at, not cool to drive through or live in, however.

Monday morning I drove Ryan to school because it had been raining all night, and he knew his bromfiets wouldn't make it. Then Max and I stayed home all. stinking. day. Because it was STILL pouring and we figured it wouldn't be the safest thing in the world for us to go gallivanting around in. And Tuesday, Max and I took two other teachers and we all trotted off to the Doctor's office. Across town. Wow. Traffic was awful. Simply awful. Wow. It was an adventure. Let's just leave it at that.

And... I have run out of things to say... I'm not entirely awake yet...

I think I died and went to heaven

2009-03-04T09:33:00.003-06:00

So after I posted that blog entry I had just finished (see below), I checked in on the Bakerella blog. Some of you may remember that that is the blog where I got the instructions for that cake I made for Valentine's Day. Anyway, she (the original Bakerella, I'm assuming) posted a link for a secret recipes blog. As in, recipes from famous and/or popular American eateries. (Can McDonalds be called an eatery??) There are recipes from everything from P.F. Changs to Sonic, from Chili's to Panera, etc. I am really impressed. Like, really.

Secret Recipe Blog

Now, please note that I did not I was "completely" impressed. Or "thoroughly" impressed. Mainly because I already have some recipes from some of these places that aren't listed on here. But, overall, this find has made me sooooooo happy. And it will make Ryan extremely happy, as well. As soon as he gets home from school.

Long time, no see!

2009-03-04T08:40:00.004-06:00

Yes, it is my fault. I realize that. I've seriously slacked on this blogging thing. And that's after I promised myself that I would NOT become one of 'those' bloggers who started a blog never to post again. I didn't even post my menu on Monday. I was just. that. unmotivated. It doesn't help that SOMEONE has been seriously squawky, impossible to please, and all around rather unpleasant to be with. That same someone enjoys sinking her two sharp teeth into anything and everything she can get near her mouth, as well as losing her balance and bonking her noggin. On Monday, she slipped and hit the coffee table, resulting in a bump on her head, as well as biting her tongue and drawing blood. On Tuesday she slipped on the balcony, resulting in a bump on the opposite sit of her head, and biting her lip. Which drew blood. She's fallen and hit her head or some other part of her little personage, but it didn't leave a mark. So it doesn't count.

Oh, also on Monday she attempted to eat a cockroach. Before you worry about us living in a cockroach infested house, this is ONLY the THIRD cockroach I've seen in this house since we moved in back in June. Thankyouverymuch.

We broke out the sunglasses we had gotten her for Christmas, mainly because she was dead set on destroying either Ryan's or mine. So she was placated. For now.

The baby gate thing is working out quite well. We've also had to loop rubber bands around the handles on the kitchen cabinets. She figured out quite quickly how to pull them open and start pulling stuff out as fast as she can. This baby can do things at the speed of lightening, I'm not even kidding.

Okay, so just in case you were dying to know, and wouldn't be able to live another day without it, here is my sort-of menu plan for this week. You'll see why I said 'sort-of' momentarily.

Monday: we had Sloppy Joes, french fries, and a salad. (I think this was on the menu for last week, too, only that got rearranged.)
Tuesday: we had that Vegetable lasagna I talked about last week. Only there wasn't any Ricotta at the store, and my attempt to make something similar flopped. So I did my own thing. Sort of. It was still good, although incredibly flat. Hmmm.
Wednesday: Pork chops, rice, kasabands (if they're still good...). I did my own version of this recipe. I will let you know how it turns out.

Here is where it gets tricky. See, I bought potatoes to make mashed potatoes for tonight, but I don't think they'll go well with the Peking Pork, so I changed it to rice. But I still need to make mashed potatoes of those potatoes soon, or they'll go all yucky. So I will list a few other of my ideas, in no particular order.

-Beef tamale bake
-Fried rice
-Skillet lasagna
-Chicken marinated in that salad dressing I bought the other day; it's called Vidalia Onion vinaigrette with roasted red peppers. It's a creamy dressing, which is not what one would expect from the name.

And, just in case you were wondering, Italian night on Saturday went very well. Lots of yummy food, etc. Some friends of ours made the best lasagna I've had in a long time. Seriously. Right up there almost with my mom's. Which is one of my favorite meals. (Like something I would pick on on my birthday. And then I would ask for my favorite kind of cake. To see if anyone can remember what that happens to be. ) Max enjoyed the cinnamon twists I made. Enjoyed them immensely.

Menu Monday 2/23

2009-02-23T13:53:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm excited about our menu this week. =) I found *yet* another food blog, and she had a recipe for homemade Vegetable Lasagna that supposedly tastes like Stouffers'. We shall see.

Monday: Shepard's Pie, salad
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas (from allrecipes.com)
Thursday: Sloppy Joes, french fries, salad
Friday: Chicken and dumplings (from the CrockPot Lady)
Saturday: Stromboli- we're doing an Italian night for the staff at Ryan's school, and my contribution is stromboli and some type of dessert.
Sunday: Vegetable Lasagna (from this blog)

Happy National Sticky Bun Day

2009-02-21T12:26:00.006-06:00

So I didn't know that today was National Sticky Bun Day, did you? Well, we both do now! I double checked this important information and found a great website. Today is also Love Your Pet Day. Guess I'll have to go pet the dogs some more. Back to Sticky Buns, I have one recipe that I got off allrecipes.com, but it takes a total for 4 hours to make. And while the results are weeeeeellllll worth it, I don't feel like devoting 4 hours of my Saturday to sticky buns. So instead, I will make Quick Sticky Buns. I got the recipe from one of my aunts, and it looks like she got it out of an old cookbook. It is yummy, so that's what I'll be making here in a bit.

Here I am talking about food again.... sigh. It's either that or the countless exploits of Max the Destroyer. (aka Max the Baby) She's figured out that it is cute to hold something out to us (her spoon, toy, etc.) and then when we touch it to take it, she whips it away. And while it is cute, I'll admit, I have no clue where she learned it.

Moving on. Ryan and I had BLTs for lunch. With turkey bacon. Not because I'm a health nut. Nooooo far from it. (Anyone who knows me can attest to that.) No, I'm using turkey bacon because it is half the price of real bacon at Choi's. And I attempt to be cheap. (Like how I covered my bases by saying "attempt"?) I took pictures of the BLTs.
They were yummy. I also made Ryan some chicken noodle soup. Homemade. Not that nasty stuff that comes from a can. Ew. Why did I randomly make Ryan some chicken noodle soup? Because he's sick. Not only is his back hurting him a lot still, but now his throat hurts, he doesn't feel good, etc. Here in Suriname they have a name for that. They call it the "griep." What, exactly, is that you may ask. Well, it can be almost anything. Sore throat, upset stomach, fever, allergies, cough, headache, aches and pains, etc. Pretty much anything. Which is nice when you don't feel like sharing your particular ailment.

Max is actually having a good day today. It's been so long since she's had one of those that I had forgotten what they feel like. Have I taken her 9 month pictures yet? Nope. See above. =) But, here is one to tide you over.

9 months and counting

2009-02-20T10:08:00.003-06:00

Max, that is. She's 9 months old today. Who'da thunk it? She's a very active baby, which is fine now that we've got the house baby-proofed. She's also extremely cute, which has been her saving grace the last couple of days. This child has been impossible to please!!! Is there a full moon or something I don't know about? I was about ready to give her away several times this week. Anyway, there will be 9 month pictures coming soon. It tends to take two people to get decent pictures, so I have to wait until Ryan is home from school.

Nothing too exciting is going on. Which is good, right? Ryan's back hurts again, and we don't know why. That makes for rough times, let me tell you.

We've been eating kiwis and salads like they're going out of style. Or season. Which is highly likely. Last night I made taco salad, and toasted two tortillas in the oven to make tortilla bowls. They were very, very good. =)

I'm kind of boring today, sorry. I'll work on that.

Me, again!

2009-02-17T13:06:00.003-06:00

I know, two posts in one day?!?! What have y'all done to deserve this??! I just really wanted to post my menu, but wanted it to be in a separate post. I figure if my posts get too long then your eyes start to glaze over and you miss the witticisms towards the end. (Aw gee, now I have to remember to INSERT witticisms at the end...)

Yesterday we finally bit the bullet and put up a baby gate. Infant protector. Small child restrictor. Fence. Whatever. It's up. Remember how in my first post I mentioned that my baby was going after our shoes? Well, she LOVES to chew on them. My flip-flops, more specifically. There are teeth marks in my pink Old Navy flip-flops. This is a problem because, well, as many of you, we don't live in the cleanest of areas. And we have two outdoor dogs. And... yeah, we'll stop there. Needless to say, Max chewing on our shoes is not a good idea. We tell her NO, and then she looks at us, either smiles or laughs, and continues to chew. Then it's hard to tell her no. I usually end up laughing, too. So we put up the aforementioned baby gate in the hallway, and moved the shoes to the other side of it. This is working very well.

After my trip to the vegetable stand this morning, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen cutting, dicing, boiling, and slicing. Very Iron Chef of me. And washing dishes. Because I'm a messy cook. Not the point. The point is that I had a lot of fun. Everything is all chopped up for the sweet and sour chicken, salad stuff is ready, BLT stuff is ready, etc. I even had a towel tucked into my pocket so I could be just like Mario Batali. (FYI, he is not our most favorite Iron Chef. He is our 3rd favorite. But he's funny.)

While I was doing all of that fun kitchen stuff, I listened to the latest Car Talk podcast. (www.cartalk.com) And some songs from the musical Wicked. And some Third Day. Third Day rocks my socks. Like this song.

Oh, also today, I ate a kiwi! I don't think I've ever eaten a kiwi before. How sad is that? So I bought one, peeled it, sliced it, and ate the whole thing lickty-split. And dude. I just checked out this website about kiwi and it's AMAZING. I will be telling my mother about this. She'll know why. So when Ryan had to run to the store to grab another green pepper (mine had gone moldy. ew.) I had him get a couple more. Max tasted some and she loved it, too. Yay!

This Week's Menu

2009-02-17T12:58:00.002-06:00

I meant to post this yesterday, but never got around to it. I'd tell you why, but I really don't remember. Honest. I cannot remember what I did yesterday. Oh, I did go grocery shopping in the afternoon with Ryan and Max! Other than that, I'm drawing a blank.

But that is not the point. The point is, I meant to post my week's menu yesterday, in case anyone else needs some inspiration. I don't know about you, but I get stuck in a rut. And then I realize I'm in said rut, and then try out 3 or 4 new recipes in a week. Which is fine and good, except I think new recipes take a bit more time and work to make than the ones I'm used to making.

So, without further ado, here is our menu for the week:

Monday: Hamburgers, French fries, fruit
Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Kasabands (Chinese long beans), Salad
Wednesday: Beef stew with Dumplings
Thursday: Taco Salad
Friday: Pancakes and Bacon
Saturday: Chicken Alfredo, salad
Sunday: Shepherd's Pie, probably a salad....

In actuality, I'm kind of glad I didn't get around to posting this yesterday, as this morning I went to the vegetable stand and got tons of lettuce, and other fun stuff. So, some of the menu got revised. And now my fridge looks like the vegetable stand threw up in it. Not in a gross way. In a good way.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T14:26:00.004-06:00

It's raining here. I love the rain, so it makes for a great afternoon. Max and I are sitting here watching Dora. In Dutch. Stupid case was mis-labeled. Sigh. Well, Max is also attempting to help me type. And chew on my wrists with her two teeth.

I was thinking about my first blog entry this afternoon while attempting to wake up from my nap. I thought about how it featured food blogs as my inspiration. Which is fine. I've discovered that I love to bake, and am even enjoying cooking. I love the crockpot blog, and have no idea how anybody could possibly live without a crockpot. Really. I mean, without a crockpot, you'd have to make these in the oven. And that's just not as much fun. I made this for dinner, and if I had had to do it in the oven, I wouldn't have been able to sit and watch "What Not to Wear." Which I wanted to watch. (By the way, whenever I make those chicken and dumplings they don't come out like soup. At all. But they are extrememly yummy. Even Max loves them. You should make them.)

Now, I have, in the past, teased my mother about having more than one crockpot. What good could that possibly be? I always asked. Well, no more. Now I wish I had more than one. Because if I did, then while I was baking those yummy 5-Layer Brownies, or the delicious Chicken and Dumplings, I could ALSO be making THIS to drink. But such is life. So I muddle through with just one crockpot.

And the baking? Well, you guys saw pictures yesterday of the Valentine's cake I made. (It is yummy, by the way.) For Ryan's birthday I made Pac-Man cupcakes. The tray they're on is not pretty. I'm not good at the plating/presentation thing. Yet.

By the way, I did get to sleep in this morning. It was nice. =) I like sleep.

Happy Day Before Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T05:27:00.008-06:00

Are you ready?? I am! I spent all week making various things, and had SO much fun!! I made cake balls one day (or, if your name is Jana, they're called cakey spheres of goodness), a heart out of Hershey's Kisses another day, and then doubled up yesterday by making truffles and what you can see in the pictures below. It's a strawberry cake, cut in a heart shape, covered in homemade fondant, with truffles and cake balls on top.I was going to use mostly cake balls that I had dipped in various toppings, however, I froze them with the toothpicks used for dipping still in... and then I couldn't get them out. Oh well.
Ryan was happy, I was happy, and it's pretty. It's all good.
I had a lot of fun making everything, even though it's all from scratch- minus the strawberry cake mix.
Anyway. It took a while, what with a mobile baby everywhere, guys re-wiring my house, and Ryan's back being out.

Someone asked me yesterday why I refer to my daughter as Max. Well, I'll tell you why. It's my small stab at maintaining privacy. (I'm channeling my inner Taryn.) Max is a girl, and, IMHO, the prettiest baby girl in the entire universe. But that's just my opinion.

It's Friday!! I love Fridays. I'd love it more if Ryan's back weren't out... I'd have sleeping in to look forward to tomorrow morning. Now, not so much. This too shall pass. (Right, Mom?)

I'm not feeling very creative right now, I'm sorry. I'll come back later if inspiration hits me.

What to say, what to say...

2009-02-12T05:15:00.005-06:00

So here I am. I got inspired to start a blog. My inspiration came from the likes of this blog, and this one, and oh! can't forget this one! There are, of course, lots more that I love, and then the ones Ryan enjoys... but we could possibly be here all day. And I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of time. Hang on, I need to go find my baby.
Okay, she was going after the shoes. Again. Have I mentioned she's a crawling ace? She mastered that skill and hasn't looked back. And while it's fun that she's not so much of a blob anymore, and she can entertain herself more now, it's kind of pain to always know where she is and what she is either putting in her mouth or licking. She does that with EVERYTHING. I'm told it's normal. I'm glad we grow out of that, though, how weird would that be if we didn't??
But I digress. (You'll come to find out I do that a lot.) So there I was, inspired to blog. Now, I know some people complain about blogs. *insert whiney voice* "But I don't wanna know what your kid ate for breakfast!" or "I don't care what's on your grocery list!" or "Who cares what you did today." (Yogurt; onions; and nothing so far- in that order.) But to them I say "then don't read this!" Although I do promise here and now to not bore you with things like the baby's daily menu, what I plan to do or have done each and every day, and what I need at the store.
I do, however, wish to share some of Max's antics, some of the fun things I make in the kitchen, and the important goings-on in our lives.
(I realize the above sentence does not constitute a paragraph. Forgive me.)
Where was I... oh yes. This is my first time blogging. Ryan has done it in the past. And when I say past, I mean B.C. (You figure that one out.) So bear with me. Feel free to leave comments and constructive criticism. I'm a big girl. I can take it. (And... I have comment moderation turned on, so if I don't like it, I won't allow it to be posted.) That's Max. Giving you one of her looks.