i got a letter about a week ago from one of my favorite cousins. well, actually it was a letter for abigail from my cousin's daughter, inviting her to be in the "sticker club." it only takes reading the letter to realize that it's a ponzi scheme... send one pack of stickers and get 36 packs of stickers in return. with the copies and the mailing to friends and all the other instructions, i won't lie, it kinda sounded like a time consuming sort of pain. but this was from my beloved cousin and i trust her judgement more than my own, so i decided to be a yes man and just do it.
i can't remember what it was but while i was sending them out, i googled "sticker club" and then my stomach sank. apparently moms hate this stuff. well... some moms are totally fine with it but some take this huge stance against it and reading a million comments people had written online made me step back and actually think where i stood with this.
i am happy to report that i am okay with it and i think sticker ponzi schemes are not a bad thing. here's why.
the worst that can happen is that you gave a $.99 pack of stickers to a precious little child and received absolutely nothing in return. that isn't a bad thing in my book. ponzi schemes are illegal because they aren't sustainable and eventually there are people at the bottom that give without ever receiving. when it's your entire life savings that you're going to use on retirement, this can be a very bad thing. when you're "losing" a pack of stickers that will actually bring joy to a child, that is actually a good thing. it's call a "gift." moms commenting on these threads were ranting about everything from "this chain letter is bullying my child into participating" to "my daughter was like 'why would i want to send a pack of stickers to someone i don't even know?'" to "i just threw it in the trash because i didn't want to do it and i didn't want to look bad to the mom that sent it to me" to "my kid loved this and it made her day" to "i took this as an opportunity to talk to my child about pyramid schemes" to "this was a great way for me to explain letter writing and the postal system." and it wasn't hard to find a blog post with a mom venting about how they think it's absolutely terrible and then there were 15 comments from other moms saying "i'm glad you wrote this! now i'm not going to feel guilty about throwing the letter away!"
so i'm sure i could go on for ten more paragraphs about this but really, you send one pack of stickers and then you get between 0 and 36 packs of stickers. if you get 20 packs of stickers, that's still a good deal. if you only get two packs of stickers that's still a good deal. if you get one pack of stickers you've broken even. and if you get zero packs of stickers, you've done a good deed. and who doesn't like to be charitable?! i'm a psych major and i wish i remembered the name of this study i'm thinking of (if you know it, comment below!) but the result was that the people in the study actually received more gratification from a task when they received no compensation. and the people that were well paid for their time/effort received less gratification. that's true for me. like how i enjoyed nannying just fine when i was getting paid $20/hr for it. but last week i spent six hours of my time watching kids that were not my own. like i knew a friend had a lot to do before she went out of town so i told her to drop off her kid for a few hours while she got stuff done. and then later in the week i watched another friend's kid for several hours while she and her husband when out house hunting with their realtor. i enjoy that kind of kid watching much more than i ever enjoyed the paid kind. it's just the nature of giving.
and here's the other thing. the letter specifically states "if you can't participate, let my mom know." here's my plan for any of my mom friends that tell me they don't want to participate... i'm just going to send a pack of stickers to whoever they were supposed to send them to. that's it. then their part of the pyramid ends but there is no adverse effect for any of the previously participating kids. i don't mind buying extra packs of stickers to send to my cousin's kid... so, beloved cousin (you know who you are), if your dear daughter gets several packs of stickers from me... you'll know why. ;-)
moral of the story: sticker ponzi schemes make kids happy and the ones on the end just learn to be givers.
that's my story and i'm sticking to it.
*i realize that there will be plenty of people that disagree with my opinion... and i'm okay with that.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
butternut squash soup and random thoughts
i'm too tired to post pictures or stories or anything else that requires a brain. but i'm also too ummm i don't know the word, to go to sleep because my christopher is out of town again and i always procrastinate going to sleep when he's out of town. getting in bed? i do that the first chance i get. actually closing my computer and falling asleep? i procrastinate as much as humanly possible.
anyways, i got this butternut squash that costco has and it's awesome because it's already prepped for you (click this link to read someone else's rave about it) and realized i should have used it ummm, a few days ago. i'm not a stickler for things like that (i inherited that from my dad... my mother would have probably tossed this out) so i took it as a challenge to make a dinner out of it using only what i had on hand (we got snow last night and i pretty much never go out that first day of snow... because parking lots are still being cleared and really it's just kind of a pain) and it turned out to be much easier than anticipated!
i googled "allrecipes butternut squash" and checked out a few options before picking the most appealing (that means easiest) recipe. it was so simple and foolproof and so delicious and only dirtied one pot (that's huge in my book) that i'm posting about it here for when i am looking for dinner ideas. anyways, it is this butternut squash soup recipe and you should make it. especially if your "i just can't get full off of soup" husband is out of town.
here's how i did it:
i melted a square of butter (i'm not big on measuring but it was probably the correct amount) and used it to cook the onions (i chopped up a whole onion... but i love onion and it was on the small side) while i turned on winnie the pooh on dvr for my precious two year old because the tv remote decided to act up on the day i was parenting alone, leaving no access to our awesome thomas the train dvd collection. should you be in this situation, periodically run back to the kitchen to make sure your onions don't burn. (hint: they won't... because they're swimming in such a glorious amount of butter) after you get the show set up, dump in your squash (don't forget to recycle the container!), water (i only used two cups instead of three), four chicken boullion cubes, pepper, marjoram (this was my first time ever cooking with it... i know that for sure because i had to open the seal on it), and let it all hang out and boil for a while... at least 20 minutes... stirring periodically while you scavenge your kitchen for stuff to snack on. instead of dirtying a bunch of dishes and a food processor/blender, i got out my hand mixer and those beaters did just fine and left some nice small chunks of squash while making a perfectly desirable consistency for the soup. the recipe calls for two full packages of cream cheese but i thought that was excessive because that stuff is expensive. so i just put in what was left of the one we had opened (maybe 3 ounces?) and it was wonderful. although that didn't stop me from adding straight up cream to my bowl. the costco HALF GALLON of cream is now a regular staple purchase for me. it's so cheap and so sinfully delicious i just can't help myself. seriously... i catch myself daydreaming about ways i can use it... like this soup. also, i'm not a huge fan of oatmeal these days (although i've gone through stages where i ate it three times a day because i was that in love with it) and i've found that pouring a bit of cream on top makes it taste like dessert. like i found a packet of some sort of flavored instant oatmeal and when i poured that cream on top it was like i was eating a cobbler with ice cream. i used to think i wanted to lose this baby weight so i could fit into my clothes again but now i've decided that my clothes really aren't that cute and i would prefer to have curves and buy new clothes instead. i hate shopping for clothes but when i'm eating creme brulee or anything with heavy whipping cream actually, that seems like the least of my worries. right now food is my therapy.* and i'm okay with that.
welcome to the brain of the add... that paragraph started as instructions for making soup and ended with my shopping habits and my physically and emotionally unhealthy addiction to cream.
anyways, my head is still a jumble so wish me luck that i can sleep tonight. and make this soup.
*milk is always my therapy and my drug... like when i drink it, my whole body relaxes and it makes me think that must be what smokers feel like when they finally get their nicotine... so maybe it just makes sense that i've expanded my milk horizon to include straight up cream.
okay, apparently i can't sleep without getting my thoughts out so here we go...
in other news: baby girl took a nap again today which is fabulous... she actually finished her lunch and declared that she was all done eating and was ready to take a nap (it was way before her nap time but i just went with it). what is not fabulous is that she's woke up at 6:15 this morning. two times in the past two weeks, she's woken up during the night (once at 11pm and once at 1am) and frequently she's been waking up early (that means anything before 9am) although never at 6:15 before!) luckily i gave her a binky and she was okay to hang out and read books for an hour before i got up with brady and came back to get her out of her crib. anyone have any ideas what this could be? is it just a new phase? or is it because she's not quite done with her molars coming in yet? kids are mysterious. also, having both kids awake for the day at 7:15 made this feel like the longest day ever. it wasn't bad, it just felt like it should always be four hours ahead of what it actually was. maybe more. this morning actually kind of feels like it was yesterday morning... it seems just that long ago. that's a long day.
my electric blanket on my bed is awesome all the time but when my christopher is gone it is especially amazing because it tricks my body into thinking that someone else is in bed with me. like when i get back in bed after feeding brady in a few hours it will be warm, even though i will be lacking a bed-mate (when was the last time you used that term? i try to use it as frequently as possible).
nursing makes me super thirsty. especially at night. maybe because i'm overheating from my electric blanket but we'll just never know. since i don't drink water, i keep milk on my nightstand. it's not unusual for me to drink 30 - 35 ounces between midnight and 7am. i am well hydrated. although we already knew that because i'm drinking at least a gallon every 24 hours. can i say again how wonderful it would be if i could tolerate water?! i've done the math... we spend over a thousand dollars on milk each year. ONE THOUSAND! like a one with THREE zeros. it is painful to me. although i can't think of any other way i could spend $1000 that could possibly bring me more happiness than a few hundred gallons of milk.
brady really is doing so well, i have to keep reminding myself of how bad things were just last month. gotta keep myself humble. but seriously, even though i complain that he's a pretty terrible sleeper at night, he's great during the day and fantastic in his carseat. i don't let him stay awake longer than 55 or 60 minutes at a time and it is perfect for him. then he naps for a few hours and we repeat. having a newborn for an hour at a time is completely manageable. and the fact that he's happy during that time is just icing on the cake.
everything baby girl says is hilarious (do i say this every day?) and although it includes a lot of funny things, most of it is just her sweet baby voice and strange voice intonations (like the "goes in noses?" phrase). just today i figured out something that i hadn't been able to put my finger on before. she has somehow developed a southern accent in certain things that she says. where does this come from?! also, i'm loving it. today she also experimented (in the way that she has the confidence of someone who has totally mastered the concept) with phrases using the word remember. i told her "remember thomas is broken so if you want to watch something you have to watch pooh bear?" and i never heard the end of "remember abigail was crying in the crib because i was all done napping and i wanted to read skippyjonjones?" she was pointing upstairs with her tiny little pointer finger and telling me this elaborate story about what happened when she woke up from nap today. and everything started with "remember."
okay, i really need to go to sleep... especially if brady's night is anything like last night...
anyways, i got this butternut squash that costco has and it's awesome because it's already prepped for you (click this link to read someone else's rave about it) and realized i should have used it ummm, a few days ago. i'm not a stickler for things like that (i inherited that from my dad... my mother would have probably tossed this out) so i took it as a challenge to make a dinner out of it using only what i had on hand (we got snow last night and i pretty much never go out that first day of snow... because parking lots are still being cleared and really it's just kind of a pain) and it turned out to be much easier than anticipated!
i googled "allrecipes butternut squash" and checked out a few options before picking the most appealing (that means easiest) recipe. it was so simple and foolproof and so delicious and only dirtied one pot (that's huge in my book) that i'm posting about it here for when i am looking for dinner ideas. anyways, it is this butternut squash soup recipe and you should make it. especially if your "i just can't get full off of soup" husband is out of town.
here's how i did it:
i melted a square of butter (i'm not big on measuring but it was probably the correct amount) and used it to cook the onions (i chopped up a whole onion... but i love onion and it was on the small side) while i turned on winnie the pooh on dvr for my precious two year old because the tv remote decided to act up on the day i was parenting alone, leaving no access to our awesome thomas the train dvd collection. should you be in this situation, periodically run back to the kitchen to make sure your onions don't burn. (hint: they won't... because they're swimming in such a glorious amount of butter) after you get the show set up, dump in your squash (don't forget to recycle the container!), water (i only used two cups instead of three), four chicken boullion cubes, pepper, marjoram (this was my first time ever cooking with it... i know that for sure because i had to open the seal on it), and let it all hang out and boil for a while... at least 20 minutes... stirring periodically while you scavenge your kitchen for stuff to snack on. instead of dirtying a bunch of dishes and a food processor/blender, i got out my hand mixer and those beaters did just fine and left some nice small chunks of squash while making a perfectly desirable consistency for the soup. the recipe calls for two full packages of cream cheese but i thought that was excessive because that stuff is expensive. so i just put in what was left of the one we had opened (maybe 3 ounces?) and it was wonderful. although that didn't stop me from adding straight up cream to my bowl. the costco HALF GALLON of cream is now a regular staple purchase for me. it's so cheap and so sinfully delicious i just can't help myself. seriously... i catch myself daydreaming about ways i can use it... like this soup. also, i'm not a huge fan of oatmeal these days (although i've gone through stages where i ate it three times a day because i was that in love with it) and i've found that pouring a bit of cream on top makes it taste like dessert. like i found a packet of some sort of flavored instant oatmeal and when i poured that cream on top it was like i was eating a cobbler with ice cream. i used to think i wanted to lose this baby weight so i could fit into my clothes again but now i've decided that my clothes really aren't that cute and i would prefer to have curves and buy new clothes instead. i hate shopping for clothes but when i'm eating creme brulee or anything with heavy whipping cream actually, that seems like the least of my worries. right now food is my therapy.* and i'm okay with that.
welcome to the brain of the add... that paragraph started as instructions for making soup and ended with my shopping habits and my physically and emotionally unhealthy addiction to cream.
anyways, my head is still a jumble so wish me luck that i can sleep tonight. and make this soup.
*milk is always my therapy and my drug... like when i drink it, my whole body relaxes and it makes me think that must be what smokers feel like when they finally get their nicotine... so maybe it just makes sense that i've expanded my milk horizon to include straight up cream.
okay, apparently i can't sleep without getting my thoughts out so here we go...
in other news: baby girl took a nap again today which is fabulous... she actually finished her lunch and declared that she was all done eating and was ready to take a nap (it was way before her nap time but i just went with it). what is not fabulous is that she's woke up at 6:15 this morning. two times in the past two weeks, she's woken up during the night (once at 11pm and once at 1am) and frequently she's been waking up early (that means anything before 9am) although never at 6:15 before!) luckily i gave her a binky and she was okay to hang out and read books for an hour before i got up with brady and came back to get her out of her crib. anyone have any ideas what this could be? is it just a new phase? or is it because she's not quite done with her molars coming in yet? kids are mysterious. also, having both kids awake for the day at 7:15 made this feel like the longest day ever. it wasn't bad, it just felt like it should always be four hours ahead of what it actually was. maybe more. this morning actually kind of feels like it was yesterday morning... it seems just that long ago. that's a long day.
my electric blanket on my bed is awesome all the time but when my christopher is gone it is especially amazing because it tricks my body into thinking that someone else is in bed with me. like when i get back in bed after feeding brady in a few hours it will be warm, even though i will be lacking a bed-mate (when was the last time you used that term? i try to use it as frequently as possible).
nursing makes me super thirsty. especially at night. maybe because i'm overheating from my electric blanket but we'll just never know. since i don't drink water, i keep milk on my nightstand. it's not unusual for me to drink 30 - 35 ounces between midnight and 7am. i am well hydrated. although we already knew that because i'm drinking at least a gallon every 24 hours. can i say again how wonderful it would be if i could tolerate water?! i've done the math... we spend over a thousand dollars on milk each year. ONE THOUSAND! like a one with THREE zeros. it is painful to me. although i can't think of any other way i could spend $1000 that could possibly bring me more happiness than a few hundred gallons of milk.
brady really is doing so well, i have to keep reminding myself of how bad things were just last month. gotta keep myself humble. but seriously, even though i complain that he's a pretty terrible sleeper at night, he's great during the day and fantastic in his carseat. i don't let him stay awake longer than 55 or 60 minutes at a time and it is perfect for him. then he naps for a few hours and we repeat. having a newborn for an hour at a time is completely manageable. and the fact that he's happy during that time is just icing on the cake.
everything baby girl says is hilarious (do i say this every day?) and although it includes a lot of funny things, most of it is just her sweet baby voice and strange voice intonations (like the "goes in noses?" phrase). just today i figured out something that i hadn't been able to put my finger on before. she has somehow developed a southern accent in certain things that she says. where does this come from?! also, i'm loving it. today she also experimented (in the way that she has the confidence of someone who has totally mastered the concept) with phrases using the word remember. i told her "remember thomas is broken so if you want to watch something you have to watch pooh bear?" and i never heard the end of "remember abigail was crying in the crib because i was all done napping and i wanted to read skippyjonjones?" she was pointing upstairs with her tiny little pointer finger and telling me this elaborate story about what happened when she woke up from nap today. and everything started with "remember."
okay, i really need to go to sleep... especially if brady's night is anything like last night...
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
nightly news
the thoughts swarming in my head
my honey has been traveling a lot lately. way too much for my liking. like every week... sometimes days at a time. it has given me more appreciation for how much i need him. i don't feel like i "needed" him as a parent until brady came along. now i need him. i need him to be home so i don't have to take two kids to young women with me. i need him to listen to my day. i need him to do the dishes that have piled up and pour a bowl of cereal for baby girl. and i need him to just physically be there next to me. having brady has brought us closer.
my next door neighbors that i've always been more than mildly obsessed with? know who i'm talking about? the ones in our ward where the husband saved my life that one time and the wife has gladly given/loaned me sugar, ketchup, cream of tartar, a bundt pan, and even $5 (yes, i showed up on their doorstep on a friday night to borrow cash so i could attend a local middle school play... why doesn't everywhere take credit card?! like garage sales too), and the daughter that was my beehive president and is more mature than i will ever be. and their dog, duke, that passed away last summer... i almost cried when that happened. well, they moved. to utah. it just happened last week and i'm not even kidding that i've been working my way through the five stages of grief. i'm currently in the "depression" stage and i'll let you know when i get to "acceptance" if that day ever comes. unfortunately i'm somewhat confident it never will. i haven't met our new neighbors yet although i have full intentions of taking over a plate of rice krispie treats (who doesn't love those?!) once it stops snowing. and i'll give them the copy of their house key that i have. i hope that's not awkward.
i'm compiling a list of quotes from abigail. her speaking skills are awesome and so so cute. and so are her mannerisms and everything else about her. for years and years i have said that two is my favorite age. baby girl just confirms that. two is magical. i'm nervous for three though... i've never been a fan of the threes. but for the next few months, you better believe i'm going to soak up baby girl being two. i thought i enjoyed her as a baby but honestly that was nothing. she just keeps getting better with age.
i need to write a two month post for brady. this will be difficult because i am still trying to figure out who the heck he is. there has got to be a rhyme and reason to him, right?! also, let's have a group fast that he will start sleeping longer stretches at night. because FOR THE LOVE. BRADY! the idea is that your nighttime sleep improves with age! you are two months old... abigail was sleeping 12-13 hours a night at this point. every. single. night. i know you've got reflux but work with me here... i'm begging you.
how did i ever live with out my iphone? seriously seriously seriously. it is worth every single penny.
so glad the hockey lockout is over. i really do love that sport. i love watching games with my honey. and it's only been a few weeks but my fantasy hockey team is currently undefeated. and there are 14 people in the league. call us a power couple but honey is actually the only other undefeated team in the league. it's pretty cool. and yes, i realize how ridiculous i sound right now.
i spend my mornings and my days being so exhausted and then when night time comes, i have such a hard time clearing my head so i can fall asleep. that does not serve me well in my already sleep deprived state.
i haven't been cooking much at all lately. i have still been eating cheese eggs on toast once a day (sometimes breakfast but sometimes lunch or dinner) and other than that, my diet is mostly chocolates, creme brulee (i ran out yesterday but mark my words i'll make another batch!), and chocolate cookies from one of honey's clients. i have never been a healthy eater but i can honestly not recall the last time i've eaten so much sugar on a daily basis. i'm trying not to think about it. anyone want to come cook for me? i would gladly trade all of the chocolate in the world for a pan of lasagna. right now, it's all about convenience.
i used to be concerned about huge world problems... like people living in third world countries, problems close to home... homeless people in atlanta, and keeping up with family and friends (i used to actually be social). moving to parker, i started living in a bubble and while i thought about homeless people, my life was enough removed that it didn't stress me out on a daily basis (it's terrible to say but i hate that i care so much). so my concerns turned to my calling, being a good mom, keeping in touch with close family and friends, being healthy, keeping a clean home, recycling and not using too much gas/electricity/water, and other random stuff like that. well brady has narrowed things down even more and now i pretty much just focus on what happens within the walls of my own home. every day i wake up and i try to be a good mom, be a good wife, and keep my house clean (it's actually impossible for me to be happy or a good wife/mother if my house is cluttered or dirty so really these are interlocked). i have had to let go (at least for the time being) when it comes to keeping in touch with people (i have GOT to start doing better at this... especially calling my grandparents), being healthy (christopher doesn't even bother asking what's for dinner anymore. he just comes home and pours himself a bowl of cereal and makes himself a quesadilla.), trying to do a good job at my calling (i just try to keep up with what is required), and a million other things. i'm still stressing on a daily basis about homeless people but i try to channel that energy to being a good mom. i'm taking a lesson from president hinckley... my mantra as of late has been, "the greatest work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home." and i'm taking it day by day.
my honey has been traveling a lot lately. way too much for my liking. like every week... sometimes days at a time. it has given me more appreciation for how much i need him. i don't feel like i "needed" him as a parent until brady came along. now i need him. i need him to be home so i don't have to take two kids to young women with me. i need him to listen to my day. i need him to do the dishes that have piled up and pour a bowl of cereal for baby girl. and i need him to just physically be there next to me. having brady has brought us closer.
my next door neighbors that i've always been more than mildly obsessed with? know who i'm talking about? the ones in our ward where the husband saved my life that one time and the wife has gladly given/loaned me sugar, ketchup, cream of tartar, a bundt pan, and even $5 (yes, i showed up on their doorstep on a friday night to borrow cash so i could attend a local middle school play... why doesn't everywhere take credit card?! like garage sales too), and the daughter that was my beehive president and is more mature than i will ever be. and their dog, duke, that passed away last summer... i almost cried when that happened. well, they moved. to utah. it just happened last week and i'm not even kidding that i've been working my way through the five stages of grief. i'm currently in the "depression" stage and i'll let you know when i get to "acceptance" if that day ever comes. unfortunately i'm somewhat confident it never will. i haven't met our new neighbors yet although i have full intentions of taking over a plate of rice krispie treats (who doesn't love those?!) once it stops snowing. and i'll give them the copy of their house key that i have. i hope that's not awkward.
i'm compiling a list of quotes from abigail. her speaking skills are awesome and so so cute. and so are her mannerisms and everything else about her. for years and years i have said that two is my favorite age. baby girl just confirms that. two is magical. i'm nervous for three though... i've never been a fan of the threes. but for the next few months, you better believe i'm going to soak up baby girl being two. i thought i enjoyed her as a baby but honestly that was nothing. she just keeps getting better with age.
i need to write a two month post for brady. this will be difficult because i am still trying to figure out who the heck he is. there has got to be a rhyme and reason to him, right?! also, let's have a group fast that he will start sleeping longer stretches at night. because FOR THE LOVE. BRADY! the idea is that your nighttime sleep improves with age! you are two months old... abigail was sleeping 12-13 hours a night at this point. every. single. night. i know you've got reflux but work with me here... i'm begging you.
how did i ever live with out my iphone? seriously seriously seriously. it is worth every single penny.
so glad the hockey lockout is over. i really do love that sport. i love watching games with my honey. and it's only been a few weeks but my fantasy hockey team is currently undefeated. and there are 14 people in the league. call us a power couple but honey is actually the only other undefeated team in the league. it's pretty cool. and yes, i realize how ridiculous i sound right now.
i spend my mornings and my days being so exhausted and then when night time comes, i have such a hard time clearing my head so i can fall asleep. that does not serve me well in my already sleep deprived state.
i haven't been cooking much at all lately. i have still been eating cheese eggs on toast once a day (sometimes breakfast but sometimes lunch or dinner) and other than that, my diet is mostly chocolates, creme brulee (i ran out yesterday but mark my words i'll make another batch!), and chocolate cookies from one of honey's clients. i have never been a healthy eater but i can honestly not recall the last time i've eaten so much sugar on a daily basis. i'm trying not to think about it. anyone want to come cook for me? i would gladly trade all of the chocolate in the world for a pan of lasagna. right now, it's all about convenience.
i used to be concerned about huge world problems... like people living in third world countries, problems close to home... homeless people in atlanta, and keeping up with family and friends (i used to actually be social). moving to parker, i started living in a bubble and while i thought about homeless people, my life was enough removed that it didn't stress me out on a daily basis (it's terrible to say but i hate that i care so much). so my concerns turned to my calling, being a good mom, keeping in touch with close family and friends, being healthy, keeping a clean home, recycling and not using too much gas/electricity/water, and other random stuff like that. well brady has narrowed things down even more and now i pretty much just focus on what happens within the walls of my own home. every day i wake up and i try to be a good mom, be a good wife, and keep my house clean (it's actually impossible for me to be happy or a good wife/mother if my house is cluttered or dirty so really these are interlocked). i have had to let go (at least for the time being) when it comes to keeping in touch with people (i have GOT to start doing better at this... especially calling my grandparents), being healthy (christopher doesn't even bother asking what's for dinner anymore. he just comes home and pours himself a bowl of cereal and makes himself a quesadilla.), trying to do a good job at my calling (i just try to keep up with what is required), and a million other things. i'm still stressing on a daily basis about homeless people but i try to channel that energy to being a good mom. i'm taking a lesson from president hinckley... my mantra as of late has been, "the greatest work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home." and i'm taking it day by day.
Today
today baby girl had "school" while i took brady to his two month well check. how has it been two months already?! and when am i ever going to get over missing being pregnant?! seriously i am dying with how bad i miss my belly and the jealousy i feel for every pregnant person i see is just overwhelming. tangent. anyways, i have a two month old and he's great. and i have a two year old and she's great too.
 |
| i think she likes to go without pants to she can see her undies. i don't mind because i think her little bum is adorable. it actually gives me more patience than i otherwise would have. that's powerful underwear for you. |
 |
| my honey went nuts at the dollar store last time he was out of town (apparently they have awesome dollar stores in wisconsin) and one of the things he got (besides fifty million more puzzles) was this winnie the pooh matching game. baby girl was so excited to show me that she got out the game and found a match. all by herself. |
 |
| not gonna lie, i was pretty impressed. the cards are double sided so they have two kinds of matching. she doesn't actually know that kanga and roo go together. she's looking at her match on the other side. |
 |
| and since it was 30* and almost snowing, brady was bundled up as usual. so cozy. |
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| people can't stop commenting on his amazing blue eyes and super long lashes. like the nurses and his doctor kept gushing about how gorgeous his eyelashes are and how boys always get the good luck with that. yes, except baby girl got them too. from honey. he's got the best eyelashes ever. |
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| but really, babies have it good. it's freezing cold but brady gets soft clothes, two blankets, a fleece-lined carseat cover, and a carseat canopy to shield him from the sun and wind. what i would give for the my-size version of this. |
hallelujah that baby girl napped again. that's three days in a row which is AWESOME because if i forgot to mention it, the past two or so weeks, she's been reading books and jumping in her crib for two hours more often than she's actually been falling asleep for a nap. i refused to believe my child is outgrowing nap time and instead went the "it must be teething" route. my wish would be that she naps until she goes to kindergarten. it can happen, right?
Not awesome
Make no mistake, yesterday morning was not awesome. But thankfully there were some pretty sweet moments in the day anyways.
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| frustrating much? when you walk into a perfectly clean room to get your freshly woken babe and then twenty minutes later after you finish nursing him, the room looks like this. kills me. |
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| and this. i'm blessed that my child actually cleans up. but sometimes i just want that mess not to happen in the first place. back in the day when we left for outings every morning my house just stayed clean. and it was magical. actually living in your house makes it messy dangit. |
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| she woke up at 7:15... on a morning when brady slept in til 8:45. it made me angry at life. not as angry as baby girl though. so many screaming fits that morning. girl needs her beauty sleep. |
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| then i took this picture just to make sure this kid hadn't fallen asleep on my shoulder. nope... just in the process of oozing spitup on my sleep. awesome. |
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| and then we had more of this. she had another major screaming fit around one and i just didn't know what to do. she was too out of control to eat and too loud to take upstairs (brady was sleeping), and i didn't think it would be fair to just dump her in her crib so i gave her a binky and just held her while she calmed down and got her breath. and then she told me she wanted to nap. a full hour before her nap time and without any lunch. |
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| she made the right choice though, because a few hours later she woke up and was such a precious little girl. naps yield amazing transformations. |
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| i may have over stressed the importance of being gentle with brady. baby girl's kisses are so gentle and quiet that i sometimes wonder if her lips are actually making contact with his head. or eye brow as was the case the other day when she decided that's where she would like to kiss him goodnight. |
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| and lastly, i love my mother in law. i haven't even had time to respond to this text but just getting it gave me hope for my life. and then i thought to myself... errands? no, please just take my kids so i can clean my house. seriously, my house makes me feel like i'm sinking in organizational quicksand. |
thankfully the second half of the day was much better than the first. baby girl got a good solid nap, brady happily hung out on the floor while i cleaned my bathroom, i actually mopped my kitchen floor (i am in love with my shark mop. in. love.), and i was so appreciative that my christopher wasn't out of town so i could go to young womens without dragging my two kids along. and making journals with the girls was tons of fun. i love my laurels.
Needs improvement
There's got to be a better way to do this.
thank goodness brady slept the whole time and didn't make a peep because i honestly had no way to access him (without unloading my entire cart of groceries) to even give him a binky if he had fussed. seriously, how're you supposed to go grocery shopping with a carseat and a kid that needs to be buckled?!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Happy Presidents' Day!
My dear husband worked from home today and it was fabulous! We grilled burgers for lunch and had a grand old time. I even spent time this morning doing dishes, laundry and cleaning and though to myself "holidays as a mom translate to 'yeay! I can clean uninterrupted while my husband watches our kids!'" I'm getting old. Also, I'm once again eating creme brûlée multiple times a day and think about it every waking second.
Ps- baby girl likes to put on her own pants.
Ps- baby girl likes to put on her own pants.
Brady is two months old!
i know these are super crappy pictures, taken in a really dark room, on a cell phone. but it is what it is... the second child gets gypped.
oh, and he's wearing no pants. although maybe that part was semi on purpose because i always dressed abigail in a onesie and socks and loved it.
brady is a super sweet boy and i love him to death. pictures don't do it justice but he is gorgeous beyond all measure.
he also sports a pretty awesome bewildered sort of look... almost constantly. i initially had thought he had an unhappy disposition about life but it turns out that was just reflux. as long as he does miss a dose of zantac, he is one happy kid.
he smiles like crazy whenever we made eye contact, and especially after he's done eating, it's all cooing and smiling.
brady's sleep still leaves much to be desired. i feel bad saying that because i used to be up with him for hours at a time during the night just trying to get him to go back to sleep after a feeding... but it is still normal for him to wake up at least twice during the night. although sometimes it's only once, sometimes it's thrice. thrice is not my friend. the good part is that after a quick feeding, i pop him back in his crib with a binky and he puts himself back to sleep just fine.
during the day, his happy waketime is about 55 minutes to an hour. if he's awake longer than that, you'll know because he'll start to get fussy and his happy and content personality will turn sour. his naps vary quite a bit although i blame myself for that for being so inconsistent. again, the second child gets gypped. if we're out running errands, brady will sleep for several hours sometimes or maybe just nap for the parts we're actually in the car. at home, a nap could be 45 minutes (if he can't get himself back to sleep after that first sleep cycle) or it could be close to four hours (if i've forgotten about him or things have been super hectic that i haven't had time to wake him up for a feeding). totally my fault and i'm sure this is much of the reason his night time sleep isn't optimal.
brady is rocking a size one diaper and 0-3 clothes. he's noticeably filled out and is chunking up nicely. he's not a big kid by any means but he's not the scrawny little peanut that he used to be. it makes me sad that his newborn days are already gone but excited for everything to come.
oh, and he's wearing no pants. although maybe that part was semi on purpose because i always dressed abigail in a onesie and socks and loved it.
brady is a super sweet boy and i love him to death. pictures don't do it justice but he is gorgeous beyond all measure.
he also sports a pretty awesome bewildered sort of look... almost constantly. i initially had thought he had an unhappy disposition about life but it turns out that was just reflux. as long as he does miss a dose of zantac, he is one happy kid.
he smiles like crazy whenever we made eye contact, and especially after he's done eating, it's all cooing and smiling.
brady's sleep still leaves much to be desired. i feel bad saying that because i used to be up with him for hours at a time during the night just trying to get him to go back to sleep after a feeding... but it is still normal for him to wake up at least twice during the night. although sometimes it's only once, sometimes it's thrice. thrice is not my friend. the good part is that after a quick feeding, i pop him back in his crib with a binky and he puts himself back to sleep just fine.
during the day, his happy waketime is about 55 minutes to an hour. if he's awake longer than that, you'll know because he'll start to get fussy and his happy and content personality will turn sour. his naps vary quite a bit although i blame myself for that for being so inconsistent. again, the second child gets gypped. if we're out running errands, brady will sleep for several hours sometimes or maybe just nap for the parts we're actually in the car. at home, a nap could be 45 minutes (if he can't get himself back to sleep after that first sleep cycle) or it could be close to four hours (if i've forgotten about him or things have been super hectic that i haven't had time to wake him up for a feeding). totally my fault and i'm sure this is much of the reason his night time sleep isn't optimal.
brady is rocking a size one diaper and 0-3 clothes. he's noticeably filled out and is chunking up nicely. he's not a big kid by any means but he's not the scrawny little peanut that he used to be. it makes me sad that his newborn days are already gone but excited for everything to come.
and here are brady's stats so far...
12.18.12 - birth
7 lbs 3.6 ounces
20 inches
hc 33.4 cm
12.19.12 - discharged from hospital
6 lbs 15 ounces
12.22.12 - nurse home visit
6 lbs 15 ounces
12.28.12 - 2 week well check
7 lbs 4.5 ounces 46%
20.25 inches 93%
1.15.13 - fussiness visit
8 lbs 8.5 ounces 21.55%
2.20.13 - 2 month appointment
10 lbs 14.5 ounces 15.1%
23.25 inches 57.67%
hc 38.7 cm 34.71%
my sweet brady boy keeps getting better and better.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
the lack of posts
last week almost did me in. christopher was gone from early monday morning until late thursday night. and monday night i gave brady the last dose of his medicine before it ran out so tuesday, wednesday, and thursday, i was dealing with an unhappy, crying babe. there was a lot of awesome monday through thursday but a lot of difficulties and seriously, it put me back in survival mode. when christopher got home thursday night (which was particularly rough for brady... like he only slept less than two hours... of 8 or 9) i was so grateful he was home. and when we finally got both kids to bed and climbed in bed ourselves, i just cried. so so thankful to have my honey back. and i'm sure he was equally happy to come home to this emotional nutcase. that's what eternity is all about, huh? anyways... there's a million things i could blog about but i've got another million things that just need to get done and it seems like there's just never enough time. sooo, now i'm going to go to sleep and make a goal to do better this week. mondays are so cleansing for me. i love mondays.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Slumber party
Baby girl was so excited when my honey put Brady in her crib. And when we took him out kept telling us she wanted Brady to stay and sleep with her to tonight. Are siblings hard wired to love each other? It sure seems like it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Mom in training
When I need help, this kid is worth her wait in gold. Like a million percent exceeding my expectations.
23 hours to go
It's just the three of us. Really missing that fourth.
Ps- apparently he didn't have very good service.
Ps- apparently he didn't have very good service.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Seeing temples
Baby girl is a talking machine these days. Vocabulary explosion and now she's not shy to use new words and phrases. She narrates absolutely everything that is going on. To say I looooove it would be the understatement of the century. I'm obsessed.
Today she was doing this puzzle when she picked up a piece and said "this is part of the temple!" as she placed it in the puzzle. Confused, I took a closer look.
Makes sense to me. I'm actually shocked I never noticed the resemblance before. What a spiritually minded puzzle prodigy child I have.
Today she was doing this puzzle when she picked up a piece and said "this is part of the temple!" as she placed it in the puzzle. Confused, I took a closer look.
Makes sense to me. I'm actually shocked I never noticed the resemblance before. What a spiritually minded puzzle prodigy child I have.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday stud and bubbles
Today I enjoyed two cute kids and a honey that spoiled me all day long. It was a good day. Having ward council cancelled this morning was just icing on the already delectable cake.
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