New words and how my Thursday was thrifty

I'll try to do a real Thrifty Thursday post tomorrow, but since I was home today, I spent the day with my family.

First of all, Baby Girl has some new words that are adorable.  She says "garage" when we say we're going out to the garage or even when we're heading that way sometimes.  She also says something that sounds like "I did it" (which would be her first phrase if that's what it ends up being...).  I love how expressive she's getting and it feels like she's learning more every day.  Today when I picked her up from the sitter's (The Hubby and I worked around the house and sent her to the sitter's part day) she turned to the door and asked "Daddy?"  I told her Daddy was at home and we'd see him when we got there.  Then we were in the car and I asked her if she'd like to take a walk when we got home and she said, "walk".  I said, "yeah, maybe we can take a walk when we get home" and she says "Daddy".  It amazed me that she remembered that Daddy is at home, the walk is at home...so the rest of the ride she was saying some combination of "Daddy", "walk", and "home".

And because I can't write a post on Thursday without mentioning how thrifty I am...

The Hubby wanted to do something a little special with Baby Girl before we sent her to the sitter's (you know, to help us feel a bit better about it), so we went out to breakfast.  We went to Bob Evans because we had a gift card--hello free breakfast!  As a side note, Baby Girl ate almost an entire sausage link, almost a whole piece of bread, and then almost a whole scrambled egg, only AFTER we put ketchup on it, which she'd never tasted before.  Yuck.  lol

Anyway, we then went to Low.e's to pick up some lawn bags and maybe a utility sink.  We found a sink for a decent price and also picked up a furnace filter.  We had a gift card for there, too.  If I'd known we would be going, I could have gotten a coupon...see what happens when you don't plan ahead??  :)  The gift card didn't cover it all, but it was helpful.

Lunch was breakfast leftovers. 

Dinner was chicken parmesean (well, just chicken with pasta sauce over it with some pasta & peas) and I used some sliced French bread I'd bought on Manager's Special to make some cheesy garlic crostinis.  Yum :)

And now I'm baking chocolate chip cookies, just because (and because I had all the ingredients here).

It was tempting to go out for lunch or to go shopping while home, but we resisted and have had a great day. 

Happy Veteran's Day to all of you.  We are incredibly thankful for the service of our men and women who help preserve the freedoms we all enjoy.

My New Love

Move over, Hubby, and make room for my newest love.

This guy:

It's the FoodSaver Mini Plus.  And I'm officially in love.

I got this little guy for just $21, shipped (down from $79), but didn't get a chance to play with it until last night.

Last night's dinner was black beans (I made the whole bag of dry beans with the intention of freezing the two extra "cans" worth), steamed rice, and some other stuff.  Well, I decided to try out this guy on the beans and the extra rice and it was wonderful. 

(To tell the truth, it was The Hubby who used it last night and I watched in awe...it was a three.some of sorts)

It sealed up everything to perfection, sucked all the air out but didn't squish everything.  It was a thing of beauty.  And now I have two cans of black beans in my freezer as well as some rice for fried rice sometime.

Heavy--Losing Friends

I know I need to blog today, but I'm really struggling.  I have some heavy shit stuff weighing on my heart, but I don't think my blog readers really want to read all about it. 

But I need to get some of it out, so I'm going to ramble a bit.  Read or don't...that's okay.  I'll try to find something light-hearted to post about tomorrow.

I feel like I've let a lot of people down.  I feel stretched really thin, but don't know how to cut back since I really do have very few different things on my plate.  I've been invited to parties and get-togethers and I find that I want (feel like I need?) to spend time at home.  I feel like I'm losing friends because I'm not making an effort, but when I make an effort for friends, I feel like I'm letting someone down, even if that someone is just me and my expectations of what a mommy/wife should be.  The line between "I want to spend time with my husband and baby" and "I *should* spend time with my husband and baby" has blurred drastically and I can't tell the difference anymore.

Added to this is the fact that I just don't *feel* like making the effort to drive across town, miss out on sleep, lose time that I could FINALLY be getting our life in order at home.  Am I going to have so much fun that I won't regret that missed time?  But at the same time, I regret the friendships I feel are slipping away.

The Hubby doesn't have many friends and those that he does are couple friends, so we spend time with them as a family.  I have friends that he isn't friends with, so it's "me" time when I go out.  It would be much more simple if my only friends were those couple friends.  I wouldn't have any reason to go anywhere without him and Baby Girl. 

I realize that many will say it's good for me to have interests outside The Hubby and Baby Girl, but that concept is fairly foreign for me.  The Hubby and I have been together for almost 9 years now and since day one he's been my best friend and we've spent almost every moment possible together.  In the time that we've been dating, I can't think of more than 10 nights we've spent apart when we were both in the same city.  I just love spending time with him. 

That's not to say I don't love spending time with my friends.  I do.  And for many of the gatherings, I come home feeling refreshed and happy I went out.  But it's all the effort, working out the logistics (especially with Baby Girl, nursing, etc.), the driving, etc. that makes it such a daunting task. 

So I prioritize my book club, which means I go once every 3 months or so.  I get to see multiple friends in one place and typically really enjoy myself (although I must admit that I probably talk too much because, well, I don't get out much...).  But these jewelry parties, Tastefully Simple parties, etc. etc. etc....they just don't happen.  And that makes me sad because before Baby Girl, I would've made more of an effort...when it didn't require such effort. 

This rant brings me nowhere closer to what I need to do.  Should I make the effort?  Of course.  But I'm so damned tired.  Stressed.  Worn out from leaving the house at 7:10, getting home at 5:40, rushing around cooking dinner (with a whiny, clingy child), eating dinner, nursing the kid, putting her to bed.  It's a tiring existence. 

My grocery shopping trip and other money stories

Last week The Hubby and I had a really long discussion about money.  You see, we don't have debt we're particularly concerned about (ie. no credit card debt and other debts have other benefits or low interest rates), so we haven't done much to cut it down.  I pay a bit extra on the mortgage each month, but other than that, we pay the scheduled payment on the other loans.  It's worked fine.  Until now.

We're wanting to sell our house.  We love the house but hate the location--we need a better school system for our daughter.  And with the housing market where it is, we could actually afford a home in one of our most preferred school districts--something we couldn't do when the housing market is booming.  So we started looking into the expenses that come along with selling a home and, to tell you the truth, it's daunting.

We've always prided ourselves in not being upside down on our home, even with the decreased home values and the fact that we bought with 0% down.  But when we take all those selling fees into account, we will make nothing on the sale of our home if we sold right now.  It's a buyer's market and we'd be buying...but we'd also be selling.  Yes, we could save more than we would lose if we moved now...but is it worth it to us to make that step and essentially have no equity to show for our house? 

So then the discussion turned into wondering what would happen if we started getting aggressive on debt repayment.  I started doing all sorts of calculations and looking at our budget and even with maintaining the standard of living we have now (besides the bigger purchases that we'd have to do without), we could pay down our debt enormously in just a few years.

But the first step is finding little places to cut back.  The first place I thought of--cut down our food budget.  I already don't spend more than $300/mo at the grocery.  But we also spend about $150/mo eating out.  That's way too much, in my opinion.  So we've started being even more strict about how much we eat out and I'm going to be shopping even MORE cheaply than normal (if that's possible).  But first I realized that we have plenty of food in our house right now:

 This?  This is my main food cabinet.  It's stuffed with pastas, sauces, rices, beans, soups, etc.  And what you don't see in this picture is this:

That right there is the counter BELOW the cabinet, where we store snacks (because our snack cabinet is at Baby Girl-level and we got tired of having smooshed tortilla chips), Cheerios (because those HAVE to be on hand at any given time), bread, and extra stuff that just doesn't fit. 

And then there's this cabinet:

My baking supplies.  Yep.  I've got a whole cabinet for baking stuff.  Go ahead and judge, but mama's got a sweet tooth.  :)

There are a couple of other cabinets with spices and oils, but that's about it. 

Besides the 5ish foot long deep freezer in the garage that is about half full.  And the inside freezer (the half of the side-by-side) that's stuffed full. 

So yeah, we aren't hurting for food.  All that stocking up that I preach?  I've been practicing it and have been doing well.  But it's time to USE it. 

So this week I decided I was only going to cook meals that I could do with almost all ingredients on hand.

My grocery list this week:
eggs
milk (which I forgot...lol)
bananas
apples
bread

Oh, and a Manager's Special pumpkin pie (see?  I sort of suck at this, too--you might think I'm perfect at saving money...but you'd be wrong!)

Also on the list?  Pop for The Hubby (and me, occassionally).  He drinks at least one pop a day and if I find it at $2.50 or below during the winter ($2 or below during the summer), I buy some.  Kroger had 24 packs for $5 apiece when you buy two, so I bought two.

The grand total for the week was $18, even with the $10 worth of pop and $2 for the pie.  (That would've seemed a LOT more impressive if I were reporting a $6 grocery trip, wouldn't it?)

Either way, this is how I came upon my meal plan for the week.  We'll be trying to use up some of the things in the cupboard.  I'd bought a bag of black beans awhile ago, fully intending to cook them up and use them instead of canned beans, but it just hasn't happened.  Well, tonight's the night.  And I'm using this as my guide.

I'm planning to keep this up--to start shopping out of my cupboard & freezer more to decide what we're going to eat, instead of basing it on the sales and then just not buying ingredients we already have.  Wish us luck!

(there you go, Cassie--a sneak peek into our house and a preview of the post I'm going to do about the transformation of my kitchen ;) )

Monday Quick Hits

Lots of little things I could blog about, but I'm just going to shoot them at you in list form:

~ Over the weekend, Baby Girl started nodding her head when she wants to say yes.  Woohoo!

~ She also now signs "thank you" when prompted.  She just needs to learn to use it in context and we're working on that.

~ Saturday October 30th she had her first real battle with the sidewalk.  I said at the time that the sidewalk won, but she never cried, so maybe not...

~ This past weekend I found a blister on her left index finger.  Not sure if it's from chewing (because the kid has been chewing like crazy for weeks--this will be tooth #5, if you're keeping track) or if it's because she touched a lamp that sits on the floor of her room.  She touched it while I was in the room and came running over to me, but didn't cry.  I looked at it and didn't see anything.  I kissed it and we went on with the day.  This was on Saturday morning, I think.  It popped Saturday night and she hasn't ever seemed bothered by it.

~ Still working on that other post for y'all.  I've got my camera at work, so I'll be loading some pics for you to help illustrate my point.  Hoping to do it today, but might I need to take a walk during my downtime instead.  I sort of made a d-bag of myself in front of my boss.  Then I cried.  And I'm just all out of sorts and not sure if it's because of the lack of sleep or because The Hubby and I are sort of fighting.  But not really.  We're not *saying* anything mean and are acting pleasant enough, but I feel like he blames me for everything and that makes me defensive.  It's a fun place to be.

~ The time change?  Yeah, that has been ugly.  Since we're still in this moving-toward-one-nap-but-not-quite-there-ness, Baby Girl has been going to bed around 7 recently.  With the time change, she wants to go to bed at 6 (and wakes at 5...ick!!!), but we can't accomodate that b/c we don't get home with her until after 5:30.  Not enough time to cook dinner, eat dinner, nurse, brush teeth, and get to bed.  And people wonder why she only gets bathed once a week.  Oh, and if my kid gets to bed late, she doesn't sleep better, she sleep worse, without fail.  So getting to bed late means more night wakings.  And one is more than enough as it is.

~ I never posted about this, but about 3 or 4 weeks ago I stopped pumping before bed.  It was frightening and liberating at the same time.  The sitter is just giving Baby Girl whatever milk I give her.  I have been taking between 25 and 35 ounces to her each Monday morning and she just keeps it in her freezer and gives it to her as she sees fit.  I'm currently pumping about 6 ounces a day, so 30ish ounces is basically keeping up.  I still have some freezer stash, but at this point am just pumping so I can nurse Baby Girl on the weekends.  Looking forward to being done with the pump, but not looking forward to being done with nursing.  I love that time with her so much.

(those last 3 weren't so quick, were they?)

~ Should save my stories about being at the ILs' house this past weekend for a full blog post.  Tomorrow.

Weekly Meal Plan: 11/7-11/13

Sunday: Ham & Pineapple Dinner
Monday: Hot dogs & Annie's mac -n- cheese
Tuesday: Black beans & rice & tomatoes & corn
Wednesday: Salsa chicken (from the freezer) on tortillas
Thursday: Chicken Parmesean
Friday: Chicken Pot Pie
Saturday: Cheesy-Good Breakfast Tartlets & pancakes or tater tots

If this week's meals seem odd at all, that's because they are.  But I have a whole separate post I will try to write tonight that details why.  Plus I need to write a blog post for yesterday to catch up on my NaMoBloPo.

(but this will only happen if 1) I don't fall asleep in the recliner and 2) I don't beat the shit out of my husband)

God Gave Me You

I have now heard this song twice, but cannot remember where I heard it the first time.  The truth is, it's perfect.



I've been a walking heartache
I've made a mess of me
The person that I've been lately
Ain't who I wanna be
But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm blows through
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I've lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you

There's more here than what we feel
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely, can somehow fall for me
You'll always be love's great martyr
I'll be the flattered fool
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I've lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you

On my own, I'm only half of what I could be
I can't do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I could never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I've lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you
Gave me you

Thrifty Thursday: Buying Coupons

This might seem completely counterintuitive, but there are situations where you need to spend money to make/save money.

One example of this is buying coupons.  If you find out about a deal more than a week before it ends (or even begins), you can buy coupons in addition to what you would receive in your paper.  For instance, if I find out that Colgate is going to be on sale for $1 at my grocery store through the next two weeks and I know there's a $1 (or $0.50-$0.75 if you store doubles coupons worth less than $1) coupon available, sometimes I'll order 20 of them so I can stock up. 

My favorite source for coupons is Ebay.  You can search based on the product type ("cheese coupons") or brand ("Colgate coupons") and survey what is available. 

A favorite source of some friends (especially if you want to buy an entire insert) is The Coupon Clippers.  There are many other services out there--just search for "coupon clipping service" and you'll find many websites that offer this for various prices.

Just remember that you want to do this if you're going to use an item.  If I find a great deal on dog food, I might take a package of free dog food, but I'm not going to pay $5 for coupons to buy a ton when I don't even have a dog.  This is a really simplistic example, but just *think* about what you're stocking up on--will you actually use it?

Another example of spending money to make money is at places like CVS or Walgreen's.  We'll talk more next week about how these work, but to give you a sneak peek:  You buy an item at CVS for $1 after coupon but you get $2 in Extra Care Bucks to spend at CVS in the future.  You've spent $1 to make $2 to spend later.  Yes, if you never walked in there, you wouldn't spend ANY money, but if you're spending money there anyway (or *could* spend money there), you're making money by spending money. 

As always, please post any questions you have--I love talking through this stuff and explaining dealing to people!

Fifteen Months

Baby Girl turned fifteen months old last Friday, which meant it was time yesterday to visit one of our favorite people--the pediatrician (and no, I'm not being facetious...I seriously adore this man).

First, the stats:

Length (now that she's standing (although not to be measured), it is height???): 30 1/4" (50th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz (8 oz gained in two weeks?  Whoa.) (25th percentile)
Head: 47 cm (approx. 80th percentile--have I ever mentioned how glad I am that I didn't pass this noggin through my vajayjay?)

We arrived, she made eyes at everyone in the well waiting room, looked at fish, read a few books...in other words, we waited...and waited...guess that's what happens when you have the last appointment of the day.  She got measured, then we waited...and she begged to put her clothes back on...and we waited. 

And then.  Then she figured out how much fun it is to stomp on the paper on the exam table.  So we did that for about 10 minutes.  She was marching back and forth, back and forth.  Crunch crunch crunch.  Seriously adorable.

Dr. W came in and did the normal checking out.  Looked at her ears (since the last time we were in the office, her ear was a mess), checked her eyes, her mouth (so glad we've been working on getting her to open her mouth to show us that her food is all gone!), her tummy, etc.  He asked the developmental questions and confirmed that Baby Girl is a genius.  :)  He checked out the evidence of her battle with the sidewalk (as confirmed by the nurse AND the doc--the sidewalk won...eep!). 

And he listened to her heart.  Because since about 6 months (or was it 9?), Baby Girl has presented a heart murmur.  And I think about it almost every single night when she lays down to go to bed because I'm afraid that little ticker is just going to stop.  In which case, my little ticker is going to stop as well. 

The heart murmur?  Still there.  Dr. W says we should hear from a cardiologist office at the pediatric hospital in town and we should expect to be taking her for an appointment sometime next week.  He said he would bet $100,000 that it isn't a problem, but said that since Baby Girl is worth $1 million to him, he wouldn't take any chances (see why we love him???).

And while he was referring us to specialists, he decided we should also see an endocrinologist.  Apparently Baby Girl's bewbies are too big for a baby her age and he's concerned that she's moving toward puberty too quickly.  My suspicion would be that she's still getting hormones from me.  It's not like she needs a bra, but they are bigger than other babies'--even the sitter pointed it out.  But she isn't presenting any other symptoms that might suggest a problem, which is encouraging.  That office (also at the pediatric hospital) will be contacting us in the next couple of weeks and we should expect to go see them within the month.  ~sigh~

He told us again how wonderful she is (she was too busy playing peekaboo with Daddy around me to pay attention) and walked out.  And in came the nurse.  Only two pricks this time and while it wasn't fun for Daddy to hold her down, she had stopped crying by the time he picked her up.  She even gave the nurse a smile before she left.  So it wasn't too traumatizing for anyone involved....thank goodness.  We do have to go back in a month to get her flu shot booster.  Blech.

So that was our appointment.  She's perfect...except for the heart and the bewbies.  But we'll get those checked out and everything will be wonderful :)

Now, to update her development:

Eating:

Baby Girl is eating pretty much anything we put in front of her.  She isn't a big fan of green beans and doesn't love ground meat, but will eat both.  She would snack on peas all day if we'd let her (and it's not like we're denying her).  She still LOVES Cheerios and has had a few different new foods, but nothing terribly exciting--just whatever we eat.  I think the most interesting thing she's eaten is taco sauce by the spoonful. 

Verbal:

Baby Girl has about 20 words: duck, dog, hi, hello, no, help, up, down, walk, rock, sock, shoe, juice, please, truck, daddy, mom, peas, done, ball, hat, slide, swing...and I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting.

She knows the noises for these animals: cow, duck, dog, elephant (sometimes), tiger, bear

Signing:

Baby Girl can sign: please, eat, milk, more, thank you

Mobility:

Baby Girl is running everywhere.  She spins in circles (hilarious) and walks backwards.  She very rarely crawls, but when she does, it looks so funny!  She can get on and off of her riding toys like a champ (for awhile she'd aways swing the wrong leg over it and face backwards), but has problems going forward.  I'm sure if we worked with her to learn to go forward, she'd get it, but it's fun to watch her scoot around backward for now.

Nursing:

She is nursing 4 times a day and once overnight on the weekends (she nurses before work, before bed, and overnight during the week).  I'm pumping around 6 ounces a day and she's drinking about 25 ounces of milk from a sippy each week.

Cognitive:

Baby Girl knows the following body parts: head, toes, feet, hands, fingers, nose, tongue, mouth, hair, eyes, ears, belly, belly button

Just last night, she impressed us by knowing the difference between the red ball and the football.  I figured she would get whichever one she'd been playing with most recently, but she threw the football, then I said, "where is the red ball" and she turned around and found her red ball and threw it. 

Personality:

Baby Girl is an incredibly loving little girl.  She's quick to give hugs and kisses and some nights will switch between Mommy and Daddy 10 times giving kisses without prompting.  She's stubborn and wants things her way, which has led to a few tantrums, but so far nothing we can't handle.  At the end of the dinner each night, instead of telling us she's done (which she can do), she starts spreading her food around her tray and knocking it into her lap and onto the floor.  Sometimes if we clear off the tray and give her only a few things, she'll keep on eating (and eating and eating and eating...).  And sometimes she just wants her applesauce...NOW. 

She is a thinker, though.  Surprising for MY kid, eh?  haha  She looks at the world with inquisitive eyes, sometimes to the point where it looks like she's scowling.  She's just learning.  And within a little bit we can usually break that with tickles and giggles.  She's SO HAPPY.  She may not be giggly happy (unless we're chasing or tickling her), but she doesn't cry unless she doesn't want to be sleeping.  She's incredibly resilient (that battle with the sidewalk?  No tears (from her...we're not talking about mommy's state)) and always bounces back from tumbles that her daddy and I think could cripple us. 

Happy 15 months, kiddo.  We love you and the little girl you're becoming!

Mom....Finally!

Baby Girl's second word was "dada".  After duck, this was the first word she said in reference to something, not just babbling consonant/vowel combinations.  I was a teensy bit jealous, of course, but generally just so happy that she loves her daddy.  I mean, I *had* been the one who had nursed her day and night for months on end, who always made sure to refer to herself in the third person so she didn't get confused.... 

But no, my baby girl said "dada".  Fine.

I was okay with it, loved that she loves her daddy, no matter what the previous paragraph suggests.

But after a few months, after months of "duck", "truck", "quack", "shoes", "juice", "hi", "hello", "sock", "da-eeeee" (seriously...melt!)....I was really hoping to hear "mama".  Or "mommy".  Or even "mom".

We even fight in the car about it, she and I.  I pick her up from the sitters and she sits in the back and says "DA-EEEEEEE".  I tell her Daddy is at home, but we'll see him when we get there.

After a pause, I say, "Baby Girl, who am I?"

Silence.

"Baby Girl, can you say 'Mommy'?"

"DA-EEEEEEE"

"MOM-eeeeee"

"DADDDEEEEEE"

"mommy?"

"DAAAADDDEEEEEE"

Repeat, ad naseum or until she gets distracted and points out a semi truck driving down the road (or a pickup or a car or a motorcycle...all called "GUCK!"). 

But yesterday I was cooking dinner when The Hubby came in the door with Baby Girl.  And the first thing I hear?  "Mom?"

(be still my heart)

"Yes baby?"

And then the happy stomping of those little size 4s running across our living room toward the kitchen.  "Mom!"  Ahhh....  Bliss.

After dinner was cooking, I went into the bathroom while Baby Girl played with her daddy.  I was in there, enjoying a little bit of alone time (yes, I realize this is a little depressing, but I think most mommies will understand), when I hear "MAWWWWM" (because it's definitely said with an "aw" in the middle) and a little hand banging on the door. 

This time, I wasn't upset about missing out on my alone time.  I cracked the door (because my first floor bathroom is small enough that you can't open the door all the way when you're sitting down) and looked out at her.  She reached her hand up to me and I kissed her little palm.  She smiled, giggled and ran back to her daddy.

(melt)

Now, don't think that this is happening all the time.  She still called me Daddy once last night and this morning we had the same discussion in the car about Mommy versus Daddy.  But knowing that she *does* know who I am and can say "mom" (even if it isn't "mommy"), I am a happy Mommy.  Errr....Mom.

NaBloPoMo...or "I really like to talk about myself"

National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) originally started in a November, but has been continued to be a challenge for any month of the year.  This year I'm going to participate because I need to rediscover my blogging mojo.  Basically, the challenge is to post at least once a day, every day for a month.  I don't think I'm going to link up with the official project, but I'm going to participate on my own :)

For me, this is perfect.  It means I don't need to agonize over whether every entry is deserving of its own entry.  I don't need to filter and edit so much.  I just get to talk about myself...which is perfect.  Maybe it's because I am an only child, maybe it's because I work at a computer all day, maybe it's just my personality, but I love to talk, mostly about my little lady.  So this is great!  I hope you all don't get too bored or overwhelmed with my posting, though.

In the interest of keeping you around, I'd love to hear what you'd like me to talk about!  I'll try to post more pictures and maybe revisit some old topics like Baby Girl's first birthday, which I never blogged about.  Heck, I never blogged about my vacation, either.  So I think I have some topics, even if they aren't the most timely, and Baby Girl turned 15 months last Friday, so I'll have updates from the doctor tomorrow!

I look forward to getting lots of comments from my readers, even just to say hi.  Please don't be nervous--I love to know who is reading my small little piece of the blogosphere.  :) 

Let NaBloPoMo begin!

Meal Planning 10/31-11/6

Sunday: Meatloaf with a Bite, mashed potatoes (from a pouch...I'm a bit ashamed), and peas
Monday: Santa Fe Chicken
Tuesday: Squashtastic Shepherd's Pie by Hungry Girl (in this cookbook) (I'm planning to make it just like the cookbook version, but HG doesn't have the recipe anywhere online)
Wednesday: Cheesy Good Breakfast Tartlets by Hungry Girl, shredded hash browns, a veggie
Thursday: Taco Pizza
Friday: Ham & Pineapple Dinner (and a veggie...)
Saturday: We'll be visiting family, so I know I won't be cooking at home

Meal Plan: 10/24-10/30

Sunday: Went to my parents' house and had homemade chicken & noodles over mashed potatoes, served with corn and rolls.  Yum.

Monday: Taco Puffs served with some sauteed bell peppers

Tuesday: Hash Brown Scramble served with the leftover bell peppers

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Fajita Fettuccine (if I can remember to marinate my chicken tonight...)

Thursday: Penne & Meatballs (needed something super fast since it's Trick or Treat night)

Friday: Biggest Loser Grilled Chicken Parmesean (it just seems like grilled chicken, some sauce, and a bit of cheese--no breading)

Saturday:  Not sure.  Maybe Chipotle or we might have friends over, in which case, I might cook up something fun.  Or we could just have pizza.  We'll see :)

This bag is not a toy

In the time BC (before children), I was aghast at the thought of allowing my child to play with a plastic bag.  Surely, what idiot needs the warning on plastic grocery bags that "this bag is not a toy"?  Why would some moron allow their small child to PLAY with a PLASTIC BAG?

Because she's cranky in the car and it made her happy, I answer now. 




(and, lest you consider calling Children's Services on me, The Hubby was sitting in the passenger seat and keeping an eye on her while she smacked it and the package of diapers inside it around)

Surprises

This post was started 9/15/09 when Baby Girl was about 6 weeks old--I wanted to go ahead and publish it just to remember it :)
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Motherhood has come with many surprises (more and more every day). They may not be the same for everyone, but these are things I've discovered:

1) Showering is a much bigger priority than ever before (if I didn't shower on the weekends, I was perfectly happy).

2) Motherhood didn't come naturally. I have wanted to be a mom for my entire life. I've always thought of myself as being nurturing and thought that motherhood would be completely natural for me. That's completely untrue, though. I feel like I don't have a maternal instinct at all. I question every decision I make and don't even have much of a gut feeling about most things.

3) Nursing isn't nearly as convenient as you'd think. You would think that since the food is always with you, you could feed the baby anywhere and

4) How much I would eat

Meal Plan: 10/17-10/23

Apparently this week we're paying homage to our Mexican heritage...that is non-existent, contrary to popular belief (many people think either The Hubby or I are Hispanic, which isn't true--for me, it's the curly hair and for The Hubby it's the complexion).  The Hubby requested tacos and I figured I'd just double the meat and do something different with it later in the week.  Then he suggested we have the Chicken Taco Bake that was in the freezer already...  And then he requested chili (which he claims is NOT Mexican at all).  You may want to avoid our house this week...


Sunday: One Dish Chicken Bake--this was really something that my mom used to make but I found the recipe online just for you!  I didn't make any modifications--I like the way it tastes as delivered :)  Oh, and we served this with peas, which Baby Girl ate at least a cup of.

Monday: Tacos

Tuesday: Ribs, baked potatoes (white for The Hubby and sweet for Baby Girl and me), and frozen veggie (maybe peas again)

Wednesday: Grilled Tacos (just pre-making a taco, but grilling it on the griddle after it's wrapped to give it a more crunchy texture.  Baby Girl might have a quesadilla.)

Thursday: Chili

Friday: Chicken Taco Bake from the freezer

Saturday: Probably Chipotle (haha--more Mexican!), which is our typical gameday tradition.  If we eat out during the week, though, we'll be eating whatever was planned for that night. 

Our grand plan

We have a plan, The Hubby and I.  A plan to simplify.  A plan to organize.  A plan to de-stress. 

We've had plans before and then something would happen.  The baby.  Him working late.  Someone dying.  An unexpected visitor.  Illness. 

This is our plan, for better or for worse.  On Saturdays (or on Sunday mornings) we're making a meal plan and a grocery list.  I go to the grocery every Sunday morning, so this works out well. 

Sunday evening is when the excitement happens, though!  Sunday evening we're planning out the week ahead.  We're looking at The Hubby's work schedule to figure out when he needs to work a bit late.  Based off of that, we decide who is doing pick-up and drop-off at daycare and then which dinner we'll have which night.

We've also decided that we want to work some activities into our nights.  We want to start working out a bit more.  We want to spend more quality time together.  So we're picking 2 nights to work out (and then will try to do some active stuff over the weekend).  Then we're picking two other nights to spend doing some more fun things.  We've made a list of six fun things we'd do and we roll a die twice--once for each night.  The number on the die corresponds to one of the fun activities.

For instance, Tuesday night we went through videos (The Hubby) and photos (me), worked on downloading, editing, and organizing them.  It's something we both like to do and need to do.  Then tonight or tomorrow (I forget which night is our workout night) we're going to put together a puzzle. 

This is all a structured way to eliminate the evenings that were filled with me sitting in the recliner with the laptop, watching TV and surfing, and The Hubby sitting on the couch watching TV and snoring.  We're hoping it will encourage us to interact more and really make the most of the limited time we have together after Baby Girl goes to bed. 

There will still be TV-watching, of course.  Last night, for instance, we watched The Biggest Loser in the basement while we worked on organizing stuff from the craft room.  Being productive, talking to each other, and watching TV all at once--love it!

I hope we can keep it up.  So far, it's felt so nice knowing what's going to happen each day and not going to bed feeling like the evening was wasted.

Thrifty Thursday: Don't Cost Yourself Money

This, as many of the tips I offer up, may seem like an easy concept.  The thought here is: don't cost yourself money!

I'm not even talking about (for today) spending on cable if you watch it or paying for insurance, even if you're paying more than you should.  There will be another time for shopping around to get the best price.  I'm talking about times when you might as well light that dollar bill on fire and throw it out the window into the mouth of a waiting rottweiler who will then chew it up, spit it out, and bury it under a mound of dirt, which will then get washed away, down the drain, to hang out with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then Splinter will do a big karate chop and disintegrate it. 

A few examples:

Return library books on time.  Library books are FREE.  But they aren't free when you forget to return one of the CDs in a 2-CD set, tell the husband, forget again, and don't return it for another month.  Trust me, I've been there.  It would've been cheaper to buy that CD in the first place.

Don't hang onto a gym membership you don't use.  If you haven't been to the gym more than one time since before you got pregnant in November 2008, CANCEL THAT MEMBERSHIP!  (yes, this is also me speaking from experience...)

Eat, cook, or freeze your food before it expires.  I talk a lot about stock-piling and buying a lot of something when it goes on sale.  But that only works if you're going to use it or do something with it so that it will keep until you use it.  You might find a great deal on a big butternut squash, but unless you use it before it gets funky (do squash get funky?  I might find out soon enough...), it's not a savings if you weren't going to buy it in the first place.

Don't buy items just to use a coupon on it unless it's somehow going to make you money or you're going to use that item.  I've done it.  I've gotten sucked into those MEGA SALES (and yes, that deserves all caps), bought all sorts of things I *think* we'll use, but then they expire.  Or we find that we're getting fat because I'm saving spending money.

Trust me on these.  I've done them all (not the throwing away money, though...how crazy do you think I am?). 

And I'm going to try to remedy them all by the week's end.  Wish me luck.

What sort of things are you needlessly spending money on?

Weekly Meal Plan 10/10-10/16

We're getting back on track with organizing our house.  We printed out the weekly calendar, planned out our meals for each night based on how late The Hubby has to work, figured out which days we're driving together, planned out what we're going to get accomplished each night (if we don't, every single night is TV TV TV).  Tonight we're cleaning out the craft room/office.  It's so incredibly overwhelming that we have to load everything into big tubs and sort in some other room, Clean Sweep-style (which apparently is no longer on TV...).  We're really giving this simplified life thing another go.  Wish us luck...

Sunday: Taco Bell.  Yes, I fed my daughter Taco Bell.  And she ate almost an entire Chicken Taco (Fresco-style, thankyouverymuch), tortilla, lettuce, onion, and all.  That's my girl...  We'd been out of town this weekend and I didn't get a chance to get to the grocery until she was in bed.  Better for her than a donut...which is another post for another time.

Monday: Santa Fe Chicken (new recipe--should be good as long as I actually have everything I need...which I'm not so sure about!)

Tuesday: Chicken Burger Sliders and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday: Lasagna (my mama's recipe with some spinach thrown in ;))  We're taking Wednesday off, weather permitting, and going to the zoo, so we should be home early enough to do lasagna.  Yum!

Thursday: Pancakes & Turkey Sausage

Friday: Leftover lasagna

Saturday: Either Chipotle, a gameday tradition around here, or a frozen Mexican casserole I made a week or so ago.

And apples.  OMG, the apples.  I bought about 15 apples at the grocery last night at $0.88/lb.  I might go back on Wednesday to get more.  I'm planning on using most of the Granny Smith to make this.  Or this.  Or maybe this. 

Thrifty Thursday--Making Money

In honor of my missing Thrifty Thursday posts over the last few months, I'm giving you a MEGA post!  Hope you enjoy!



Every little bit helps, right?  Well, I'm going to tell you today about little things you can do to make a bit of money.  It may not seem like much, but it adds up over time.
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Product Rewards

Do you drink Coca-Cola products?  If so, sign up at My Coke Rewards, where you can enter in the codes you find inside the caps of bottles and inside the cardboard packages of 12, 20, and 24 packs of cans.  You can use the points you get to buy all sorts of products--I've got my eye on a programmable crockpot!

To get extra codes, I've done the following:

• I've started to solicit co-workers, who bring me their caps and flaps and I put in their codes as well. 
• The Hubby and I used to walk around after sporting events and take caps off of 20 oz bottles of Coke around the stadium.  We would fill up an entire popcorn box (or our pockets) in just a few minutes!  (And then we washed our hands.  Three times.)
• I also ask family to give me caps and flaps
• I know people who go through neighbors' recycling bins on the day it's picked up and take flaps off their boxes.  We don't have recycling in our neighborhood, but I'd probably consider it if we did!

You can do the same thing with Pepsi!  I'm not much of a Pepsi drinker, so I haven't joined this site, but it looks comparable to My Coke Rewards.

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Buy diapers?  Both Huggies and Pampers have programs that reward you for buying their products.  You just find the code on the product and enter it online.  The nice bonus is that there are frequently extra codes available that aren't one-time use (the ones on the products are one-time use only) that will bolster your points balance.  The Frugal Girls keeps a running list of codes for Pampers and here's a master list of Huggies codes that I've found.

When you get enough points, you can redeem them for toys or gift cards (refer to their rewards catalogs for more information)
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Surveys

Join survey sites!  I've belonged to quite a few of them over the past few years and have deposited quite a few checks and used a lot of gift cards.  Here are a few:

Opinion Outpost (earned $50 from them and haven't done hardly any surveys recently)
Test Spin (have $24 ready to cash out)
Toluna
Pinecone (you have to keep on the lookout for a banner asking people to join--it's more selective, but a great company to work with)
Survey Saavy
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GPT (get paid to) sites

These are a little trickier, but fun to do.  You just click through some ads, enter your information (I got an email account just for these since they like to spam you) and make some money.  I made a lot of money one year doing this.  I think it's a bit less lucrative now, but still something fun to do :)

My two favorite:

Cash Duck
Treasure Trooper
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Click-through emails

These sites send you emails (so get a separate account specifically for them!) and you just click on a link in the email to note that you've read it and earn money (or points, which is the case with My Points). 

My Points (no referral link, but just leave a comment if you'd like a referral--if not, just join on your own :))
Send Earnings (have about $23 to cash out from them right now)
Inbox Dollars (have gotten about a $30 payout previously from them and you get $5 just for signing up)
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Cash Back Shopping

Use these sites when you're doing online shopping--you get money back just for buying the things you were going to buy anyway.  I've saved a ton of money using these!  The GPT sites also have cash back shopping as well.

Shop at Home (you get $5 with your first purchase)
Ebates
My Points
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Search Sites

Swagbucks--this is my favorite site right now.  You go to this site instead of Google (although in the interest of full disclosure, I actually get better results from Google, so if you don't find it on Swagbucks, go to Google) and earn Swagbucks for some of your searches.  They also offer Swagcodes that you can enter onto the site for extra Swagbucks (if you send me your email address after you join, I can email you all the Swagcodes I get sent to me).  The best reward on this site is Amazon gift cards--I've redeemed my Swagbucks for 22 $5 Amazon gift cards.

Swagbucks also has surveys and clickable offers that can earn you even more Swagbucks!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am so incredibly blessed.  I had about 100 people on Facebook tell me happy birthday for my big day (you know, the big 2-9) on Sunday.  I know most of them would have had no idea if it weren't for Facebook reminding them, but I'll let that pass and just enjoy the well-wishes. :)

On Saturday we had friends over to watch the OSU game (Go Bucks!).  We used to watch EVERY game with these folks, but since we both had babies last year (our little ones are 3 weeks 2 days apart), it's been pretty hard to coordinate game-watching and naptimes, so we've been watching games solo this season (they were so much more portable and flexible last year!).  Once the babies were done with naps, we all went out to eat to one of my favorite restaurants, BD's Mongolian BBQ.  The Hubby and I actually went there for my birthday last year while my parents watched Baby Girl (our first time out without her), but we had never tackled going there with her.  It's sort of like a buffet in that you go up and pick out your food--not so easy with a toddler.  It was nice to have extra people there--the ladies went and got food for themselves and their little ones while the daddies hung out with the babies, then the daddies went up to get their food.  It was fun and it's always nice to spend time with friends :) 

Oh, and our friends got me some accessories for the Cricut that she and I share, so I'm really excited to try them out!!

That night, Baby Girl decided she wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday and woke up at midnight....and again at three...and then again for the day around 6.  Ugh.  What a long night. 

What I had thought would be a curse on my birthday turned out to be a blessing.  The Hubby found out on Saturday that he was going to have to go to work on Sunday morning and I assumed that meant I'd be on my own with Baby Girl all morning, but that didn't happen.  Instead, he took Baby Girl with him to work and let her run around there for a couple of hours...while I SLEPT.  He said he wanted to make a point that he needed to be at home.  Not sure if anyone got that point, but I sure appreciated getting to sleep in until 9:30 and waking to The Hubby and Baby Girl bringing me my birthday gift in bed--a gift certificate to get an hour-long massage and some Swedish Fish :)  The Hubby had also brought home breakfast, but Baby Girl wouldn't have let us eat in bed, so we went downstairs to have our bagels.

Around 12:30 my parents arrived to the house and we all had a lunch of cold cuts and chips.  They gave me some gifts (including a fabulous new wireless printer!) and played with Baby Girl, then she went down for a nap while we watched the rest of the Browns game (Go Brownies!!).  When she got up, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden, then returned home for cake.  At dinner, Baby Girl was in rare form.  Seriously.  She was twisting and turning and wiggling and giggling--it was like we'd given her a bunch of carbs all day.  Oh wait.....

We let Baby Girl stay up a little later than normal, but it didn't seem to affect her overnight sleep--she was stil up once last night.

The only damper to the weekend was that I now have the cold that Baby Girl started coming down with on Friday.  Having a cold feels so different now and I don't think it's that my body reacts differently, I just know I have to keep pushing through.  Sure, I feel pretty rough, but I still need to do stuff around the house, nurse Baby Girl, work, etc., so I do.  So the cold didn't ruin the weekend like it might have in previous years...just keep on keepin' on!

Thanks to everyone who helped me have a glorious 29th birthday!  Next year is the big one!  Can't wait to see what it brings...

The curse of being DEWK (dual employed with kids)

Step 1: Mommy and Daddy both have to work so everyone isn't living in a box on the street
Step 2: No family lives close enough to be available to watch Child on a regular basis
Step 3: Child has to go to a sitter
Step 4: Other children at the sitter bring sickness
Step 5: Child has a cold at least once a month
Step 6: Mommy and Daddy have a cold at least once a month
Step 7: Mommy and Daddy can't call off work because they are sick too much
Step 8: Both Mommy and Daddy have diminshed immune systems because they cannot take care of themselves when they are sick

Return to Step 1 and start all over again...

I'm Done!

I know every mommy has had an "I'm done!" moment.  I had a small one this morning.  I'm not talking about the overwhelming feeling I get every once in awhile where I just feel like quitting and walking away altogether.  I mean the in-the-moment I just want to quit for a few minutes feeling.

We had gotten up three times overnight with Baby Girl and none of those times was she really ready to go back to bed after she nursed, which meant all of us being more awake in the middle of the night than we're accustomed to. 

And then she woke up for the day at 5:15 with a runny nose.  Of the 17 times Baby Girl has slept through the night, all of the most recent ones were when she was sick, so this is pretty abnormal for when she's feeling bad. 

She had a hard time nursing and I realized that she had torn up my left side pretty badly overnight, so the whole time she was popping on and off, trying to breathe, it hurt like hell.  Then she decided she was done and wanted to play.  And by play, I mean she was pulling my hair out, beating me with the remote, wanting to get into everything in the room...and all I wanted to do was sleep.  My left nostril was completely stuffed up and I just wasn't ready to start the day.  Then she scratched my right eye.  It was unintentional, but it didn't matter in the moment.  I said it.  "I can't do this anymore. I quit."  I rolled over and shed a few tears, but mostly I just wanted to try to go back to sleep for a little while longer.  I just need a break, I thought.

And then this little body climbed up my back, leaned over my arm, those glimmering brown eyes looked into mine, and she said, "Hi!"  I was a little shocked at first and then she said it again.  "Hi!"  I smiled.  I said, "Hi, baby", and rolled back over and snuggled her until she squirmed and said she wanted down.  I gave her a kiss on the cheek and obliged, thankful for my baby and my life again.

14 Months Old

I feel like I could write a post almost daily with all the new things Baby Girl is learning.  Just yesterday she repeated "teeth" when her daddy said "let's go brush our teeth" and in the morning she repeated "shoes" when I told her I needed to put my shoes on.  She's making logical connections that I didn't think possible--she's starting saying "woof" at all dogs, whether they're cartoons (Brian on Family Guy...lol), stuffed, real, or real in pictures. 

Of course, she's also making connections that we don't necessarily want to encourage.  We've been telling her the oven is "hot" and that she shouldn't touch it (which, of course, turns into a game some nights).  So I was blowing on her food and she wanted it and I told her it was hot.  Now she thinks all food is hot and won't eat it without a 5 minute argument and us telling her it's okay.  She doesn't seem to understand the word "not".  So when we say "it's not hot" she just says "hot".  It's amusing for awhile, but gets pretty frustrating!  We're working on it, though.  And it *is* adorable to watch her try to blow on her food (she's actually sucking in air) to cool it off.

Just this week the sitter has started giving Baby Girl her milk (still breastmilk, thankyouverymuch) in a sippy cup and she also tried to move her to one nap.  We'll see if it sticks.  At home last week she was very happy to take two 1 1/2 hour naps at 9:45ish and 2:30/3ish, but yesterday (9/27) she took one nap 1:30-3:30 and had quiet time on her cot until 4.  We didn't see any ill-effects at home, so we'll see how she continues to do.  My guess is that she'll still take two naps at home on the weekends.

Baby Girl is a bit confused about both possessive words (Mommy's nose, Daddy's nose, etc.) and who Mommy and Daddy each are.  She'll get it--it's just funny to watch her.  I ask where Baby Girl's nose is and she points to mine.  I ask where Mommy's nose and she points to her daddy's. 

She is definitely starting to know her body parts, but it comes and goes.  At some point she has successfully identified: head, hair, nose, ear, eye, mouth, tongue, knee, belly, belly button, fingers, and toes.

Baby Girl is starting to learn animal noises.  She growls at a picture of a tiger in a book that she has and woofs at dogs.  I've been told she moos, but I've never heard it.  I'm a little surprised she's never quacked with how much we do it at home!

We're starting to see bits of separation anxiety, but find that she is fine once we leave and we haven't had any actual meltdowns (knock on wood), just a bit of whining and clinginess.  The sitter is really good at grabbing her and saying a happy goodbye to us, then engaging her as we walk out the door.  By the time we pull away, she's either hanging out in the sitter's lap or already on the floor playing with a friend.

The kid still loves love.  She will hug any kids she can find and apparently tries to kiss many of them.  The sitter has had to enact a "no kissing" policy because she left teeth marks in someone's cheek (unintentionally, of course).  She's just so sweet!

Speaking of kissing, Daddy has taught her how to eskimo kiss.  He has been sick the past few days, so he didn't want to kiss her, so he taught her how to eskimo kiss.  You ask her for an eskimo kiss and she offers up her nose to you--it's adorable!  What's great is when she leans in for one unprompted. 

I am loving this age of exploration and learning.  She's testing some boundaries sometimes, but generally is a really happy, fun little girl.  I can't wait to see what the fifteenth month brings!!!

Shouldn't you be nursing LESS than when you were 6 months old?

(Written 9/24...stupid scheduled post not working)

I've spent a lot of time with Baby Girl this week because our sitter was on vacation.  I could go on and on about how special this time has been--it has been. 

But I want this post to be about the strange thing she's been doing.  Now that she's got an effective way of asking for milk (meaning that she doesn't just pull at the neck of my shirt and whine...most of the time...), she's started asking for it more often.  Before this past week, I figured we were on our way to weaning, so I resolved to just give her milk when she asks for it...which has backfired on me!  We were nursing after she woke from naps and then before bedtime (so 4 times during the day and once overnight), but she's now asking before each nap as well, which means we're now nursing 6 times during the day and once overnight! 

Of course I could say no, but as long as she isn't getting frustrated by my not having a ton of milk when she eats, I don't have a reason to refuse her.  If we were out and about, she wouldn't ask--it's only when we're sitting around the house.  And if I were busy, she probably wouldn't ask, either.  So I'm relishing it...but just confused!  Shouldn't she *not* be wanting it as much now?

Meal Plan 9/26-10/2

Sunday: Breakfast Burritos

Scrambled eggs
In a pan, sauteed 1/2 pkg smoked turkey sausage, 3 bell peppers (they needed used), an onion
Topped with cheese, sour cream, and taco sauce/salsa
Baby Girl LOVED eating the stuffing!

Monday: Pasta & Meatballs

This was my first real foray into Aldi's brand of food and I loved it!  I bought their Fit & Active whole wheat pasta and their frozen turkey meatballs (LOVE these!!!) and then their Reggano (I think) pasta sauce.  It was a fabulous meal and something I'll definitely buy again.

Tuesday: Chicken Taco Bake

Although I was already very familiar with cooking a whole chicken, I tried it in the crockpot (as described in the link above), which worked out really well!  I also saved the liquid and will use it instead of canned broth in the future.  I then used some (maybe 1/2?) of the meat and made two 8x8 pans of the Chicken Taco Bakes (also described in the link) and froze one.  The one we baked last night was great with some rice and chips for dinner and I'm eating leftovers with chips as I type!  Baby Girl ate everything we gave her and even asked for more when we were done!

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza (just planning on using the cooked chicken, some BBQ sauce, cheese, red onion, and cilantro on a pizza shell)

Thursday: Pork Tacos (this has become a favorite recipe of ours, as exemplified by the repeat appearance in the blog!).  Not sure what I'll serve with the tacos--probably some sort of rice, even though Baby Girl isn't a big fan of rice.

Friday: Pork Quesadillas (using the leftover pork meat)  Very excited to have Baby Girl try this since we now know she doesn't have any problems with cheese.

Saturday: I think we're going out with friends for my birthday--the planning is all left up to The Hubby, so we'll see what he comes up with!

Always learning

Things Baby Girl has learned this week alone:

• The sound a dog makes: "woof"
• The sound a tiger makes (she sees it in her books): "rawr"
• The sign for "please" (I said, "say please" and showed her the sign and she's been doing it ever since in context--she even now says "eee")
• She squats down when we say "ready" and then jumps up when she says "up"
• When she sees pictures of a football game (we were looking at the newspaper after the Buckeyes win yesterday) or hears the word "touchdown", she throws her arms up in the air
• When she needs help, she says "ep" (which sounds a lot like "up")
• When we went out for breakfast to Subway, she scooped and fed herself her oatmeal (the first time she's scooped it on her own).  We've since let her do her own applesauce, too--she isn't great at it, but she tries!
• She's started walking backwards--it's hilarious!
• She also asks sometimes to go upstairs for nap.  Never thought I'd see that day!
• What a bug is (well, a cartoon bug that appears on each page of a book she has)

Other things she's learned but I don't know if I've posted about:

• I don't know if I already posted that she now signs "milk" (it looks like she's playing the world's smallest violin between her fingers, but we know what it means)
• When she wants to get down off our laps, she says "dow" (which The Hubby always thinks is "dog")

 

What I Want/Need

When I saw the counselor last week, she mentioned that it sounded like I'm having a hard time telling others what I want and need.  And she's right.  I find it difficult to voice my wants and needs, especially if they create a conflict with someone else's wants or needs.  Unfortunately, this leads to some unhappiness on my part, especially when I feel like I'm negatively impacting Baby Girl's well-being by not voicing my wishes (specifically, to the sitter).

Since the meeting was on Friday, I had pushed the meeting to the back of my mind throughout the weekend and it wasn't until yesterday that I revisited the discussion because I found myself thinking "I want..." and feeling defeated because I had no idea how to get what I want or need.

So I thought it might be a good exercise to write out the things that I want and need so I can have all of my thoughts in one place and can then discuss them with The Hubby.  He's always very receptive to what I have to say...if I just say it.

I Need...

...more consistent sleep
...quality time (what does this consist of?) with Baby Girl every day
...some downtime for myself each day, even if it just means surfing the web for 15 minutes

I'm having a harder time with my "wants", though, and trying to decide which of them are actually "needs"

I Want...

...quality time actually interacting with The Hubby
...a cleaning routine so our house doesn't get out of control (cleaning up after dinner, laundry, keeping Baby Girl's toys in check, cleaning bathrooms, dealing with mail and coupons...)
...an exercise routine so I don't feel so badly about myself and so I will (hopefully) have more energy
...to be able to watch the few shows that we have set to record each week (this list has been pared down considerably since last year!)
...help keeping track of what needs to be done for our household
...to create time to do the things I enjoy (which could count as my downtime for the day) like crafting and baking and dealing

And I find myself getting overwhelmed when I think about all the things I want and need and combine that with my list of all the things that other people need/want of me.  I think about how many hours I have in the day and cannot imagine finding time to do all the things I need or want. 

During the work week, I have about 4 hours from the time I get home until the time I need to go to bed to: cook dinner, eat dinner and feed Baby Girl dinner, spend a bit of time playing with Baby Girl, nurse Baby Girl, clean up from dinner while The Hubby puts her to bed, clean up toys and books, watch a bit of TV (typically done while I pump), pump for the next day, and relax.  Between the time The Hubby puts her to bed and when I start pumping, there's about 45 minutes.  That our normal routine and obviously doesn't include working out, baking or doing anything else I'd like to do that can't be done while sitting down, cleaning, or even really interacting with The Hubby.

How do you do it all?  If you can't do it all, how do you prioritize?  I'm having a hard time picking the things I can give up routinely, but find myself getting overwhelmed trying to cram everything in that little bit of time on weeknights and during the weekends (and who wants to spend their whole weekend catching up from the week with laundry & cleaning and you can't exactly only work out on the weekends...).

Amazing Products!

A long, long time ago, I was given a product with the agreement that I would write a blog post about it.  To tell you how long ago it was...I was pregnant with Baby Girl.  I feel awful that I have neglected this promise so long--I'm so sorry, Cassie!!!

Cassie, of Ruby & Violet over on Etsy, is a wonderful woman and brilliant mother to two and a half beautiful girls (she's expecting her third around Christmas!).  Somehow she's also found time to make fantastic handmade items, too!

The product she gave me was June the Giraffe because I ADORE giraffes and this is the cutest one around!  The product is of fantastic quality--Baby Girl has it in her crib all the time and everything is holding together well.  And, again, it's adorable.  Cute cute cute!!!

Then, just a few days ago, I entered a giveaway by Brandis Allison Photography to celebrate the launch of her new website--I was so excited to find out that I'd won another product handmade by my friend Cassie!  This time, I received an art wallet, perfect for trips out and about with the kiddos!  It came with markers (she asked if I preferred markers, crayons, or colored pencils) and a pad of paper and has a velcro closure.  I love it!  I can't wait to give it to Baby Girl to entertain her (once she learns that markers/crayons are for coloring, not for eating)!

The third Cassie-related thing I wanted to write about is that she's actually the winner of my giveaway!  Do you remember this post, from November 2009?  (Yes, folks, that was almost a year ago)  As soon as I closed the post, I used random.com to pick the winner, then thought I would reveal the winner when I was done answering questions.  Well, when that time came, I wasn't sure what great thing I could give to Cassie!  But now I know.  I'm dabbling in some new crafting, so I'll be sending her something adorable for the beautiful head of her beautiful baby girl! 

I'm so sorry for all the delays, Cassie!  And I hope all of you will go check out Cassie's Etsy shop--her stuff is great, beautiful, fun, and of very high quality!!! 

13 months

This monthly update is coming in a different form because I started jotting things down and just want to get this post published since Baby Girl will be 14 months in less than 2 weeks!

Words:

HI!
Uh-oh
Duck
Truck (which sounds more like "Guck" and is really cute when we say "Terrruck" and she replies "Guh-Guck!")
Mamamamama (I'm still not convinced she's ever said it *at* me)
Da or Dadadada
"Sheesh" (we have no idea what it is, but she says it when she points at many things, including the seagulls she was obsessed with at the beach, even after three days of us saying "bird")
Oh (which I think is the beginnings of "nose")
Tikikikiktikitikiki (Tickle tickle tickle)
Nononononono (never in a defiant way--just nonononono)
"ot" (Which is "hot"--what we say when she goes to touch the oven or dishwasher, even when it isn't hot.  Unfortunately, she doesn't understand yet that that means she shouldn't touch it)
Dah-og (dog--although all dogs are now "Shu-shee", or Suzy, which is the name of my ILs' dog)
Up (we're working on getting her to say this when she wants picked up instead of whining at my feet...it's not going well)
Mmmmm! (when she likes something she's eaten--it's especially nice after she's done nursing!  It lets me know I cooked up a good batch for her ;) )
Yeah

Actions:
Nodding
Shaking head "no"
Dancing
Tickling
Puttting away items when asked in the appropriate place, even if it's been awhile since she took it out
Itsy Bitsy Spider--her favorite part was when the rain comes down, but now she's more into the sun coming up


Knows nose, eye, belly button, belly

Ornery:
Tantrums (laying down slowly onto floor and looking up at us--only one real tantrum so far)
Spitting water
Take-away game (offering something to you, then taking it away)

Signs:
More
All done
"I don't know"--raising hands in the air

Thank you, baby

Baby Girl,

Recently you've had some amazingly easy nap- and bedtimes.  You've gone down without fuss and put yourself to sleep in the way I had previously only dreamed.  I, of course, don't get any credit for this, as your daddy has been doing bedtime (and naptimes during the weekend if he's home) for a long time and has been getting the wrath of your stubborness.

Today, though, was a bit different.  I put you down and you didn't fuss, so I left the room.  About ten minutes later, I heard a thudding that I thought could be coming from upstairs or from outside, so I went upstairs to check on you, only to find you sitting in your crib, quietly playing with your GloWorm (a first--if you're wide awake in your crib, you're usually upset and ready. to. go. NOW.).  You saw me peeking, so I walked in, to discover you'd pooped, so I changed you and then put you back in your crib.  You fussed a bit, but not horribly, so I assumed that you'd fall asleep soon.  After another ten minutes, I went to peek through the door and found you laying down, but obviously not happy--all the toys in your crib (we keep three things in there with two blankets) were all moved around.  It was apparent to me that you were tired, but having a hard time settling down.

I picked you up, wrapped in your crocheted blanket, and we swayed.  You snuggled in right away, wrapping your arm around my neck, laying your head on my shoulder.  I could hear you were still chewing on your fingers (you'd abandoned thumb-sucking a few months ago), and every once in awhile, you'd rub your face on my shoulder, as if you were trying to get even closer. 

As we swayed, I was taken back to those days that we spent every moment together, the three months of my maternity leave.  Most of those days were spent snuggling, with you drifting in and out of sleep, also rubbing your face on my chest, trying to get closer.  In those days, there were times that I found your sleeping on me a nuisance.  There were things I wanted to get done, different ways I wanted to spend my time.  But as you've started to express your independence more, I miss the days of snuggling my baby, holding you until you fall asleep.

So thank you, baby, for giving me back some of that time that I didn't appreciate.  I love the feeling of the weight of your little body on mine, finding comfort being close to your mommy.  I love knowing that you need me and that I usually have the ability to get you to relax and give in to your need for sleep.

I hope you can find comfort in snuggling with Mommy for forever--I know I'll always love it and cherish the time we've had (and always hope for one more snuggle).

All my love, today and always,
Mommy

Well...

I'm here.  Sort of. 

I've missed you.  Seriously. 

But I'm afraid to come back to blogging much.

You see, I'm feeling really negative right now. 

I don't want to be negative.  I want to enjoy my daughter.  I want to celebrate the fact that she slept all night last night, but all I can think is, "Well, of course she did.  We were up until midnight, which means we didn't really get to enjoy it.  Typical."

How's that for negative?

I've just been feeling really weighed down by a lot recently and I feel like I shouldn't be posting all about it because, well, who wants to read a blog that's all just bitching and moaning?

To give you a taste:

- We found out last night we have a mouse in our house.  A MOUSE.  IN OUR HOUSE.  More specifically, in our living room.  Where Baby Girl plays.  Ugh.  How incredibly dirty does that make me feel???

- We can't decide how much we want to fight for Baby Girl to get the sort of food we want while not in our care.  We prefer fresh, non-processed, non-fried foods (for her....for us, that's a whole different post) and have found out that the sitter is giving her chicken nuggets and a graham cracker for a snack.  Is it the end of the world?  Of course not.  Could she be giving her way worse stuff?  Of course.  So do we bother fighting with it, causing all sort of tension, or do we just roll with it? 

- What *are* we doing with Baby Girl's childcare?  We'd like to move her elsewhere, but where?  And if (when) we have #2, we'll need someone that probably could take both, so the place where I used to work wouldn't be ideal (only take kids age 18 months and up).  Neither The Hubby nor I can imagine her being at this same place until she's three.  At the same time, we know she's safe and have established a good relationship with the sitter and the other families.  We're so anti-confrontational.

- I've moved offices.  My job is the same, but just a different location in the building.  And I hate it.  Pumping is much harder (there are more people in the same room, more traffic, more noises), working is harder.  I'm sort of miserable.

- I'm working on a project with someone who is incredibly difficult to work with.  I could punch her sometimes.  The end.

- I've been feeling PMS-y for five days now.  My first two cycles since having Baby Girl were 28 days, down to the time of day.  This one?  Today is cycle day 31.  I'm guessing it was anovulatory because of having two deaths in one cycle, but...come on, body.  Let's just get this over with. 

There are other things that I just can't think about right now.

Oh, but I did bite the bullet.  I called a counseling program they offer through work, did a preliminary phone conversation with her, and set up an appointment for me to meet her tomorrow at 3.  I made the appointment last Friday.  And I still haven't told The Hubby.  Not trying to hide it...just not an easy thing to talk about. 

Must run.  Sounds like we're under a tornado and thunderstorm warning here and I have 3 minutes until I leave to drive INTO the storm to pick up my baby.  And I just want to get the hell home with her.

Word

If you actually go to my blog (I know most people use Readers), I'm keeping a running list of Baby Girl's words (I actually have about 4 more to add today).  It's just for my own record-keeping, but in case you're curious, it's there :)

It's fall....*happy sigh*

I love fall.  I love the changing leaves.  I love football season.  I love the cooler temperatures.  I love the break from the heat (I definitely appreciate fall more than spring because of this).

I don't love the allergies.  But I'm trying to overlook that for now.

The problem is, Ohio hasn't had much of a fall (or spring, really) in a few years.  It seems we go straight from 90 degree days to 50s with very little time in between.  Not this week, though.  This week has been nearly perfect (well, Wednesday through Friday--Tuesday was ridiculously hot, especially in an unair-conditioned church and out in a cemetary). 

Wednesday night?  We went for a long walk around the neighborhood.  Dinner went long, so it wasn't really as long as we would have liked, but it was still fun.  Baby Girl loves riding on her car, so we pushed it all around the neighborhood.  When she would get bored, we'd sing Itsy Bitsy Spider (she now does some sort of hand signals for each part of it) or one of us would run really fast and get her giggling at the wind in her hair.  We even stopped to see a friend who lives in the neighborhood and her big german shepherd.  He barked a few times, which made Baby Girl jump, but she didn't beg to be picked up or anything, which was good.  After awhile of watching him, she started sticking her tongue out, imitating him--it was adorable!  What a beautiful night. 

Last night, though, was the best yet.  We hadn't laid out any meat for dinner, so we picked up Taco Bell (got a chicken soft taco, Fresco style (eliminates the cheese and adds lettuce), for Baby Girl) and went home.  Baby Girl LOVED the lettuce (weirdo...) and ate a good amount of the chicken, then some fresh pear.  Since we were done with dinner so early (why can't we do this every night?), we decided to go for a bike ride.  We ended up riding all around the neighborhood with Baby Girl in her trailer, again, singing Itsy Bitsy Spider when she got bored :)  It was nice to get active, though, and not be dripping with sweat by the time we got home. We then played in the front yard, got on the swing for a bit, then came inside and Baby Girl went to bed.  Then The Hubby got a fire going in our firepit...

We sat on our back porch with the fire going and I remembered!  We have marshmallows inside!  While he was getting the fire to a roar (it's truly an art to do it without lighter fluid), I found the sticks and marshmallows.  We lounged in our rockers, slowly roasting the marshmallows to perfection.  I pulled mine off the stick and bit into it, letting my teeth pass through the outside (with that perfect slight crisp) and into the gooey, almost-warm-enough-to-burn-your-mouth-but-not-quite inside.  The marshmallow seemed to melt into my mouth.  Heaven.  We enjoyed spending this simple time with each other--something we haven't done in far too long. 

It's been a great few nights.  We've ignored things that need done inside the house and just focused on spending time together.  Tonight we have to get back to things that need done (I have to go shopping for a baby shower present), but it's so good to be able to enjoy fall together.

A few quick snippets

I have some big posts ready to write, but needed to get these down:

* Go Buckeyes!  We stayed up for the whole game last night and watched the Bucks beat down Marshall.  Awesome.  Only concern is the special teams, which is the first time in the Tressel era I have ever said that... 

* I'm currently writing a 13 month post, but I don't think this belongs there since she just started it last night.  Baby Girl can now say "Go Bucks".  Of course, it sounds like "Go Guck" (it seems like she's hooked on using the "gah" to begin all words...you'll see when I write out her word list), but she picked it up super quickly.  Go Bucks!

* My aunt (my mom's younger sister) passed away last night in her sleep.  She's had a long road--she was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago, beat it, but then had other cancer show up in her brain and neck.  She fought it until the end and was given four weeks to live about 2 or 3 months ago.  She'd been under hospice care for about a month now and I'm happy to hear she was sleeping and hope it was peaceful for her.  I didn't have much of a relationship with her, so I'm feeling guilty (again) for not really being overly sad about it.  I'm worried about my mom--she's never had a great relationship with her sister (not like they fought--they just weren't close at all) and I left her a voice mail today and she responded with an email: "I'm okay as long as I don't have to talk about it.  I'll call when I feel I can."  I didn't think she'd be this distraught about it (they went up and visited yesterday because she'd taken a turn for the worse, so they knew it was coming), so I'm not sure how to react now.  The selfish side of me is irritated that our long weekend will be altered but I'm trying to overcome that and just think about what we can do to help my mom, grandma, and my mom's siblings get through this. 

Just a little bit different

It's that time again...it's the most wonderful time of the year, and I'm not talking about the Christmas season!  It's the beginning of college football!

I am not your average, run-of-the-mill football fan.  Oh no, I fully advocate the setting up of FOUR (yes...FOUR) TVs in our living room.  I am the one that comes up with the viewing schedule on Saturdays so we know which games should be on which TVs.  I could rattle off the starting lineup for the Buckeyes and typically most of the backups.  I can talk intelligent football with almost any man (I struggle a bit with specific plays and blocking schemes).  I was the one to run all of our football prediction pools, counted down the days until Saturday, spent the day from 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. with at least one TV on ESPN (gotta watch College Gameday!)

But not this year.  This year, something is...different.  Today, the first day of Buckeye football, I feel the energy, the excitement, the electricity.  But until today, I felt...not much.  I think considered *gasp* going and doing something on Saturday instead of watching football.  I also consciously realized that I might fall asleep at the end of the Buckeye game tonight (I haven't missed any major chunk of any games since 1998).  And that's when I realized that there has been a major shift in priorities...and I'm not sure I like it.  Having already been through one football season with a baby, I knew there would be times that I'd have to choose the baby over football (especially non Buckeye football), but now that she's older and actually needs entertained...that shift seems eminent.  And I'm pretty pissed off about that.

For some reason, this is the hardest shift in priorities that I've experienced.  Is it hard not being able to go anywhere with my husband after 7 p.m.?  Yep.  Is it tough knowing I'm not going to sleep through the night unless the baby does?  You betcha.  But miss my Buckeye football?  Oh hellz no. 

It'll be interesting to see what this season brings.  Tonight is the easy game--Baby Girl will be going to bed around kickoff, so I'll just pause the TV until The Hubby is done putting her down--but subsequent games might be tough.  We might end up shipping her off somewhere--something that we haven't considered doing for any other event. 

Hmmm...football or the baby?  That truly is a tough decision!!!  But I have a feeling I know which one I'll choose...and she'll give me a big hug and a kiss on the lips (or a whine and a pinch of my nose) to thank me.

My Head is Spinning

Am I alone?  I feel like I can't be the only person in this world who can't concentrate.  Ever. 

I feel like I constantly have a running commentary going in my head--while I'm working, driving, playing with Baby Girl, watching TV, surfing the web...and my head is spinning from it.  There's always a new thing to add to the to-do list.  I actually started one so I could empty my brain once I write it down, but there are always new things.  Just right now there are over 20 things on my list.  Some small (get a flu shot) but some bigger (finish thank you notes from Baby Girl's birthday....which I STILL haven't done).  I find my mind drifting when I should be concentrating on important things and I don't know how to stop it.  The Hubby and I have always chalked it up to having an overactive brain, but now I'm wondering if I've got some adult ADD or something like that.  I'm lucky that I'm good enough at my job that I still get enough done so no one notices how scattered I am, but someday it's going to catch up with me. 

I'm sure part of it is that I still feel like I have to take on all the responsibilities of our entire household.  If I don't remember all these things, they'll never get done.  I left the responsibility of Baby Girl's one year doctor appointment to the husband and we went over 2 weeks late.  The end of the world?  No, but when you're a perfectionist, it's too late!  I've talked to The Hubby.  I've talked to other friends.  It seems like we women are always the ones responsible for the household things.  It's driving me insane, though--the perfectionist in me needs to make sure it all gets done in a timely manner and if I'm running late (like forgetting to drop a check in the mail before we left for vacation), I beat myself up over it.  The Hubby, though?  Doesn't even notice.  Allison will take care of it.  And I will.  But I might not get any work done in the meantime.

Oh, and while I was writing this blog post in my brain (I was where I get all my profound thinking done--in the bathroom), I realized my underwear is inside out.  And I've peed 4 times today and this is the first time I've noticed.  See how scattered I am???

Give me more!!!

Last night I cooked some baked fried chicken, baked sweet potato fries, and frozen corn.  It was a great meal, if I do say so (and I DO!).  Baby Girl agreed, apparently.

The fries and corn were done before the chicken and it was getting late, so I walked over to where she was playing and offered her a bite of a sweet potato fry.  She started to suck on it, but eventually understood that she should bite it off, which she then did successfully.  She ate two of them and we realized she was pretty hungry, so we put her in her high chair to eat more sweet potatoes and some corn.  Once the chicken was done cooking, I gave her some of that, which she ate before I could get it onto her tray.  My kid is a meat-eater for sure!  She eventually got tired of food other than chicken and The Hubby and I were done with our chicken, so there was none left.  She had a few pieces of sweet potato and some corn on her tray and she wasn't interested in that anymore, so we asked if she was all done, she gave us the sign for "all done" and we got her down. 

We then headed to the living room.  It was at this point that my baby threw her first big tantrum.  She was shrieking like she's started to do when she doesn't want to sleep, only this had nothing to do with sleep.  She wouldn't leave the kitchen/dining room area.  She tried to throw herself onto the floor (she normally moves to the floor very slowly and just lays there looking at you when she's trying to throw a tantrum) but luckily The Hubby was there already and caught her.  I cried in the living room.  We didn't know what she wanted and I felt like an awful mommy for not having any idea what my baby needed.

And then The Hubby gave her another sweet potato fry, whole.  And she was happy again.  She ended up eating probably 12 more of them and shared some bites with both of us.  Sweet potato?  Really?  Well, I guess she likes them...and I know what we'll be eating on a fairly regular basis from now on. 

Geez.