Monday, March 29, 2010

totally gross...



Is it wrong that despite the fact this is totally disgusting, my first instinct was to grab the camera instead of pull her away?

Sunday, March 28, 2010

to nap, or not to nap...

I had this assumption that it didn't matter if you got a bad night's sleep as a stay-at-home-mom, because you could just nap the next day.

No problem, right?

Right?

WRONG!


Let's just say I have successfully taken 4 naps since the girls were born*.

Four.

That includes the sleep-deprived-you're-expected-to-nap-when-they-nap age.

Last night I slept terribly, so today I decided to tempt fate and try to take a nap while the kids napped.

1:11pm - kids are in bed and quiet, so I go lay down
1:36pm - I am almost asleep but jolt out of bed realizing I left the dog outside
1:40pm - back in bed after letting Yoshi in
2:09pm - I must have fallen asleep for a little bit because I felt like a truck hit me when I realized Avery was screaming at the top of her lungs
2:13pm - I have Avery with me, but I still feel like a truck hit me so I go lay back down with her in my arms
2:30pm - again, I must have drifted off because I still feel like a truck hit me when the dog started barking - then I realize Avery has fallen asleep, so I try to ignore the barking dog
2:41pm - must have drifted off again, cause I feel like that truck is on top of me when I get 'woken' up to the sound of Brynn awake and fussing (but of course Avery is still in my arms, which of course they (my arms) have now fallen asleep)
2:43pm - as I come to my senses (literally), I realize why Avery had been screaming 30 minutes ago, so I go change her diaper and check on Brynn
2:45pm - the phone starts ringing


And that, my friends, is why I haven't bothered to try to take a nap in almost a year!


*to clarify, I have taken a few naps successfully on the weekends, but it's only when Dan is home and I can shut the door and turn the baby monitor off and not have that lingering feeling that someone is going to need me at any moment...

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Oh, buddy...

First off, I must forewarn you about the poor quality of the pictures, my shutter speed was too slow for my subjects... but I needed all these pictures to tell the story, so here goes:




Wow - look what Brynn's trying to do now!













Oh crap, look what Brynn just figured out how to do!
















Oh, wah ~ I want up there like my sister!



















Well fine then, I'll just do it myself!


















Oh crap, look what Avery just figured out how to do!


















Uh... sweetie...



















BRYNN!
Don't stand up on the ottoman...










...too late!
Guess you're gonna learn the hard way!

















Hmmm... this must be how I get over to the couch!



















Oh, buddy are we ever in trouble!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Oh what we think is fun...




Such a mischievous little laugh Avery has!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Yesterday was such a beautiful day...

...that when Avery yanked off her socks while we were outside...


...I didn't bother to put them back on...


...that when Evan wanted to pose with his favorite car...

...I obliged...


...and even attempted a try with all 3 kids (realizing that I haven't made a single attempt at getting all 3 together since the girls became so mobile)...


...that when we were done with dinner...

...we didn't even bother to clean up the dishes right away...

...instead we went outside to play...





Monday, March 22, 2010

Friday, March 19, 2010

Recipe #10


Little Cheese Scones

This recipe gave me another opportunity to hem & haw. I could not figure out if I wanted to post the recipe for this or not.

I have decided not.

This "cook book" has cute flash cards with healthy recipes. The first recipe I tried from it were the little cheese scones (pictured below) that we ate with our Superbowl chili!

They weren't bad, they just didn't knock my socks off.

I have no intent to make them again, so I didn't figure I'd post the recipe, but if you would like the recipe, just leave a comment, and I will post it.



Thursday, March 18, 2010

Houston, we have another toddler!

Brynn figured out last week how to stand up on her own, but she still has a preference to crawl over to something and pull up on it. Yesterday, however, she decided to practice quite a bit and show off her toddling skills!




And if you notice, we were outside... today is another beautiful day... tomorrow? snow. Seriously, Iowa?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sunday, March 14, 2010

a fond farewell...

Dan and I had a small Memorial this evening after the kids went to bed.

It was a big deal.

Remember the Lightning McQueen Incident?

Well, we had another episode today.

The good news: Today was a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L day that included a family walk and a detour to the park behind our house.


The bad news: Evan's fah-a-vor-it-e, and I mean, FAVORITE, toy took a bath in the sand at the playground.


When I say favorite toy, I'm talking; this kid takes it everywhere, sleeps with it at night, his friends ask me why he carries it around all the time, and I'm sure this is payback for him dropping his pacifier on his own at 13 weeks old, and having no trouble dropping his bottles right at 12 months, so now I'm going to have to work hard to ween him from a TOY!


I just assumed I'd pull it apart again and clean it out like the last time.

Nope.

It's toast. The sand isn't coming out without serious surgery that I'm not qualified to perform.

Great.

Thank goodness we picked up a spare just in case this day came.

So we devised an elaborate plan and told Evan that Lightning McQueen would be visiting Luigi's tire shop, Ramone's House of Art, Doc's fix-em-up shop, and he'll be good as new in the morning.

Let's hope he goes for it, because the Memorial service included dumping the old McQueen in the garbage.



Update:
The good news: He totally went for it...
The bad news: He now thinks his toy, Doc, is a miracle worker...

Friday, March 12, 2010

baby proofing is NEVER done!

Just when I thought I had a leg up on the kids by "baby-proofing" our house...



...they prove me wrong:



The culprit:



I wish I could have seen the look on my face when I walked into Evan's room to find Brynn had climbed up on his bed. If the expression on her face was any indication, my face must have been priceless!

But she did give me her cheesy "I'm so proud of myself" grin when I ran for the camera, 'cause this moment isn't one I ever want to forget.



**and, this is only funny to me because she didn't take a face plant off the bed

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Recipe #9


The next recipe I tried from this book was for the girls' birthday cake we gave them on the night of their birthday. A few days before their actual birthday we had their 1 year pictures taken with a smash cake (and the butterfly wings), and I figured since they were still on a sugar high 3 days later, I'd try to cut out the sugar if I could for their mini-birthday celebration.

Carrot Cake

1/2 cup margarine at room temperature
3 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp low-sodium baking powder*
1 tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
3-1/4 cups grated carrots**
1 cup crushed pineapple, unsweetened and well drained

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together the eggs and margarine and then stir in the pineapple juice. Add flours, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Stir in grated carrots and pineapple.
2. Coat a 9x13 baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Pour in batter and spread to an even layer. Bake until center springs back when touched, about 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing.

This book also had a recipe for no-sugar frosting, but I didn't want to make it. I was lazy. I just used frosting from a tub. And quite honestly, even though the cake was pretty good, I am really glad I used "real" frosting. I am a bit of a sugar-addict (which is another reason I am trying to keep the sugar out as much as I can), so I'm not sure I would have liked the cake if I had used a no-sugar frosting. But, like I said, the cake was good - and making a no sugar cake even with a sugared frosting sure beats the alternative!


*The author notes that low-sodium baking powder (which I could not find at our local grocery store) is used at 1-1/2 times the amount of regular baking powder. So if you use the regular baking powder use 2 tsp, instead of the 3 tsp low-sodium.
**This was a pain in the butt, almost worth buying the pre-shredded carrots:





High Sugar Cake:



Low Sugar Cake:
*please note that Avery was still in sugar shock, can't you tell?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Recipe #8

I'm going back in time quite a bit to play catch up on all the recipes I've tried, and this book is one that I have found a few new recipes from.



I really liked flipping through this book, the author did quite a bit of research into the foods we eat, and the goal was to provide alternatives to all the sugary foods we (I) feed our (my) children. I was a little worried the food would be bland, but here goes:


Spiced Apple Bars

1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice
3 eggs
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp low-sodium baking powder*
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins**

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat an 8x8 pan with vegetable cooking spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the applesauce, apple juice, eggs, and margarine until well blended. Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in raisins.
3. Bake 25-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.


I was concerned about this being a little bland. And, it kind of was. But my kids didn't notice. At all. I ate some of this, and I added a few drops of honey - which made it perfect, for me. My kids just gobbled and gobbled and gobbled it up! This is a definite keeper, and a much better alternative to the snacks that I normally feed the kids.

*The author notes that low-sodium baking powder (which I could not find at our local grocery store) is used at 1-1/2 times the amount of regular baking powder. So if you use the regular baking powder use 2 tsp, instead of the 3 tsp low-sodium.
**These provide quite a bit of sweetness to the recipe - if it isn't sweet enough for you, you could always add more raisins.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Maybe I should specify...

Here is the difference between telling a 3-year-old:

"Pick up your toys"

and

"Pick up your toys, and put them away"





Any guesses as to which was asked?

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Moments I love...

Any parent knows, there are hard days...

...days that you want to bury so deep in the memory bank, that you never remember how awful it was.

But, any parent also knows there are little nuggets that make it all worth it:


[We were at the library and we went upstairs before going down for storytime; as I was checking out my book, this is the conversation that unfolded...]

Evan: [walking towards the elevator] Mom, I am going to leave you behind!

Me: Oh no, sweetie, that wouldn't be very nice, would it?

Evan: No Mom, I wouldn't really leave you behind, you are my best friend!





You melt my heart, kid ~ my life would be so boring without you!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Cookbook Resolution Update #1

January
New Recipes Tried: 7
New Recipes Posted: 7

February
New Recipes Tried: 11
New Recipes Posted: 0


Sad.

I don't know what my dilemma has been in posting the new recipes I've tried. I do plan to post them. I just haven't. And I've got some great ones to share! Hold on to your hats, they're coming!
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