chunk is currently in front of me practicing throwing tantrums. not just any type of tantrum, either - the kind where she throws her body onto the ground and screams. these are the times where i find being an atheist completely inconvenient because i have no one to pray to.
this week has been one of those weeks where both of my kids have challenged me in ways they never have before. we have had a busy few months and it seems that all of the chaos has finally caught up with them and rendered them both emotionally unstable. it also seems that i am the person they most want to take out their frustrations on be them good or bad. chunk thinks that i am the only person in the world who can take care of her problems and will come screaming to me after the slightest injustice happens in her tiny toddler world. this morning she couldn't lift the new batcave her brother got for christmas - the meltdown took 15 minutes to get through and included her literally throwing a book at me. i was never able to understand that some kids could just be inherently evil - bitter pill and all that jazz. sheesh.
the kids, the husband, and i cleaned up for christmas. the husband got me the gift of crafting and i gave him the gift of jiu jitsu. the kids loot included a ginormous play tent, stuffed animals, books, a play kitchen, the batcave complete with a ton of accessories, candy, a learning clock, puzzles, a leap frog laptop, and minnie mouse. they have done a surprisingly good job sharing everything they received, and aside from the damn elephant we have had no fights. the damn elephant came from aunt brook (at my request, so she is totally not on the hook for it.) the damn elephant is an adorable plush that has a wireless remote with a little button. the damn elephant makes his elephant noise when you push the button. you play hide and seek with the damn elephant and fun is supposed to ensue. if you live in my house, though, you have a crazy toddler that pushes the button over and freaking over again while you try to beat her into a room to hide the damn elephant and a (almost) 4 year old who sits in a corner crying because he wants to push the button. do you try to explain that the fun of the damn elephant is the actual finding part not the pushing the button part? you do. but they don't listen. and so you put the damn elephant in the closet and close the door because this is no fun anymore. damn elephant ain't no fun.
i think i just blacked out there.
we are hoping to make the elephant fun again in 2012.
we here at this house that we live in have been blessed with an amazing year. have we had our ups and downs? of course. the husband and i talked last night about how blessed we are that he has a job that can support me staying home to try and help our children not become future convicts, and that we have cool things like running water and electricity. we really don't have any right to complain about anything in our lives. in fact, i don't have many complaints outside of some incredibly annoying and selfish family members. really, though, the gift of living so far away from people is a beautiful one. so yes, good year and all that. plus, in 2012 i get to meet my niece, and i really couldn't put into words how happy that makes all of us here in this house.
i am not one to make goals for myself. so i won't.
i have a lot of hopes for 2012 and i am going to write those down for myself just as we did last year after i burn all of the things i want to let go from 2011. my biggest burn item is letting people get under my skin. i want to learn how to not give a shit in 2012. here's to hoping.
for now i have a toddler screaming, "here! book!" at me. that's a pretty clear message and since i am terrified of her i am going to meet her demands.
12.30.2011
12.20.2011
leveling up
right now (and for the past 6 months) ge is obsessed with games. everything that ge and daddy do must be a game. there must be rules, winners and losers, and always a name for the game. recently these games have begun to include levels, complicated structure, and rounds. there are 3 rounds and 4 levels within each round, or 1 round and 3 levels of increasing difficulty. there are rounds that only ge can play, but levels that we are somehow included in. it's safe to say that i do not completely understand how most of this goes down, but he does, and seeing as he is always somehow the winner of these games - well, i try not to complain.
this weekend the husband was trying to get some work done from home. ge stared at his dad's computer, completely confused by the black and teal database page that he was boringly typing into. "dad, what are you doing?" "i am working (insert boring explanation of credit database structure here)" "where are all the pictures in your game?" "this isn't a game, this is work." at this point the husband switched from the database to an email and back to the database again to which ge replied, "yeah. you lost that last level and now you have to be back here." so true, kiddo. so true.
our little princess tonka truck is obsessed with chocolate the last few weeks. the thing i find most amusing about it all is that she calls chocolate "cu-cow" which sounds a lot like cacao. she will run to her advent calendar a few different times a day and scream, "MORE CACAO!" and melt into a heap on the floor before she becomes bored and finds something to go destroy. i have to give her credit - she is persistent. her new words the last few weeks include car, train (tain), neigh (when she sees a horse), dink (drink), poom (for book - i have no idea on that one), bite, eyes, sprise (surprise), mine, and money (for monkey). she wants to read books all day long. all. day. long. mostly this horrible book about monkeys that drum and if i don't put the right sort of excitement into it she will literally throw the book at my head.
we have my brother in town for christmas and i have so much to do before than. of course i chose right now to blog because i really should be making cookies. damn procrastination.
this weekend the husband was trying to get some work done from home. ge stared at his dad's computer, completely confused by the black and teal database page that he was boringly typing into. "dad, what are you doing?" "i am working (insert boring explanation of credit database structure here)" "where are all the pictures in your game?" "this isn't a game, this is work." at this point the husband switched from the database to an email and back to the database again to which ge replied, "yeah. you lost that last level and now you have to be back here." so true, kiddo. so true.
our little princess tonka truck is obsessed with chocolate the last few weeks. the thing i find most amusing about it all is that she calls chocolate "cu-cow" which sounds a lot like cacao. she will run to her advent calendar a few different times a day and scream, "MORE CACAO!" and melt into a heap on the floor before she becomes bored and finds something to go destroy. i have to give her credit - she is persistent. her new words the last few weeks include car, train (tain), neigh (when she sees a horse), dink (drink), poom (for book - i have no idea on that one), bite, eyes, sprise (surprise), mine, and money (for monkey). she wants to read books all day long. all. day. long. mostly this horrible book about monkeys that drum and if i don't put the right sort of excitement into it she will literally throw the book at my head.
we have my brother in town for christmas and i have so much to do before than. of course i chose right now to blog because i really should be making cookies. damn procrastination.
12.16.2011
the ge man
i have two blogs almost finished, but still sitting in my "i am too lazy to write 3 sentences to finish these up" box. one is a recipe for cheeseburger soup, the other a recipe for cream cheese enchiladas - both were friggin amazing. i also have chunk's one year book to finish up, a house to clean, presents to wrap, family coming in for christmas, and sleep to catch up on on my to do list. in fact, i am so tired of making a to do list that i simply stopped making one. instead i decided that i would make these cream cheese snickerdoodles and enjoy some time with my wonderful kids this week. besides, i am done with christmas shopping and that gives me at least 2 days of wasted time credits.
after i made the cookies my sweet little ge man proclaimed them to be, "the best cookies ever, mama" and said to me, "thank you for making these delicious cookies for me, mama. that was very really nice of you to do that." yes, that is how my 3 year old speaks to me. in fact, today he stated, "mama, when you bought me that hot cocoa it made me feel very special. thank you for thinking about me and making me happy, mama." the child would have been perfect in one of those old timey shows where families loved each other and said nice shit to each other when they were going to bed.
over thanksgiving we flew out to nana and papa's house to enjoy family, puppies, and gluttony. on the plane flight there ge was his normally well behaved self for the entire 6 hour flight. after we landed a lady approached me to compliment me on ge's behavior and told me i was doing a good job raising him. i thanked her, and admitted that we work hard on behavior and appreciation with our children, but was honest in telling her that the husband and i are just incredibly lucky to have a ge. he is an exceptional child in every way.
right now ge and i are making our way through a pre-school book to get him ready for the day i spend hours in the fetal position crying because my baby is in kindergarten. the first book centers around learning to write letters and draw his shapes - something he is working at very diligently. every day when chunk goes down for his nap he happily grabs his book and is ready to learn something new. afterwards he gets to play a few computer games until chunk is up and we go about our day. he has such a love and capacity for learning.
at this time ge can count to 15, but is close to getting up to twenty. he can spell his name and is learning to hear a word and spot out beginning letters. he knows his shapes, letters, and colors like a champ. he has mastered the art of somersaults, loves to "get his exercise", and has taught his baby sister how to play tag with him - a game that might be the cutest thing in the entire world. ge loves to laugh and to make people laugh. he and his little sister are the best of friends and she loves being his little shadow - everything ge does is the most amazing thing in the world.
i can't believe he is rounding the corner towards 4. i have cherished every moment with him from the day he was born and can remember so much of it like it was yesterday. i am excited to spoil him over christmas. he has brought so much christmas magic to our house with his love for the elf on the shelf, his christmas countdown happiness, and his love of decorations. this weekend we are making a gingerbread train together and i know that he will make it the best train ever, because that's just how he rolls.
it's funny - i don't feel like he is growing up too fast, but his thoughts are so incredibly grown up. he acts like a 40 year old sometimes, but he plays like a 4 year old and is always such a great joy to be around. we couldn't love him more than we do or be more grateful for him. our little man is just a super cool kid. we thinks he is the coolest kid in the world, but i am pretty sure we are bias on that one.
after i made the cookies my sweet little ge man proclaimed them to be, "the best cookies ever, mama" and said to me, "thank you for making these delicious cookies for me, mama. that was very really nice of you to do that." yes, that is how my 3 year old speaks to me. in fact, today he stated, "mama, when you bought me that hot cocoa it made me feel very special. thank you for thinking about me and making me happy, mama." the child would have been perfect in one of those old timey shows where families loved each other and said nice shit to each other when they were going to bed.
over thanksgiving we flew out to nana and papa's house to enjoy family, puppies, and gluttony. on the plane flight there ge was his normally well behaved self for the entire 6 hour flight. after we landed a lady approached me to compliment me on ge's behavior and told me i was doing a good job raising him. i thanked her, and admitted that we work hard on behavior and appreciation with our children, but was honest in telling her that the husband and i are just incredibly lucky to have a ge. he is an exceptional child in every way.
right now ge and i are making our way through a pre-school book to get him ready for the day i spend hours in the fetal position crying because my baby is in kindergarten. the first book centers around learning to write letters and draw his shapes - something he is working at very diligently. every day when chunk goes down for his nap he happily grabs his book and is ready to learn something new. afterwards he gets to play a few computer games until chunk is up and we go about our day. he has such a love and capacity for learning.
at this time ge can count to 15, but is close to getting up to twenty. he can spell his name and is learning to hear a word and spot out beginning letters. he knows his shapes, letters, and colors like a champ. he has mastered the art of somersaults, loves to "get his exercise", and has taught his baby sister how to play tag with him - a game that might be the cutest thing in the entire world. ge loves to laugh and to make people laugh. he and his little sister are the best of friends and she loves being his little shadow - everything ge does is the most amazing thing in the world.
i can't believe he is rounding the corner towards 4. i have cherished every moment with him from the day he was born and can remember so much of it like it was yesterday. i am excited to spoil him over christmas. he has brought so much christmas magic to our house with his love for the elf on the shelf, his christmas countdown happiness, and his love of decorations. this weekend we are making a gingerbread train together and i know that he will make it the best train ever, because that's just how he rolls.
it's funny - i don't feel like he is growing up too fast, but his thoughts are so incredibly grown up. he acts like a 40 year old sometimes, but he plays like a 4 year old and is always such a great joy to be around. we couldn't love him more than we do or be more grateful for him. our little man is just a super cool kid. we thinks he is the coolest kid in the world, but i am pretty sure we are bias on that one.
11.18.2011
11.17.2011
notes on a chunk
i wanted to make a note, mostly for myself, about chunk's vocabulary growing. she seems to be learning a word about every week or two and is starting to feel comfortable speaking more in front of her daddy.
mama (that's me!)
dada or just plain da (for daddy)
baba (bottle)
no (a constant)
go (which is usually go go!)
shoooo (shoes)
cha choo (trains)
mowww (every time she sees mickey mouse)
ge (her brother)
bye (as in, i can't believe your punk ass is leaving me)
ow (she uses this one when she hits us)
weeee!!! (when she pushes her little people animals down their zoo slide)
animal sounds -
moooo (she loves cows)
meow (and kitties)
rawr (her first and most used sound - she loves dinosaurs)
body parts she knows -
nose
ears
belly
mouth
feet
she hasn't really picked up much signing, but when she is hungry she will spit out her pacie and point to her mouth - hard to miss that one.
she loves books, thinks being tickled is hilarious, plays tag with her brother, loves to be rough housed, and points to everything she thinks she should have and breaks out into tears if you won't give her whatever it is she thinks she wants. little chunk is adventurous and is gaining an independent streak that surprises me after all of her attachment needs. she still prefers mac and cheese, but she loves broccoli and yogurt, too. little girl drinks milk like it might not exist tomorrow, but she is also a solid water drinker if given the chance.
ge man update to come soon. :)
cheese.
Ge : "Mom! I love you and I love you and I love you!"
Me : "I love you more."
Ge : "Well I love you most and more and a lot."
/heart melt
Me : "I love you more."
Ge : "Well I love you most and more and a lot."
/heart melt
11.15.2011
One year
My Little Charli,
I have no idea where the last year went. I feel like we were
just in the waiting room getting prepped for the surgery that would bring you
into our arms, and now we are trying to keep you wrapped up in those same arms
as you run across the room to find a new form of destruction. You have been so
much fun to have in our lives and have impacted us in such amazing ways. You
came into this world with a giant scream heard throughout the halls of
Phoenixville Hospital, and in the last year you have only continued to grow
into an even greater presence than we ever thought possible.
By your first birthday you were walking, speaking a few words (Mama, Dada, Baba, Ow, No), dancing up a storm, pulling everything off of the shelves and out of the baskets that your could get your hands on, and destroying your brother’s train tracks at a 2 year old level. You love to hit people with things, and when you do, you will say “ow” and laugh. This all seems a bit on the reverse side because when we say ow you burst out into tears because we might be thinking about disciplining you. You, my little Chunk, are a professional tantrum thrower and if you even think for a minute that we might tell you “no” you break down until we reconsider and give you what you want. We are terrified to make you mad because you will make us pay. Papa says your Daddy was a terror like you so I can only hope that you one day feel our pain so we can all laugh. Right now I am barely able to make it out from fetal position in the corner to type this, let alone laugh.
You have your moments, though, and those often come when you are playing with your brother. You love Gage so much and would do anything to be exactly like him. You play with cars, trains, tools, and batman because that is exactly what he loves. You want his favorite toys and often bully him into giving them to you. He turned to me the other day and said, “Mom, Charli is a bully” and all I could do is agree. The best part of that, though, is that you being a bully doesn’t matter to him. That little boy loves you so much and has had so much fun watching you grow and being able to play with you more. As I type this, the two of you are in his room laughing and screaming as you play crash cars. Actually, scratch that, Gage just came running into the room and screamed, “Charli hit me Mom and that wasn’t nice” followed by you wandering into the room growling right behind him. Remember back in these letters when we called you our little bear cub? We were close, but you’re actually a dinosaur. A very violent dinosaur.
Each morning around 4 am you come into bed to sleep next to Daddy and I and you love to cuddle up right next to Dad. He is your big bad Superman that can do no wrong. You love your nights playing with him and he is almost always the one to bathe you and put you down to bed. Daddy and I joke that he is the closer, but it is totally true. You and Daddy have such a special bond and you trust him with all that you are. Each night when he comes home you bounce up and down happily and scream “DADA!” and the both of you light up when I place you in his arms. You and your brother are the light in your Dad’s life and I know you always will be.
I have had so much fun with you this last year and am always surprised by how close we have been. I am totally your person at this age, which I am sure has a lot to do with the fact that I am always with you, but you like me. If you are reading this at 16 and you don’t, you owe me. You totally owe me. Daddy calls you the “Mom seeking missile” because if I even think about leaving the room you have a total melt down and will seek me out and berate me for leaving your side. We have an understanding with each other and always have so much fun together. Much like your brother did when he was younger, you will only show off the little things you are learning with me until you get completely comfortable. It took you a month to admit to your Dad you knew where your ears are because you get all shy when I try to get you to perform your tricks. It’s hard for me to even type this paragraph because it makes me all teary thinking about our relationship – it’s just so special to me. My Mom is my best friend and I hope that we can have that relationship as you grow older, too.
For the last year you have kept us laughing every single day. From your little sounds, to the way you press a button so you get a song to dance to, you’re just so perfect and so Charli. It took me a little while to write this letter because I don’t know how to sum you up in a letter, because you are so much bigger than words – so much bigger than life itself. I never knew that having a daughter could be this rewarding, but every step here has felt like one to celebrate just out of sheer joy. Our family wouldn’t be the same without you and we can honestly not remember a life without you. I have learned so much about myself in the last year, we all have. You are beautiful, so full of life and personality, and when I look at you I melt every single time. Your dimples and big blue eyes make it hard to be mad at you, and your sweet blonde curls just make it downright impossible. You seek out attention wherever you go and you get because there is something about you. From the moment I held you in my arms I knew you were special and I cannot wait to watch you grow from here.
Happy Birthday to our beautiful little Chunk. Thank you for being in our lives and for keeping us on our toes.
I love you,
Mama
11.09.2011
will blog for sleep
Can I be honest internet? I miss you. To be specific, I miss blogging. I frequent Facebook, obsesses over pinterest, and scan through foodgawker like men watch porn, but I don’t blog anymore. I miss blogging. I miss having an English assignment I had to turn in because I couldn’t excuse myself from the task of creativity. I miss having five minutes to myself where I don’t feel like collapsing on the couch, but that is almost an entirely different issue.
By 8 pm The Husband is rocking our little Chunk into dream land and I am both finishing up dinner and clearing away the days clutter. By 8:30 pm we are settled into food and our nightly television selections and the thought of blogging is all like, blah blah blah that sounds super amounts of stupid. I would really like to blog my way through all of my food findings on the internet, and I keep intending too, but really – so freaking tired. Did you know that 13 month old babies are incredibly difficult? I do. I know these things. Especially a 13 month old baby that is obviously prepping herself to be a professional rock star, the kind of rock star you don’t want at your hotel because you know the room will be trashed when they leave.
The other day I roasted chickpeas – they were absolutely delicious. I did this because someone on the internet did it before me and the circle of food inspiration brought it to my attention. They were delicious. They were so good that The Husband and I were ready to fight over lasties. They were so good that they became our dinner because we ate so many. And because I was too tired to cook. And simply didn’t want to.
Don't let the Plungerhead bottle fool you - that's my olive oil. I use bottles of wine that I enjoy to house my oil of the olives so I can remember what I want to drink with dinner in the future. I can be forgetful. Maybe because of the oil. Oven on to 400 degrees, rinse the chick peas well, toss them in olive oil and spices (I used Wegman's curry salt and red pepper for these ones, but you really could use anything you enjoy), cook for 20 minutes, shake them around, and cook for an additional 15 or so until done. I cooked ours for 40 minutes total the first time and it was 5 minutes too long. The end result is a crunchy, salty exterior and a soft and yummy chick pea goodness like center.
Even Chunkaleupagus loved them, but she sort of likes everything. These are best straight out of the oven and with a pomegranate lemonade adult beverage, or so I have been told.
Next up on my to-do list, probably this weekend, are home-made baked taquito like things that I am positive I will have to hide from The Husband if I want some. I told him I found a recipe and he was all like oh I want some, and I was all like suck it. I am a real go getter. Chunk, who normally doesn't like her high chair, has started to enjoy snacking and observing while I go about my business in the kitchen area. We have fun.
9.13.2011
my little annoyance
as a little girl i love my little pony. i loved my little pony so much that i probably would have tried to fight someone if they told me that one day i would grow up and utter the words, "i am so fricking sick of my little pony." i would like to see 8 year old me take on 30 year old me now, though, because i am so fricking sick of my little pony that i could my little pony vomit my brains out.
a few weeks ago i turned an episode of my little pony on via fios on demand to see if i could entertain chunk for a moment while i fed her. what little girl doesn't love ponies? why wouldn't she stay entertained? chunk was mildly amused, but i think she spent more time contemplating crushing the spirit of the ponies and stealing the wings off the ones that can fly, rather than loving the show. but ge, sweet little pony loving ge, took note of the show and stored it away until this week. this week ge decided to pull my little pony out of the back of his mind and decide that that is the only thing that matters anymore in the world. ponies. fricking ponies. all ge wants to watch is the damn pony show, and there are only 4 episodes on on demand so i am pretty damn sick of everything pony related. i remember as a child brushing their pony hair all lovingly like, but right now i want to rip their manes out and shove them down their pony throats.
i had the same problem this week with candy land. i finally talked ge into playing a full length game with me instead of him just walking his person straight up the board and taking mine away in order to keep me the looser he enjoys me being. i used to think that candy land was full of magic and that the game was complicated and genius, but really it's just picking a bunch of cards and irritating as hell. and so now i am left wondering - was everything in my youth that i found awesome completely lame? am i going to find out one day that pogs was actually not the coolest game in the world? was the care bear stare as worldly and peace making as i found it to be? was clothes lining a kid to the point of pain during red rover not as satisfying as i thought it was? i am sure the last one is completely incorrect because i still find enjoyment in the pain inflicted to others during red rover, but who really knows. who. really. knows.
9.12.2011
and then i fell asleep
i keep meaning to update my blog. there is so much to say about the little ones and i feel like i am going to forget all of these moments because there are just so many to remember. from ge saying things like the mini adult he is a chunk running around growling like a bear; there are just so many moments in our day i wish i could capture. but by the time i have a minute at the end of the day to sit down and update - i am completely asleep. gone to this world. last night i was asleep in bed by 8:45. i haven't seen 10:30 pm in weeks.
i love that chunk is walking by her first birthday because she is finally sleeping through the night, but i spend all day chasing her around the house screaming things like, "ahhh!" and "oh no!" and "please, for the love of mark wahlberg, don't do that!" because she is full of evil, that one. she has mastered the art of full body on the floor tantrums and will throw one if you don't allow her to take things out of the fridge when she sneaks in during food time. she also throws them when i don't let her eat paper, or crayons, or kittens. ok, maybe not kittens, but if we had one i would fear for its safety. she is so cute, and when she looks up at me with her big dimply smile and bright blue eyes i almost forget for a moment that she is trying to drive me mad. i often look at her and i pause for a moment just to take her in because she is the cutest thing i have ever laid eyes on - even if that means in those 2 seconds she has moved on to destroying my most prized possessions.
ge is 3 going on 40. we asked him to play trains the other day and he declined stating, "we will have to wait until charli goes down for a nap because she will wreck my trains and i will just freak out." true. oh. so. very. true. he is still, and always has been, the most responsible child in the world. he is the child that has every piece to every toy he has ever owned (which is a lot of toys) and is now becoming irritated by chunk's inability to maintain order and longevity in toys. he is so full of imagination and loves to tell stories. he can tell you the story of his day in roughly 5 minutes and will makes sure you understand every word of what he says. his favorite bed time book is cloudy with a chance of meatballs, and he insists you tell it in your normal voice and let him repeat his favorite moments. he loves to visit monuments around towns and have them explained to him so he can take them in for next time to be a mini tour guide of our beautiful area. we learned about canal locks yesterday and already this morning he has told me about water flow by our big river. he is a little sponge, soaking up moments and lessons and is able to release that information at all of the right times. i marvel at his intellect daily, and fear for the day when he is smarter than me. that could be any day now.
husband and i are doing well, aside from the exhaustion from that thing called life. work is going well for the husband and they ended their fiscal year in an exceptional place. he is so amazing at his job and i love watching him grow in that position. we had his mother in town for a few days which was a learning experience. ge enjoyed getting to know her, but chunk was weary of her which is strange for our little girl. we attribute it to her age, but it was quite funny watching her size her grandma up constantly. we visited landmarks and ate ice cream and had a lovely visit. husband and i are both looking forward to more people being in town this coming weekend to celebrate chunk's first birthday and also her cousin's birthday (they fall on the same day - celebration time!) we have many things to celebrate aside from birthdays now, too, which makes this coming weekend all the more exciting.
things are going well. i never though i could be that person that is asleep by 9 and up at 6:30 am with coffee in hand, but here i am. i cannot believe how quickly the last year has gone and how much all of us in this house have changed, but i have never learned more in a years time and i have never had such a full heart.
i love that chunk is walking by her first birthday because she is finally sleeping through the night, but i spend all day chasing her around the house screaming things like, "ahhh!" and "oh no!" and "please, for the love of mark wahlberg, don't do that!" because she is full of evil, that one. she has mastered the art of full body on the floor tantrums and will throw one if you don't allow her to take things out of the fridge when she sneaks in during food time. she also throws them when i don't let her eat paper, or crayons, or kittens. ok, maybe not kittens, but if we had one i would fear for its safety. she is so cute, and when she looks up at me with her big dimply smile and bright blue eyes i almost forget for a moment that she is trying to drive me mad. i often look at her and i pause for a moment just to take her in because she is the cutest thing i have ever laid eyes on - even if that means in those 2 seconds she has moved on to destroying my most prized possessions.
ge is 3 going on 40. we asked him to play trains the other day and he declined stating, "we will have to wait until charli goes down for a nap because she will wreck my trains and i will just freak out." true. oh. so. very. true. he is still, and always has been, the most responsible child in the world. he is the child that has every piece to every toy he has ever owned (which is a lot of toys) and is now becoming irritated by chunk's inability to maintain order and longevity in toys. he is so full of imagination and loves to tell stories. he can tell you the story of his day in roughly 5 minutes and will makes sure you understand every word of what he says. his favorite bed time book is cloudy with a chance of meatballs, and he insists you tell it in your normal voice and let him repeat his favorite moments. he loves to visit monuments around towns and have them explained to him so he can take them in for next time to be a mini tour guide of our beautiful area. we learned about canal locks yesterday and already this morning he has told me about water flow by our big river. he is a little sponge, soaking up moments and lessons and is able to release that information at all of the right times. i marvel at his intellect daily, and fear for the day when he is smarter than me. that could be any day now.
husband and i are doing well, aside from the exhaustion from that thing called life. work is going well for the husband and they ended their fiscal year in an exceptional place. he is so amazing at his job and i love watching him grow in that position. we had his mother in town for a few days which was a learning experience. ge enjoyed getting to know her, but chunk was weary of her which is strange for our little girl. we attribute it to her age, but it was quite funny watching her size her grandma up constantly. we visited landmarks and ate ice cream and had a lovely visit. husband and i are both looking forward to more people being in town this coming weekend to celebrate chunk's first birthday and also her cousin's birthday (they fall on the same day - celebration time!) we have many things to celebrate aside from birthdays now, too, which makes this coming weekend all the more exciting.
things are going well. i never though i could be that person that is asleep by 9 and up at 6:30 am with coffee in hand, but here i am. i cannot believe how quickly the last year has gone and how much all of us in this house have changed, but i have never learned more in a years time and i have never had such a full heart.
8.27.2011
dear verizon :
what with hurricane irene and all here on the east coast the redbox has been cleaned out and we have to rely on the bull shit that is verizon's flex view. i think we might watch the lincoln lawyer tonight, but we thought we would check out some documentaries just in case we could get edumacated for a change. turns out verizon wants to help us with their brilliant choices for documentaries. behold, the print screen :
move over, you pretenders, indeed. stay dry.
8.23.2011
ruff
let me just start off by saying - these last 10 pounds are totally kicking my ass. losing these last 10 pounds is made more difficult because my children do not like to eat things that are only vegetables. ge likes things like chips and chunk's favorite food is mac and cheese, and my will and power are weak. i am a weak, weak person. plus, i am a person that indulges during stressful times and having 2 children with strong personalities makes things stressful at times. hence, a potato chip here and there more often than not. damn. 10 pounds.
chunky is officially pretty much walking and loving every step. her sleep patterns are a lot like one of those posters where you have to focus your eyes to see the picture - i think they call them optical illusions. she is still stubborn, still loud, and finds hitting people with objects across the face to be a hilarious daytime activity. my favorite thing she does is crawl over to me, stand up, crawl into my lap, and bury her head into my chest. buried deep within her chaos is sweetness. sort of like a cupcake that will burn your mouth when you eat it. a hot, delicious cupcake.
ge is brilliant, controlling, and full of crazy imagination play ideas that are a lot of fun and occasionally confusing. he and his dad play carnival a lot where his dad makes up these crazy "games" that he wins for prizes (random toys from his room), and he often will walk up to me during the afternoon and say, "mom, let's play that game where we stand and then there is a ball and things happen and yay! prizes." so i try to recreate, but mostly i just fail, and he ends the games with, "you're just not good at this like dad." but i am better than him at mario. and cooking. and i am always right - so there. i am pretty sure the little man is finally going through a growth spurt because all he wants to do right now is consume and that is so not like him. who knows - maybe one day he will actually grow into new clothes. for now we are celebrating the cost cut that comes with him being in 3t clothes for another winter. yay for clothes recycle!
we have a busy september coming up and i am filled with the need to clean. my mother-in-law is coming into town over labor day to meet her grand-daughter for the first time and explore philly for the first time. the other grand parents are coming in for chunk's first birthday and we are having a big ass celebration of family goodness proportions. chunk and her cousin share their birth-day and we are going to eat extra cake and food to celebrate. like i said, damn you 10 pounds!
chunky is officially pretty much walking and loving every step. her sleep patterns are a lot like one of those posters where you have to focus your eyes to see the picture - i think they call them optical illusions. she is still stubborn, still loud, and finds hitting people with objects across the face to be a hilarious daytime activity. my favorite thing she does is crawl over to me, stand up, crawl into my lap, and bury her head into my chest. buried deep within her chaos is sweetness. sort of like a cupcake that will burn your mouth when you eat it. a hot, delicious cupcake.
ge is brilliant, controlling, and full of crazy imagination play ideas that are a lot of fun and occasionally confusing. he and his dad play carnival a lot where his dad makes up these crazy "games" that he wins for prizes (random toys from his room), and he often will walk up to me during the afternoon and say, "mom, let's play that game where we stand and then there is a ball and things happen and yay! prizes." so i try to recreate, but mostly i just fail, and he ends the games with, "you're just not good at this like dad." but i am better than him at mario. and cooking. and i am always right - so there. i am pretty sure the little man is finally going through a growth spurt because all he wants to do right now is consume and that is so not like him. who knows - maybe one day he will actually grow into new clothes. for now we are celebrating the cost cut that comes with him being in 3t clothes for another winter. yay for clothes recycle!
we have a busy september coming up and i am filled with the need to clean. my mother-in-law is coming into town over labor day to meet her grand-daughter for the first time and explore philly for the first time. the other grand parents are coming in for chunk's first birthday and we are having a big ass celebration of family goodness proportions. chunk and her cousin share their birth-day and we are going to eat extra cake and food to celebrate. like i said, damn you 10 pounds!
8.05.2011
demands
chunk said her first word round 4:30 am this morning. what was most impressive about chunk's first word was that it was so well crafted that it seemed like her first sentence. she had woken up for her normal early morning hour bottle, one that i usually take her into the kitchen to make, but since her dad was also awake i left her in bed with him so i could navigate the darkness and make the morning bottle with two hands. sweet convenience. i made it roughly three steps out of our bedroom door when, much to my surprise, chunk screamed "MAMA!" and the way she screamed it you could almost see the full sentence of feelings hanging in the air - "you get your bitch ass back here and take me with you or i will make you pay, mama." and i did. because i am terrified of her.
the miniature dictator can pack quite a punch in that little voice of hers. she likes to complain, a lot, and knows how to work a tantrum the second she doesn't get exactly what she wants. she has beautiful dimples that shine through so cutely when she is happy. she loves to shake her head back and forth for comedic effect. she loves to clap her hands and celebrate little moments - especially the ones where she pulls off something evil, like stealing her brother's favorite toys away from him. she is starting to laugh more, still wants to snuggle constantly, and maintains a solid routine that will create a world of chaos if disrupted. she is a challenging baby, but she is so worth every second of it.
this has been a long month + for us. work hasn't especially been kind to the husband and the heat hasn't been kind to the kids and i. it feels like we have been in one giant transition month with the kids learning this or that about themselves and how to manipulate those around them. chunk and ge are very different children and that can, at times, come with a bit of a challenge. ge likes order and structure and chunk likes to destroy those things. ge has to give a lot during the day, so during chunk's naps i set aside special time for us to play trains, read a book, paint, etc. so he gets some time in with me that doesn't involve a giant 10 month old baby smashing and eating everything in sight. we are trying to find a balance, but sometimes that takes time. i guess. i mean, that's what i am hoping.
ge is finally eating. he is still a vegetarian, save for chicken nuggets, but he is actually eating three meals a day and asking for food. he has been such a shitty eater his entire life so it is nice to hear the words, "mom, i am hungry." he can count to 15, knows all of his uppercase letters, is working on his lowercase, knows all of his colors and the basic shapes (we are working on hexa/penta/wtfagons). if you ask him what some words start with (mom, papa, daddy, ball) he can tell you. i was hoping to have him reading soon, but the lowercase letters are really stressing him out for some reason. i don't know if we should have started with those. he works hard on those things and is such a good learner. kiddo has an amazing sense of humor and loves to learn new words and phrases. one of my favorite phrases he says is, "no waaaayyyy!" he often says this after a word or phrase is said that he doesn't know and will be all like, "campaign finance reform, no waaayyyy!"
our days are never boring and our nights are never exciting. most nights by 8 pm i am so exhausted that i am ready to collapse. i love it - i love them. i wouldn't trade these years for anything.
the miniature dictator can pack quite a punch in that little voice of hers. she likes to complain, a lot, and knows how to work a tantrum the second she doesn't get exactly what she wants. she has beautiful dimples that shine through so cutely when she is happy. she loves to shake her head back and forth for comedic effect. she loves to clap her hands and celebrate little moments - especially the ones where she pulls off something evil, like stealing her brother's favorite toys away from him. she is starting to laugh more, still wants to snuggle constantly, and maintains a solid routine that will create a world of chaos if disrupted. she is a challenging baby, but she is so worth every second of it.
this has been a long month + for us. work hasn't especially been kind to the husband and the heat hasn't been kind to the kids and i. it feels like we have been in one giant transition month with the kids learning this or that about themselves and how to manipulate those around them. chunk and ge are very different children and that can, at times, come with a bit of a challenge. ge likes order and structure and chunk likes to destroy those things. ge has to give a lot during the day, so during chunk's naps i set aside special time for us to play trains, read a book, paint, etc. so he gets some time in with me that doesn't involve a giant 10 month old baby smashing and eating everything in sight. we are trying to find a balance, but sometimes that takes time. i guess. i mean, that's what i am hoping.
ge is finally eating. he is still a vegetarian, save for chicken nuggets, but he is actually eating three meals a day and asking for food. he has been such a shitty eater his entire life so it is nice to hear the words, "mom, i am hungry." he can count to 15, knows all of his uppercase letters, is working on his lowercase, knows all of his colors and the basic shapes (we are working on hexa/penta/wtfagons). if you ask him what some words start with (mom, papa, daddy, ball) he can tell you. i was hoping to have him reading soon, but the lowercase letters are really stressing him out for some reason. i don't know if we should have started with those. he works hard on those things and is such a good learner. kiddo has an amazing sense of humor and loves to learn new words and phrases. one of my favorite phrases he says is, "no waaaayyyy!" he often says this after a word or phrase is said that he doesn't know and will be all like, "campaign finance reform, no waaayyyy!"
our days are never boring and our nights are never exciting. most nights by 8 pm i am so exhausted that i am ready to collapse. i love it - i love them. i wouldn't trade these years for anything.
7.15.2011
the sickness.
the today show is the background noise to my mornings. i never really liked it until the last year, but it does a good job of giving me a bit of news, ridiculous pieces to keep me ranting and awake, and a nice solid chance to make fun of ann curry for her horrible fashion choices and her inability to do an interview with absolutely anybody. the way she touches people and the tone of her voice make me so uncomfortable. and, to be honest, i just assume matt lauer is the biggest prick off camera. my mom loves him and i just don't get it. i miss meredith.
anywho, this morning their concert series pick is chris brown. okay, whatever. i wouldn't put him on my show, but what bothers me more is the droves of women, and their many young daughters, that are in the audience celebrating this guy and his shit ass music. i just want to grab them all by the shoulders and scream, "you know he beat the crap out of his girlfriend, right? and as women we shouldn't really scream and cheer for someone like that, right? RIGHT!?" taking abuse is a fracking sickness and we seem to allow it in our culture without even thinking twice. i have been abused and it is awful. i see people like chris brown getting off on the fame that he has and i wish him nothing but the worst in life. there is no repentance, there should be no fame after that. and, just so you know, the same goes for women abusers, too. don't even get me started on the fact that i heard there are men sending casey anthony money in prison. that is disgusting.
and, by the way, chris brown has still been running all over the place slinging homophobic slurs and hatred on his douche bag tour of daily celebrity status. you may like a persons music, but we need to learn to turn on back on people that make bad life decisions. our nation needs to go to the betty ford clinic to figure out how to stop enabling celebrities. i am just so tired of it.
chunk didn't sleep last night. no, that's not why i am pissy (i would have been anyway), but still - she is evil. she is crawling and cruising and getting into absolutely everything she can. i think that her brain is spinning in over drive trying to figure out how to walk and that is resulting in only stress inducing insanity moments for me. she is just so intense right now and she refuses to sleep. i have had 5 hours of sleep in 2 days and today is house cleaning day and i am starting to look at the walls of my home as if they are made from the worst things this world has to offer. like chris brown is pictured in every corner of my home. ugh. the sickness.
on a positive note ge is still cute. and he is trying really hard to help me with chunk. i decided to start walking at night and i feel so much better. the last 2 nights the moon has been beautiful and full. wednesday i walked 4 and a half miles and listened to american gods by neil gaiman, last night i walked about 4 and a half miles again while listening to mumford and sons, kings of leon, and hanggai. there is a route that is a steady climb up a hill right by the golf course and i am enjoying the pain it is putting into my legs. i feel so much better getting out of the house again. i make dinner, do the dishes, and then push myself out the door. once i am in the cool of the night my ipod starts dripping sweet voices into my step and i propelled forward into a healthier and happier me. good things.
7.14.2011
food!
This weekend I decided to have an indoor picnick. Well, actually, I decided to make potato salad and (baked) fried chicken and pretend like it wasn’t completely bad for me. Somehow rationalizing that meal with the thought of a checkered table cloth made enjoyment possible. That and I have already blown my diet up completely the last few weeks because of reasons that would make most men go all “ewww gross, don’t talk about that very natural thing that happens with women because we are children.” Yeah, who would have known that after I stopped breastfeeding (we made it 9 months, WOOT!) my body would decide that I needed 2 months worth of a reminder of what I had missed during my pregnancy and my awesome food making body time. To say I am angry and over it is an understatement.
But I digress.
Potato Salad is delicious. I love mayo, I love potatoes, I love onions and eggs and indulging. I adapted my own take on a very good recipe by Ina Garten.
3 ish lbs red potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 ish lbs red potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
Salt and Peppah
1/2 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped red onion
6 Hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
Salt and Peppah
1/2 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped red onion
6 Hard boiled eggs
Place the potatoes along with some salt in a large pot of water. I like to add a bit (like a tbs or 2) of apple cider vinegar because I am convinced it makes them mo bettah. Boil the potatoes until you are happy with them (I personally like mine a little mooshy, but you might not). This should all take about 15 – 20 minutes. Pierce them with a fork to check for doneness.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, dill, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of peppah. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, dill, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of peppah. Set aside.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into a size that fits your potato salad needs. Place the cut potatoes in a large bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, pour enough dressing over them to moisten. Add the celery and red onion, and chopped up eggs. Salt and Peppah to taste. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold or at room temperature.
I served this delicious potato salad with The Neely’s Buttermilk Baked Chicken. The only changes I made to the chicken recipe were that I used bone-in split breasts (they were huge, juicy, and delicious! I am not much of a chicken pieces kind of person and I hate dark meat), I soaked them in a buttermilk mixture for 24 hours, and I added some extra spices to the cornflake / cheese mixture. This chicken turned out so dang delicious. I had never soaked chicken in buttermilk before and now I will do it as often as possible. The husband liked this chicken more than he likes my roasted chicken, which is a lot. Like, a whole lot. Faboosh.
7.11.2011
over-drive
i am currently, for the first time ever, in the middle of watching every wonderful episode of grey's anatomy; it plays daily on lifetime and i have to often ask myself why in the world i never watched it before. and i go to thank the god's of television for women for bringing this to me and then a commercial for "dance mom's" come on and i am left with a very - bad! bad lifetime! kind of feeling.
if you don't know what i am talking about, be disgusted over here
i love reality tv. i love the jersey shore. i am all for trashy people getting drunk and making stupid decisions for the benefit of my amusement. i am all for those things because they are completely mindless shows in a life full of stress. i watch a lot of really bad television and i refuse to apologize for that. but dance mom's!? dance freaking moms!?!?! these women are horrible mothers. awful. to make money off of watching some nasty bitch scream at your kids is beyond bad parenting. it is bottom barrel scum sucking bad. i get that kids need encouragement and if they want to be dancers they need training, but there are dance coaches out there that can actually dance with your kids and won't be all screamy nasty mean face bitch like. gar. besides - kids don't belong on reality tv. assholes.
i hold the same issue with toddlers and tiaras, but on a grander scale. those women should be locked up and their adorable little brats should be retrained to know that 3 year olds shouldn't be drinking red bull so mommy can live out her twisted fantasy of being miss america. to me it really appears as if those crazy mothers want their daughters to grow up to be scantily clad head fucks, because that's where they are headed. little girls shouldn't be booty dancing in short shorts in front of a panel of judges for a cash prize of a thousand dollars - that's called stripping. and no, your 2 year old didn't want to to pageants, you did. and now your 8 year old thinks that the only thing that matters about her is her divatude, her trophies, and her ability to pull off showing her spray tan by showing as much skin as possible. you don't deserve children, ladies. hell, you don't even deserve a puppy.
i look at chunk and the thought of doing anything like that to her makes me physically ill. we are over-sexing our little girls at younger and younger ages. i never thought i would be such a prude, but i am. i want my baby daughter to be a baby, and then a little girl (a loooong stretch of that), and then a teenager. i want her to be innocent and adorable for as long as possible. i never want her to be one of those little girls i see walking around the mall in clothes that are barely fit for a night club. seriously! where the fuck are their parents!? how do you let your 12 year old wear a miniskirt? how do you look at that little girl and say, yep! you look like every skeavy guy in the mall is going to look at you like a tiger looks at a steak - good for you! have fun with your friends! NO. bad parents. BAD.
i know i won't be able to keep her from the grips of the katy perry's, keshas, and lady gaga's, but i will teach my daughter that not looking like them is more about self respect. i think that a lot of american's are obsessed with the royal couple right now because they are a refreshing change of pace from the "role models" our children have. that cathrine is a beautiful young woman with such grace and class. that is the kind of young lady i would love chunk to be. i would love for her to know that she can be beautiful without showing every inch of her skin. i would love for her to know that, as a female, she has more power in her mind than in her body. i would love for her to respect herself and have pride. i know that there is a lot going against me, but i am hoping just being honest with her and always talking with her will help her understand why i don't think that strapping on a meat suit and / or singing about one night stands in high school and / or just selling off any amount of self respect you have for a dollar are good options.
and as i finish this female centered post i look up into my tabs and the story i am in the middle of reading is "michele bachmann leads iowa race" and suddenly i think - mebbe meat suits have their good qualities. ugh.
if you don't know what i am talking about, be disgusted over here
i love reality tv. i love the jersey shore. i am all for trashy people getting drunk and making stupid decisions for the benefit of my amusement. i am all for those things because they are completely mindless shows in a life full of stress. i watch a lot of really bad television and i refuse to apologize for that. but dance mom's!? dance freaking moms!?!?! these women are horrible mothers. awful. to make money off of watching some nasty bitch scream at your kids is beyond bad parenting. it is bottom barrel scum sucking bad. i get that kids need encouragement and if they want to be dancers they need training, but there are dance coaches out there that can actually dance with your kids and won't be all screamy nasty mean face bitch like. gar. besides - kids don't belong on reality tv. assholes.
i hold the same issue with toddlers and tiaras, but on a grander scale. those women should be locked up and their adorable little brats should be retrained to know that 3 year olds shouldn't be drinking red bull so mommy can live out her twisted fantasy of being miss america. to me it really appears as if those crazy mothers want their daughters to grow up to be scantily clad head fucks, because that's where they are headed. little girls shouldn't be booty dancing in short shorts in front of a panel of judges for a cash prize of a thousand dollars - that's called stripping. and no, your 2 year old didn't want to to pageants, you did. and now your 8 year old thinks that the only thing that matters about her is her divatude, her trophies, and her ability to pull off showing her spray tan by showing as much skin as possible. you don't deserve children, ladies. hell, you don't even deserve a puppy.
i look at chunk and the thought of doing anything like that to her makes me physically ill. we are over-sexing our little girls at younger and younger ages. i never thought i would be such a prude, but i am. i want my baby daughter to be a baby, and then a little girl (a loooong stretch of that), and then a teenager. i want her to be innocent and adorable for as long as possible. i never want her to be one of those little girls i see walking around the mall in clothes that are barely fit for a night club. seriously! where the fuck are their parents!? how do you let your 12 year old wear a miniskirt? how do you look at that little girl and say, yep! you look like every skeavy guy in the mall is going to look at you like a tiger looks at a steak - good for you! have fun with your friends! NO. bad parents. BAD.
i know i won't be able to keep her from the grips of the katy perry's, keshas, and lady gaga's, but i will teach my daughter that not looking like them is more about self respect. i think that a lot of american's are obsessed with the royal couple right now because they are a refreshing change of pace from the "role models" our children have. that cathrine is a beautiful young woman with such grace and class. that is the kind of young lady i would love chunk to be. i would love for her to know that she can be beautiful without showing every inch of her skin. i would love for her to know that, as a female, she has more power in her mind than in her body. i would love for her to respect herself and have pride. i know that there is a lot going against me, but i am hoping just being honest with her and always talking with her will help her understand why i don't think that strapping on a meat suit and / or singing about one night stands in high school and / or just selling off any amount of self respect you have for a dollar are good options.
and as i finish this female centered post i look up into my tabs and the story i am in the middle of reading is "michele bachmann leads iowa race" and suddenly i think - mebbe meat suits have their good qualities. ugh.
7.06.2011
tell us what we want, we'll believe it
ge switched from watching nick jr to sprout tv. i would explain why, but the title of that blog would be more like, "every single cable company out there will fuck you over, so just choose the one that costs the least and quit your bitching." or, something like that. sprout tv is different from nick jr because they have active commercials geared towards reducing the amount of money in my bank account. ge's current favorite is for aquafresh toothpaste. the commercial has little happy toothpaste thingies dancing all around in their red, white, and blue toothpaste attitude glory. and so yesterday i bought it for him, because i am the type of mom who buys her child a lot of the things he desires and, well, it's toothpaste. if that breaks the bank we are screwed.
last night when we went to brush his teeth i was super excited to see if he loved his new toothpaste, but he told me that we were not to use the new toothpaste. we are not to break into the new toothpaste until his old toothpaste is completely gone. some days i think ge is just like me, yesterday he was not.
today i opened up his new toothpaste because i personally cannot leave new things wrapped for more than, oh, a second. the toothpaste smells like bubble gum happiness and when i asked him to smell it he smiled, sniffed the delicious scent and exclaimed,
"it smells like happy toothpaste!"
and all this time our old toothpaste was an angry dick. lame.
last night when we went to brush his teeth i was super excited to see if he loved his new toothpaste, but he told me that we were not to use the new toothpaste. we are not to break into the new toothpaste until his old toothpaste is completely gone. some days i think ge is just like me, yesterday he was not.
today i opened up his new toothpaste because i personally cannot leave new things wrapped for more than, oh, a second. the toothpaste smells like bubble gum happiness and when i asked him to smell it he smiled, sniffed the delicious scent and exclaimed,
"it smells like happy toothpaste!"
and all this time our old toothpaste was an angry dick. lame.
7.01.2011
no blog til sleeping
i know that i have been seriously lagging on my blog updates as of late, but i have a really good excuse :
having two kids this age is freaking hard.
i wrote up a post last weekend, but i never got around to finishing it and now it is just sitting in draft status all lonely without it's ending paragraph(s). i was going to finish it, but chunk is a lighting quick crawler, and also a 3 am riser, and by the time they go to bed i am so exhausted that i can no longer form sentences. hell, i can barely move my fingers by 8 oclock. but i do, because that's when i make dinner. and then dishes. and by 9 it is finally time for me to sit down and blogging sounds stupid. stupid, stupid, stupid.
the kids aredriving me crazy doing great! chunk is a crawler, and is working on being a stander as well. the other day she stood up on her own by pushing off a teeny box and i thought it was going to go really badly, but by the time i got around to almost intervening she was safely down on her bum and she still had all of her eyes and toes. ge is insane and 3. he is really, really good at being 3. we have had a lot of activities for him lately to keep him busy and it seems to help him from not going crazy and speaking in tongues. they are both playing in ge's room happily together these days, which helps me do things like vacuum and make sure that the dishes we own aren't covered in gross. their ages may be hard at the moment, but i know in the next few months it will get a bit more easy.
the husband, the amazing husband, killed his fiscal year end at work and had a real live smile on his face when he came home from yet another 14 hour day at work last night. he threw himself into making june his month and he succeeded. we miss him, though, and i am so happy he is home for a 3 day weekend. we are going to go to the farmer's market, light of some cheap fireworks, and have a movie night with ge. should be a wonderful weekend. plus, backup! huzzah for backup!
i am going to try and blog more in july. i keep this blog for my kids so i really want to stay more updated on it. eventually a lot of the entries will make their way into book form so i can tell my children howawful wonderful and fun they were when they were little. time really does fly by with kids and this here word thingie helps me slow down and remember all of the moments we have.
having two kids this age is freaking hard.
i wrote up a post last weekend, but i never got around to finishing it and now it is just sitting in draft status all lonely without it's ending paragraph(s). i was going to finish it, but chunk is a lighting quick crawler, and also a 3 am riser, and by the time they go to bed i am so exhausted that i can no longer form sentences. hell, i can barely move my fingers by 8 oclock. but i do, because that's when i make dinner. and then dishes. and by 9 it is finally time for me to sit down and blogging sounds stupid. stupid, stupid, stupid.
the kids are
the husband, the amazing husband, killed his fiscal year end at work and had a real live smile on his face when he came home from yet another 14 hour day at work last night. he threw himself into making june his month and he succeeded. we miss him, though, and i am so happy he is home for a 3 day weekend. we are going to go to the farmer's market, light of some cheap fireworks, and have a movie night with ge. should be a wonderful weekend. plus, backup! huzzah for backup!
i am going to try and blog more in july. i keep this blog for my kids so i really want to stay more updated on it. eventually a lot of the entries will make their way into book form so i can tell my children how
6.25.2011
no need to convince me
i don't need the excruciating 24 hours of labor followed by an emergency c-section to convince me that ge is my son because this morning he said this :
"mom, butter is my best food."
fact.
6.24.2011
captain control
have i mentioned before that my 3 year old is controlling? well, he is. he is the leader of the bossy cow gang. the captain of control. the handler of all things decision. he has advanced far enough in his need to control all that is around him that he has decided it is he alone who decides people's favorite colors. mostly he has decided that he alone has the power to decide his daddy's favorite color. and so it often goes like this :
"what is daddy's favorite color?" "brown." "but daddy's favorite color is green." "no, it's brown. it can only be brown."
but a few weeks ago he shot out of left field and, for 48 hours, daddy's favorite color was green. i should mention that we talk about colors so much because ge loves to remind us that his favorite color is blue. blue is everything awesome. he will not take his vitamin unless it is blue. he likes to point out blue things and remind us that it is his favorite color. and he loves to remind me that green is my favorite color. that's right. i own green, perhaps he is just looking out for my best interests. he knows that daddy is my bitch. but i digress.
so for those 48 hours ge allowed his dad to make his own choices. did he love green? sure dad! develop a sense of control in this relationship because in 2 days time i am going to smack you down and remind you that i own your choices! me! and he did. and the conversation went a lot like this :
"look. this is green. and green is my favorite color!" (very seriously) "no, daddy, brown is your favorite color." "but, but, you said it was green." "nope, it's brown. brown is your favorite color."
and just like that, it was decided. and ge went back to micromanaging our personal choices and decisions. and he loves to remind us that it is he who decides.
it's like we always say - he is going to make some girl with low self esteem very happy one day, and then sad, and then happy again.
"what is daddy's favorite color?" "brown." "but daddy's favorite color is green." "no, it's brown. it can only be brown."
but a few weeks ago he shot out of left field and, for 48 hours, daddy's favorite color was green. i should mention that we talk about colors so much because ge loves to remind us that his favorite color is blue. blue is everything awesome. he will not take his vitamin unless it is blue. he likes to point out blue things and remind us that it is his favorite color. and he loves to remind me that green is my favorite color. that's right. i own green, perhaps he is just looking out for my best interests. he knows that daddy is my bitch. but i digress.
so for those 48 hours ge allowed his dad to make his own choices. did he love green? sure dad! develop a sense of control in this relationship because in 2 days time i am going to smack you down and remind you that i own your choices! me! and he did. and the conversation went a lot like this :
"look. this is green. and green is my favorite color!" (very seriously) "no, daddy, brown is your favorite color." "but, but, you said it was green." "nope, it's brown. brown is your favorite color."
and just like that, it was decided. and ge went back to micromanaging our personal choices and decisions. and he loves to remind us that it is he who decides.
it's like we always say - he is going to make some girl with low self esteem very happy one day, and then sad, and then happy again.
6.23.2011
i am so not dad
the kids and i are playing in ge's room with his giant basket of balls. he decides to make a game of the activity. you have to put a hand on your head and then place the ball on your head so it rolls down a certain way. i do as he asks, but apparently i do it wrong because he scolds my actions and repeats the steps. i do it again, fail again, and an exacerbated ge takes the ball from me and says,
"mom, we're going to have to play another game because you're just not good at this one."
"mom, we're going to have to play another game because you're just not good at this one."
so far
11 : 27 am
chunk's 2nd meal of the day. the same apples she had yesterday - today she refuses to eat them. fickle baby. i think she just wanted to eat her fake cheetos.
i have already had this conversation - "look mom, i can lick my window!" "ugh, no, please don't lick your window." "why mom? i have an awesome tongue!"
1 of 2 baby naps has been taken. 1 lean cuisine has been quickly had for breakfast. dancing. singing. reading. toy box (a.k.a. my house) is .13% cleaned. this life is so far from glamorous.
i need a recipe for a low fat high delicious apple pie / cobbler thingie that can satiate my need for a pie without giving me 40% of the saturated fat i need for the day. i don't even like sweet things that much, but dieting is killing me and for some reason i think i want all the cookies and cake in the world. i don't. i really don't think i do. i just need to know that they still exist.
chunk's 2nd meal of the day. the same apples she had yesterday - today she refuses to eat them. fickle baby. i think she just wanted to eat her fake cheetos.
i have already had this conversation - "look mom, i can lick my window!" "ugh, no, please don't lick your window." "why mom? i have an awesome tongue!"
1 of 2 baby naps has been taken. 1 lean cuisine has been quickly had for breakfast. dancing. singing. reading. toy box (a.k.a. my house) is .13% cleaned. this life is so far from glamorous.
i need a recipe for a low fat high delicious apple pie / cobbler thingie that can satiate my need for a pie without giving me 40% of the saturated fat i need for the day. i don't even like sweet things that much, but dieting is killing me and for some reason i think i want all the cookies and cake in the world. i don't. i really don't think i do. i just need to know that they still exist.
6.22.2011
9 months of chunk
Little Charli,
I can’t believe you are 9 months old. I can’t believe that time has gone as quickly as it has, and I am still pretty angry that I can’t seem to slow it down. I am terrified that I am going to wake up tomorrow and you are going to be 18 with a boyfriend I hate and an attitude matched to yours right now – an attitude that I have now named divatude. You are just sooo opinionated. Most of the time you are screaming because you want to go play in your brother’s room, you love playing with him and all of his cool big kid toys. The two of you have really developed a relationship over the last week. Yesterday you sat in his room and watched Sesame Street and played his drum while he draped you in blankets; I could hear the two of you giggling and it brought tears to my eyes. I know I have said it before, but that little boy loves you, and I know he always will.
You love your Eggo Waffles for breakfast, a fruit or veggie puree for lunch, and a cereal for dinner. You, my beautiful little girl, are a creature of habit. Long nap in the morning, short nap mid afternoon, and bath and bed at 8; you will not let your dad put you down for a nap and you hate when I try and put you down at night. See? Opinionated. You almost always have a smile when you are being talked to, even if it is a stranger that is shoving their face in yours, which happens a lot. You and your brother get so much attention that it drives me crazy sometimes, especially when we are in a hurry. Little old ladies just flock to touch your fat little feet and tell me what a precious little girl you are – and they are right.
This week you started clapping, and what I love most about that is that you started clapping for two reasons. The first reason is, “yaaaaaay!” as in, “mom! I touched this button and my kitchen light went on and it is singing me songs now – yaaaaaay!” The second reason is, “now!” as in, “mom! I am on the ground and I don’t know words but pick me up now or I will throw a tantrum!” Both of these reasons are wonderful and delightful and you always have a smile on your face while you are clapping. Poor little girl, you are still stuck in reverse, but you can stand by yourself while holding things and you can get to sitting from crawl. You want to be mobile so badly, but you just can’t figure it out. Honestly, I am so sick of getting screamed at, and my arms are so tired from carrying your giant babyness around, that I too hope you figure it out soon. I thought I was going to be nervous about you walking, but really I think I want you to as much as you do.
I hear the words, “that’s a healthy baby” a lot. And you are. You are a giant, happy, and healthy baby. You are wearing clothes that your brother fit into last year. We visited your doctor today and he said my favorite thing to hear from a doctor, “She’s perfect. Keep doing what you’re doing.” The nurse measured your head while you were lying on the table and went to measure it again thinking that she must have got the measurement wrong, I laughed and said, “nope, she just has a giant head like her Dad.” It’s true, you also have his love for cheese, his allergy to the sun (you sneeze every time you see the sun), and his amazing smile. Your 9 months stats are – weight : 21.8 pounds (90%) height : 28.5 inches (93%) head : 19.25 inches (97%!).
You may have a giant head, you may scream at me in demanding ways, you may take poops that literally overflow your diaper and lead me to cleaning the carpets, and you may make crazy growling noises at me, but you are beautiful and you are life changing and you and your brother have been the most amazing blessings I have had in my entire life. You keep us all laughing and when you are in that moment, claiming the center of attention that you and your brother fight for, you clap your hands and look up at us with those big blue eyes and we would do anything in the world for you. You constantly amaze me and fill me with pride and love and unicorns and rainbows. Our tagline for you is, “I’m Charli and I’m just happy to be here” because when you are happy, you are just sooo happy. We are all just happy you are here, too. Thank you for an amazing nine months, I can’t wait to see where you go next.
Love,
Mama
6.20.2011
all the noise, noise, noise, noise
something about it being hotter outside makes me not able to blog. that and the screaming 9 month old that won't let me put or her down. the same one that thinks i am an idiot for not understanding what she needs when she throws up her divatude every 120 seconds. she is so the opposite of ge, who was a nice baby.
we had a wonderful father's day weekend. we celebrated the weekend by doing a lot of nothing. saturday the husband took the kids off of my hands so i could spend 7 hours cleaning the house. hoorah! yesterday the husband got his presents and ge unwrapped them all, telling him what he was getting as the process went down. ge doesn't necessarily understand the word "surprise". books, a tie, comfy shorts, an i <3 my baby daddy cross stitch, and a "world's coolest dad" shirt courtesy of walmart - quite possibly the coolest shirt you could ever get for $5.64. the husband loved all of it, and he loved his day. we left the house to buy beer and steaks and then spent the remainder running around like crazy people playing basketball in ge's room and laughing until our sides hurt. we could have been a hallmark television special yesterday.
and now it is monday. and chunk woke up screaming at 4:30 and has a belly ache and my hallmark special has just turned into some sad indie flick or something like a horror film, but without that creepy doctor that you think you could trust but it turns out he is murdering everyone in the town and that crazy guy down the street knows, but you didn't believe him and now, well now it may be too late. something like that. i am praying to mark wahlberg that we are going to have a better week than last week, which sucked. hard.
it's funny, i had this post all written up about how everything had been so stressy and i finally felt like i was getting on top of this whole 2 demanding kids and 1 dirty house day in and day out thing and they saw me relaxing a bit and pulled the rug out from underneath my feet. being a stay at home mom can be so difficult sometimes. my bosses are unreasonable and they scream at me for no reason. and one of them doesn't even know words and she is the one that screams at me the most. i am hoping that we pass this little block in the road soon because it might turn into a movie a lot more like girl interrupted.
we had a wonderful father's day weekend. we celebrated the weekend by doing a lot of nothing. saturday the husband took the kids off of my hands so i could spend 7 hours cleaning the house. hoorah! yesterday the husband got his presents and ge unwrapped them all, telling him what he was getting as the process went down. ge doesn't necessarily understand the word "surprise". books, a tie, comfy shorts, an i <3 my baby daddy cross stitch, and a "world's coolest dad" shirt courtesy of walmart - quite possibly the coolest shirt you could ever get for $5.64. the husband loved all of it, and he loved his day. we left the house to buy beer and steaks and then spent the remainder running around like crazy people playing basketball in ge's room and laughing until our sides hurt. we could have been a hallmark television special yesterday.
and now it is monday. and chunk woke up screaming at 4:30 and has a belly ache and my hallmark special has just turned into some sad indie flick or something like a horror film, but without that creepy doctor that you think you could trust but it turns out he is murdering everyone in the town and that crazy guy down the street knows, but you didn't believe him and now, well now it may be too late. something like that. i am praying to mark wahlberg that we are going to have a better week than last week, which sucked. hard.
it's funny, i had this post all written up about how everything had been so stressy and i finally felt like i was getting on top of this whole 2 demanding kids and 1 dirty house day in and day out thing and they saw me relaxing a bit and pulled the rug out from underneath my feet. being a stay at home mom can be so difficult sometimes. my bosses are unreasonable and they scream at me for no reason. and one of them doesn't even know words and she is the one that screams at me the most. i am hoping that we pass this little block in the road soon because it might turn into a movie a lot more like girl interrupted.
6.14.2011
firsts
today i was inaugurated into a very special parental club. the kind of parental club where other parents who have experienced this situation look at you with pity, and the ones who haven't look at you with concern / disgust / judgyness. ge gave me the chance to carry him out of the zoo, kicking and screaming, all while i tried to hold my smile on my face and not breakdown due to the overwhelming sense of embarrassment that i felt. oh, the fun you can have on a tuesday morning.
this all began as innocent as could be. an hour and someish into our zoo experience we had seen most of the animals, played at the park, laughed and had fun. over by the wood turtle that you can stick your head into to pretend to be a turtle, something that ge loves to do, i asked him to put his head in and we would take a picture for daddy. ge said no, with a smile. and so, i though, this would be a good time to offer him some ice cream in return for his smile. bad idea. worst. idea. ever.
this is the point in the day when my beautiful, cheerful little boy turned into a demonic, evil little monster child that decided to scream, and scream, and scream some more. no, he would not be taking that picture, but yes, he wanted that ice cream. and what do you mean that i don't get everything i want and don't get to act out like a crazy person when i don't get it. so he became stuck next to that turtle. screaming and carrying on and being completely unreasonable. he didn't want me to leave the turtle, but he didn't want to do anything by it, either. and so i picked him up and carried him out. i also had to drag him by his hand a few times, and keep him from trying to push the stroller backwards. such fun! and it's only tuesday! other words!
we drove home, ge screaming the entire way, and when we got here he calmed. i took him directly upstairs, turned on sesame street, and walked away for some minutes so we could both think about the next move. i calmly walked into his room, sat on his bed, and we discussed the events. we both agreed that his behavior was unacceptable. we both agreed that mac and cheese would make for a delicious lunch and that we would try the zoo again another time. and as i got up to make his lunch, he wrapped his arms around me and told me he was sorry.
mom shoots. she scores. she wins the battle!! crowd goes wiillllllld!!
that moment confirmed to me that i am pretty good at this being a mom job. i never flipped out during the entire time. i stayed calm, i carried that embarrassment and that screaming ge with my head held high. when we got in the car i turned on music and i listened to that and drowned out the screams. i never folded. i never fought back. i taught him that his screams were ineffective and were not going to get me. and they didn't. and in that moment where he hugged me and said that sweet little apology, i was filled to the brim with pride for both myself, and for him. and i have to spot the kid, he can throw one hell of a tantrum.
this all began as innocent as could be. an hour and someish into our zoo experience we had seen most of the animals, played at the park, laughed and had fun. over by the wood turtle that you can stick your head into to pretend to be a turtle, something that ge loves to do, i asked him to put his head in and we would take a picture for daddy. ge said no, with a smile. and so, i though, this would be a good time to offer him some ice cream in return for his smile. bad idea. worst. idea. ever.
this is the point in the day when my beautiful, cheerful little boy turned into a demonic, evil little monster child that decided to scream, and scream, and scream some more. no, he would not be taking that picture, but yes, he wanted that ice cream. and what do you mean that i don't get everything i want and don't get to act out like a crazy person when i don't get it. so he became stuck next to that turtle. screaming and carrying on and being completely unreasonable. he didn't want me to leave the turtle, but he didn't want to do anything by it, either. and so i picked him up and carried him out. i also had to drag him by his hand a few times, and keep him from trying to push the stroller backwards. such fun! and it's only tuesday! other words!
we drove home, ge screaming the entire way, and when we got here he calmed. i took him directly upstairs, turned on sesame street, and walked away for some minutes so we could both think about the next move. i calmly walked into his room, sat on his bed, and we discussed the events. we both agreed that his behavior was unacceptable. we both agreed that mac and cheese would make for a delicious lunch and that we would try the zoo again another time. and as i got up to make his lunch, he wrapped his arms around me and told me he was sorry.
mom shoots. she scores. she wins the battle!! crowd goes wiillllllld!!
that moment confirmed to me that i am pretty good at this being a mom job. i never flipped out during the entire time. i stayed calm, i carried that embarrassment and that screaming ge with my head held high. when we got in the car i turned on music and i listened to that and drowned out the screams. i never folded. i never fought back. i taught him that his screams were ineffective and were not going to get me. and they didn't. and in that moment where he hugged me and said that sweet little apology, i was filled to the brim with pride for both myself, and for him. and i have to spot the kid, he can throw one hell of a tantrum.
6.13.2011
acktivitees
today i found myself completely inspired by counting on me to make a list of new adventures that ge and i could go about accomplishing this summer. i tried to modify her list, but gave up after a while. her list was perfect for a toddler, and even for a normal child, but ge is anything but normal and he makes creating days incredibly difficult. i literally laughed out loud when i read the dress up in mom and dad's clothes idea. if i tried to get ge to play dress up he would slap me back down to size reality with a comment that would most surely be, "mom, those aren't my clothes. i am not a growed up. i won't put those clothes on. put dad's clothes back, mom"
but i love the idea. and i now have a resolution to create a new day and share an activity with ge for four of the five days that we share while daddy is at work. i would say five, but mama needs her cleaning day and so does the house. and so, inspired me took the kids out for a walk to the river today. we are spoiled to live right next to the beauty that we do. i so often forgo taking advantage of being able to walk out of our door and be in the most beautiful area i have ever seen, and counting on me reminded me to stop shutting myself in. tomorrow we are getting up and heading to the zoo to visit the animals. one of these days i would like to pretend that i am crafty, again.
it's funny, i steal people's craft ideas at least once a week in hopes that i, too, might become a crafty person, but i am not. i know ge doesn't know, and is unable to judge me, but that is one of those chicky things i get down on myself for sometimes. i have such respect for you crafty women out there. ge is quickly getting better than me at all of that stuff and i am sure one day he is going to rip the glue gun out of my hand, bitch slap me, and tell me to step aside while he makes the crafts his bitch. you think that is crazy talk? spend five minutes with the kid ... you'll be scared of him, too.
but i love the idea. and i now have a resolution to create a new day and share an activity with ge for four of the five days that we share while daddy is at work. i would say five, but mama needs her cleaning day and so does the house. and so, inspired me took the kids out for a walk to the river today. we are spoiled to live right next to the beauty that we do. i so often forgo taking advantage of being able to walk out of our door and be in the most beautiful area i have ever seen, and counting on me reminded me to stop shutting myself in. tomorrow we are getting up and heading to the zoo to visit the animals. one of these days i would like to pretend that i am crafty, again.
it's funny, i steal people's craft ideas at least once a week in hopes that i, too, might become a crafty person, but i am not. i know ge doesn't know, and is unable to judge me, but that is one of those chicky things i get down on myself for sometimes. i have such respect for you crafty women out there. ge is quickly getting better than me at all of that stuff and i am sure one day he is going to rip the glue gun out of my hand, bitch slap me, and tell me to step aside while he makes the crafts his bitch. you think that is crazy talk? spend five minutes with the kid ... you'll be scared of him, too.
schuykill river trail
our personal clover field
ge's favorite stream
6.12.2011
holy crap!
dear diary,
charli slept until 9 am this morning. i don't know who to thank, but i am so incredibly thankful.
love,
kerry
charli slept until 9 am this morning. i don't know who to thank, but i am so incredibly thankful.
love,
kerry
6.11.2011
today was the day
every once in a while one of those days comes along that redefines perfection - today was that day for my little family. the last 3 + weeks we have been in a funk. my cooking has suffered, husband's work has suffered, the kids have been miserable in the heat; it just hasn't be noteworthy in so long that i think we started to give up. and today, today we didn't even try to turn it around, but it naturally fell into place and today i am so grateful, because i needed that ... we needed that.
the kids loved the phillies game. when we first got there it started to rain, heavy rain, but the clouds parted and our seats stayed dry. ge was worried at first, but he quickly warmed when the players and the sun came out. we got a game, a good game. we left during the top of the 7th after the score reached 4 - 1, phillies. a perfect time to leave because when we came home the kids were bathed and happily put to bed and the husband and i ordered ufc 131. (phillies over cubs, 7 - 1 in the end.)
my husband and i, we work together for so many reasons. the most important, and cliche reason, is that we are best friends. we are, best friends. we share passions, and when we don't we remain involved no matter what. we share a love for ufc and it energizes us and brings us to a great place. tonight we were not going to order the fights, but we did, and we made the right decision. tonight has been nothing but conversation and smiles and my jaw bones are sore from the happiness that today has brought. this has been one of those days where i feel lucky, and these days are the moments i carry because i know we will always be back here no matter what.
this is the day i have needed for weeks. today makes all of the previous day's tears worth it. this life, this life is beautiful. i thank my husband and my kids. i thank my family. i thank the east coast. i thank my sister, my friends, my mother, and every good person i have had the opportunity to meet. i thank the bad times, because without them, i would have never known good. i am just thankful.
cheesy? yes. but i would write it again, and again.
the kids loved the phillies game. when we first got there it started to rain, heavy rain, but the clouds parted and our seats stayed dry. ge was worried at first, but he quickly warmed when the players and the sun came out. we got a game, a good game. we left during the top of the 7th after the score reached 4 - 1, phillies. a perfect time to leave because when we came home the kids were bathed and happily put to bed and the husband and i ordered ufc 131. (phillies over cubs, 7 - 1 in the end.)
my husband and i, we work together for so many reasons. the most important, and cliche reason, is that we are best friends. we are, best friends. we share passions, and when we don't we remain involved no matter what. we share a love for ufc and it energizes us and brings us to a great place. tonight we were not going to order the fights, but we did, and we made the right decision. tonight has been nothing but conversation and smiles and my jaw bones are sore from the happiness that today has brought. this has been one of those days where i feel lucky, and these days are the moments i carry because i know we will always be back here no matter what.
this is the day i have needed for weeks. today makes all of the previous day's tears worth it. this life, this life is beautiful. i thank my husband and my kids. i thank my family. i thank the east coast. i thank my sister, my friends, my mother, and every good person i have had the opportunity to meet. i thank the bad times, because without them, i would have never known good. i am just thankful.
cheesy? yes. but i would write it again, and again.
6.10.2011
and then there was loud
her royal fatness, princess of cupcakes has decided that she doesn't want to be my sweet little baby any longer. she has decided that she would like to scream at me, often. the poor girl is teething, angry at the heat, and stuck in reverse. she wants to be on the floor so badly to crawl, but winds up pushing herself backwards every time and having a nervous freaking breakdown because she cannot figure out how to move forward. i never had this problem with ge; his problems were always solvable. he never just sat and screamed at me.
i feel bad for the chunkers, but it is honestly stressful to be screamed at and not know how to fix it. even when ge teethed he just wanted a cuddle and would stop screaming. i remember this being a tough age for ge in terms of becoming a toddler instead of a baby, but i don't remember it being this tough. and she is so big. carrying around a 26 pound sack of angry baby potatoes that screams at you while it's hotter than hell outside is not my idea of a fun day, but it seems to be the norm this week. my arms hurt, i am super tired, and obviously i am super complainey. i think if chunk was my mom i would probably be screaming at her, too.
i feel bad for the chunkers, but it is honestly stressful to be screamed at and not know how to fix it. even when ge teethed he just wanted a cuddle and would stop screaming. i remember this being a tough age for ge in terms of becoming a toddler instead of a baby, but i don't remember it being this tough. and she is so big. carrying around a 26 pound sack of angry baby potatoes that screams at you while it's hotter than hell outside is not my idea of a fun day, but it seems to be the norm this week. my arms hurt, i am super tired, and obviously i am super complainey. i think if chunk was my mom i would probably be screaming at her, too.
turkey meatloaf goodness
i know that what i am about to tell you to cook immediately may sound crazy, but seriously ... put it into the oven for dinner, soon. kids will love it, grandma's will love it, people who love meatloaf so much that they would cry for it (that's me!) but want to be healthy will LOVE it! adapted as a hybrid of my grandma's meatloaf (my fav) and this recipe.
2 lbs ground turkey
1 box o' stove top (unprepared)
1 egg white, one whole egg
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 packet meatloaf seasoning
splash (about an 1/8 cup) of milk
minced garlick (i like a lot, you might not!)
1/4 to 1/2 an onion, chopped up all nice like
salt, pepper
mix that all together, divide it up into a muffin pan that has been sprayed with non stick goodness.
wait, we're not done!
in a separate, much smaller bowl, mix up :
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dried mustard
3 tbs brown sugar
put about a spoonful of this delicious, harvene-ish, mixture on the top of each cup of meat and cook them at 350° until your thermo-meter tells you the insides have reached 165° (which took about 25 minutes in my oven)
i paired these little meat lovies with some blue cheese mashed potatoes (yukon gold potatoes, skin on [i cook mine in half broth, half water.] cut them up, cook them until they are soft. drain, return to pan to cook off some of that water. butter, fat free cream, 4 ounces of blue cheese, and a hand masher = yum!)
my husband seriously said, "i can't wait until you make these again next week!" slow down, bossy husband. slow down!
the nice thing about these is that they are adaptable to different flavors. sage stove top + marinara sauce topping would probably be all sorts of awesome and win. cornbread stove top + jalapenos + i am still thinking of a sauce = delicious! they really are good.
cup of meat cheers!!
2 lbs ground turkey
1 box o' stove top (unprepared)
1 egg white, one whole egg
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 packet meatloaf seasoning
splash (about an 1/8 cup) of milk
minced garlick (i like a lot, you might not!)
1/4 to 1/2 an onion, chopped up all nice like
salt, pepper
mix that all together, divide it up into a muffin pan that has been sprayed with non stick goodness.
wait, we're not done!
in a separate, much smaller bowl, mix up :
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dried mustard
3 tbs brown sugar
put about a spoonful of this delicious, harvene-ish, mixture on the top of each cup of meat and cook them at 350° until your thermo-meter tells you the insides have reached 165° (which took about 25 minutes in my oven)
i paired these little meat lovies with some blue cheese mashed potatoes (yukon gold potatoes, skin on [i cook mine in half broth, half water.] cut them up, cook them until they are soft. drain, return to pan to cook off some of that water. butter, fat free cream, 4 ounces of blue cheese, and a hand masher = yum!)
my husband seriously said, "i can't wait until you make these again next week!" slow down, bossy husband. slow down!
the nice thing about these is that they are adaptable to different flavors. sage stove top + marinara sauce topping would probably be all sorts of awesome and win. cornbread stove top + jalapenos + i am still thinking of a sauce = delicious! they really are good.
cup of meat cheers!!
6.08.2011
so all over the board
* I have been trying to write this blog for 2 days and am pretty much failing miserably. I have been so busy with the kids during the day and the Husband and I have been enjoying each other's company and a bit of relaxation teevee during the night. And I make no promises for finishing this because the heat is rising back here on el east coast and I am so not built for heat. Maybe speed, but most definitely not heat.
Last night my 3 year old chastised me for not getting around to scrubbing the toilets. This after a long day of unpacking, grocery shopping, and jumping in to what will be a week long cleanse of our home. My Husband looked at me and said, "did he just tell you to clean his toilet?" And I wanted to say I am surprised, but that sums up Ge; he isn't doing it to be an ass, but he honestly cares about the clean and he knows that I am the one who gets it done. And, like I say, if the Bossy Cows were a gang, Ge would be their fearless leader.
Conversation with Ge go a lot like this lately,
Ge - Do such and such thing or give me such or such thing
Me - I can't hear you
Ge - Do such and such or give such and such, please
Me - Good, now say it all together
Ge - Mom, pllleeeeaaaase can you blah blah blah?
And there is always a thank you. He loves to get underneath my feet, almost tripping me, and then say excuse me so he can be a polite little annoyance. He still eats like crap, but he is getting better with choices. He refuses to drink water, which worries me because it's getting ridiculous amounts of hot back here. He is still so little. To put his size in perspective he is 3 and a half and is 28 pounds - his sister is 26 pounds at 9 months. At 9 months ge only weighed 18 lbs.
Chunk and Ge are such different little kids so far. Ge was independent even as a baby. He crawled early and talked late. He loved his alone time in his room and with his toys from the word go. He was thoughtful and payed attention to everything going on around him. Ge was a shy baby and didn't like anyone to talk to him that he didn't know even then. Chunk is needy, she is so dramatic and emotional, she will smile for strangers, and she is just barely starting to try to crawl. Chunk wants to be carried all day long, which is nice because I am looking for ways to work out and lunges with a 26 pound baby seem helpful.
We are headed into a 3 day heat up back east and I can already feel myself getting all cranky and complainy. The heat and I don't get along. I think that 70 is hot, so heat indexes of 105 + are just unbearable. I know that I am supposed to be grateful because our weather could be worse, but I am too hot to be compassionate and I reserve the right to be a whiny bitch whenever I please. Plus, we are suppose to go to the Phillies game Saturday and now they are calling for rain. Nature is screwing with all of us. I blame Anthony Weiner.
Last night my 3 year old chastised me for not getting around to scrubbing the toilets. This after a long day of unpacking, grocery shopping, and jumping in to what will be a week long cleanse of our home. My Husband looked at me and said, "did he just tell you to clean his toilet?" And I wanted to say I am surprised, but that sums up Ge; he isn't doing it to be an ass, but he honestly cares about the clean and he knows that I am the one who gets it done. And, like I say, if the Bossy Cows were a gang, Ge would be their fearless leader.
Conversation with Ge go a lot like this lately,
Ge - Do such and such thing or give me such or such thing
Me - I can't hear you
Ge - Do such and such or give such and such, please
Me - Good, now say it all together
Ge - Mom, pllleeeeaaaase can you blah blah blah?
And there is always a thank you. He loves to get underneath my feet, almost tripping me, and then say excuse me so he can be a polite little annoyance. He still eats like crap, but he is getting better with choices. He refuses to drink water, which worries me because it's getting ridiculous amounts of hot back here. He is still so little. To put his size in perspective he is 3 and a half and is 28 pounds - his sister is 26 pounds at 9 months. At 9 months ge only weighed 18 lbs.
Chunk and Ge are such different little kids so far. Ge was independent even as a baby. He crawled early and talked late. He loved his alone time in his room and with his toys from the word go. He was thoughtful and payed attention to everything going on around him. Ge was a shy baby and didn't like anyone to talk to him that he didn't know even then. Chunk is needy, she is so dramatic and emotional, she will smile for strangers, and she is just barely starting to try to crawl. Chunk wants to be carried all day long, which is nice because I am looking for ways to work out and lunges with a 26 pound baby seem helpful.
We are headed into a 3 day heat up back east and I can already feel myself getting all cranky and complainy. The heat and I don't get along. I think that 70 is hot, so heat indexes of 105 + are just unbearable. I know that I am supposed to be grateful because our weather could be worse, but I am too hot to be compassionate and I reserve the right to be a whiny bitch whenever I please. Plus, we are suppose to go to the Phillies game Saturday and now they are calling for rain. Nature is screwing with all of us. I blame Anthony Weiner.
5.31.2011
gear shift
i lost another friend to suicide today, a good friend. i honestly cannot count the amount of friends i have lost to suicide on my fingers any longer, and there have been so many that i know i am missing some. as a person who struggles with depression i understand that it can be debilitating, but please get help if you are having issues. there are friends and family members to be thought of. yes, suicide might be an easy way out, but you leave a wake in the path of your self destruction that cannot be calmed. you may feel lost in the moment, but i promise that you are loved.
there are so many things that i will remember about my friend, but the thing that keeps popping into my brain today is the sweet gesture he made sending my little ge a pair of awesome swedish brown boots because he thought he would like them. they are my absolute favorite shoes ge has ever owned, and i look forward to putting chunk in them as well, and remembering my friend that was so gracious to send them with love. brandon was always there for me no matter what time of day it was and we spent many times of day talking. i have had him as a solid friend for so long and i will miss his big smile and his big heart. my utah friends are broken today with his loss, and we all share a sadness due to his absence.
i am sorry that he had to feel so much pain that he thought the only option was to take his life. i am sorry that he couldn't reach out and let someone else take the pain from his shoulders so we could still have him here today. i am sorry that he couldn't see inside of his own soul to realize the beauty it put out. he will always have a soft spot in my heart and i will always remember him fondly as a true friend.
rest in peace, brandon. i hope that the calm after the storm is as peaceful as i believe it to be. i will miss you. thank you for a gift that will keep on giving me a memory of you on the feet of my precious little children. love.
there are so many things that i will remember about my friend, but the thing that keeps popping into my brain today is the sweet gesture he made sending my little ge a pair of awesome swedish brown boots because he thought he would like them. they are my absolute favorite shoes ge has ever owned, and i look forward to putting chunk in them as well, and remembering my friend that was so gracious to send them with love. brandon was always there for me no matter what time of day it was and we spent many times of day talking. i have had him as a solid friend for so long and i will miss his big smile and his big heart. my utah friends are broken today with his loss, and we all share a sadness due to his absence.
i am sorry that he had to feel so much pain that he thought the only option was to take his life. i am sorry that he couldn't reach out and let someone else take the pain from his shoulders so we could still have him here today. i am sorry that he couldn't see inside of his own soul to realize the beauty it put out. he will always have a soft spot in my heart and i will always remember him fondly as a true friend.
rest in peace, brandon. i hope that the calm after the storm is as peaceful as i believe it to be. i will miss you. thank you for a gift that will keep on giving me a memory of you on the feet of my precious little children. love.
on ode to the girls
i am babysitting my sister's dogs currently. they are all females, a bit on the neurotic side, and super sweet with my kids. they are a good reminder that although i think puppies are cute and i want to bring them all home, the husband and i are in no way ready for a dog. we keep wanting to buy one because we love them, but wow ... kids are enough responsibility.
as a tribute to the dogs i have written a song for them. step back, beyonce, my lyrical stylings are about to get all up in your business. check it :
as a tribute to the dogs i have written a song for them. step back, beyonce, my lyrical stylings are about to get all up in your business. check it :
all my doggie ladies, all my doggie ladies
all my doggie ladies, all my doggie ladies
all my doggie ladies, all my doggie ladies
all my doggie ladies
now put you paws up, paws up
stuck in the house, we can't get out,
we're doing our own doggie thing
decided to chew, because we miss you
when you're out of the house
we're up on here, we're up on there
don't pay rules any attention
we bark and howl, while you are out
ya can't be mad at us
cause if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
don't be mad when you see our pee on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
roof roof roof,
roof roof roof roof
roof roof
roof roof roof
roof roof roof,
roof roof roof roof
roof roof
roof roof roof
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
don't be mad when you see our pee on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
we got pee on the floor, an unopen door
keeps us inside doing our business
throwing up, colorful junk
on the couches and carpet
oh and did we mention, we want bacon
and some love and affection
will you please come home, we're tired of being alone
we want scratches and some fresh water
cause if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
don't be mad when you see our pee on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
roof roof roof,
roof roof roof roof
roof roof
roof roof roof
roof roof roof,
roof roof roof roof
roof roof
roof roof roof
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
don't be mad when you see our pee on it
if you liked it then you shoulda put a leash on it
roof roof roof,
roof roof roof roof
roof roof
roof roof roof
roof roof roof,
roof roof roof roof
roof roof
roof roof roof
please don't be mad when we poo on the floor
it's just that damn closed door
opposable thumbs we'd prefer, what we deserve
your shoes are delicous, don't leave us
and get angry and unhappy when we chew them all up
pull us on to your lap, give our heads a soft pat
if you don't, we'll all be bad, and chewing mayhem, will be had
all my doggie ladies, all my doggie ladies
all my doggie ladies, all my doggie ladies
now put your paws up, paws up!
roof roof roof
5.25.2011
please send ice
you know what is hard? finding the motivation to blog when it is hot and humid. also difficult, not turning on the air conditioning. i have made myself a promise that i will delay turning on the air conditioning for as long as possible this summer because i absolutely do not enjoy the rape like bills that peco sends me for our old ass air conditioner and its constant state of on. seriously, i almost threw up last year when i got our first bill, but we maintained the condition of the air being cold because i was pregnant, and i get grumpy when i am pregnant. very. easily. i purchased a 17 dollar fan from target that seems to be helping, but still ... being on a grown up budget is hard. and it sucks.
the kids were absolutely horrible demons today. poor chunk is growing in her two top teeth and ge is 3. ge is 3 a lot, and chunk's teeth never seem to stop growing in. i am glad that peco can't charge me for this because i am sure that budget billing would not cover it at all. this business of being alive is incredibly expensive.
chunk-a-tron is a rolling fool around our house. she can scoot backwards, readjust her turn to move in a new direction, and she is trying really hard to manipulate those fat little knees of hers to stay up. she is an absolutely hilarious and sweet little baby. her papa loved my, "hold my closer sloppy kisser" song, because she loves to just latch on to any piece of my skin she can find to show affection. my tag line for the chunk is, "i am just happy to be here." because she continues to just love being alive, and being around everyone that pays attention to her. i honestly cannot believe that she is 8 months old, and that she will soon be 1. time flies when you live in such a beautiful world.
ge is a talking, singing fool. tonight he was following me around the house screaming nonsense while i was on the phone with his aunt brook. i jokingly told him that he was a burden and he burst out into a laughter that lasted 10 minutes. he loves to be challenging. he will tell me, "mom, i am going to be frustrating now" and he does, and he will. i love that he challenges me, i love it most when he is asleep and i am relaxing - like now. he loves to paint, sing songs while he drums, tell me what to do, play mickey mouse friends with his dad, and go anywhere outside. he is such a help at the grocery store and takes such loving care of his little sister. ge has always been and remains and incredible blessing on my life.
the husband is stressed with work, but he is wonderful as always. i am so incredibly proud of the person he is and the husband he is. he keeps me laughing at my worst moments and is always there for us unconditionally. plus, he knows my favorite wines and my drink order from starbucks! how can you say anything bad about that?!
the feeling in my hands is starting to return, but that has been met with a lot of pain from the various injuries i seem to have sustained in the 4 weeks of numbness. i am starting to believe that the last month + of hardships were completely due to zoloft withdrawal. horrible, awful, zoloft withdrawals. i will never miss that drug.
it's hot. i am sure that there are other words i planned on typing, but a 17 dollar fan only blows so much ... just ask lloyd how much more 8 dollars could have gotten us.
the kids were absolutely horrible demons today. poor chunk is growing in her two top teeth and ge is 3. ge is 3 a lot, and chunk's teeth never seem to stop growing in. i am glad that peco can't charge me for this because i am sure that budget billing would not cover it at all. this business of being alive is incredibly expensive.
chunk-a-tron is a rolling fool around our house. she can scoot backwards, readjust her turn to move in a new direction, and she is trying really hard to manipulate those fat little knees of hers to stay up. she is an absolutely hilarious and sweet little baby. her papa loved my, "hold my closer sloppy kisser" song, because she loves to just latch on to any piece of my skin she can find to show affection. my tag line for the chunk is, "i am just happy to be here." because she continues to just love being alive, and being around everyone that pays attention to her. i honestly cannot believe that she is 8 months old, and that she will soon be 1. time flies when you live in such a beautiful world.
ge is a talking, singing fool. tonight he was following me around the house screaming nonsense while i was on the phone with his aunt brook. i jokingly told him that he was a burden and he burst out into a laughter that lasted 10 minutes. he loves to be challenging. he will tell me, "mom, i am going to be frustrating now" and he does, and he will. i love that he challenges me, i love it most when he is asleep and i am relaxing - like now. he loves to paint, sing songs while he drums, tell me what to do, play mickey mouse friends with his dad, and go anywhere outside. he is such a help at the grocery store and takes such loving care of his little sister. ge has always been and remains and incredible blessing on my life.
the husband is stressed with work, but he is wonderful as always. i am so incredibly proud of the person he is and the husband he is. he keeps me laughing at my worst moments and is always there for us unconditionally. plus, he knows my favorite wines and my drink order from starbucks! how can you say anything bad about that?!
the feeling in my hands is starting to return, but that has been met with a lot of pain from the various injuries i seem to have sustained in the 4 weeks of numbness. i am starting to believe that the last month + of hardships were completely due to zoloft withdrawal. horrible, awful, zoloft withdrawals. i will never miss that drug.
it's hot. i am sure that there are other words i planned on typing, but a 17 dollar fan only blows so much ... just ask lloyd how much more 8 dollars could have gotten us.
5.24.2011
i'm about to get list like up in here
first, with the teevee talk
this weekend we get to see my sister and her family and they are going to take the little devils off of our hands for two hours so we can actually be grow-ups and go see the hangover two. i. are. excited!! i feel spoiled with all of this family time because my family is way cooler than yours. i mean, no offense, but i have to be biased. you would be biased, too.
- how awesome was house last night? i felt like the sick person story was a little draggy and ridiculous, but she paralleled house well and i absolutely love that actresses voice. i hope that it wasn't a hallucination, because that would be like the billionth time they have done that and i totally love the car into house scene. win.
- i am still mourning the loss of how i met your mother for the season, but they went out with a good bang and i can spend my lame summer television months thinking that lily is happily pregnant. i told the husband as soon as it started that she was with alien life form. this season was a lot of sad so i was happy to see it end with so much happy.
- i have never watched the biggest loser before, but i got hooked about half way through this season and i am loving it. i don't know what happens tonight, but i hope the best things happen to hannah. it really is amazing to watch the transformations.
- uhm, voice? yes? i love it and i got the husband hooked on it, too. i still think blake shelton is an absolute idiot for letting tyler robinson go, but i will move forward with the show trying to hold only a little grudge. the show really is the awesome and i am excited for it tonight.
- and yes, glee. i love me some glee. i love me some over-the-top break outs into random song and ridiculous plot twists. you could judge me, but jesus said not to. so there. i am hoping they win nationals. i don't know if the writers will do that, but i would rather it not completely mimic the last season-ender. plus, if they lose nationals you know they will probably take it next year and the formula gets a bit boring.
- how sucky is the end of good television!? i am super excited that we get so you think you can dance and next food network star soon. the closer is a huge summer time tee vee win for us, too. excuse me a minute while i go hug my television and tell it that i love it and i don't know how other people live without it.
this weekend we get to see my sister and her family and they are going to take the little devils off of our hands for two hours so we can actually be grow-ups and go see the hangover two. i. are. excited!! i feel spoiled with all of this family time because my family is way cooler than yours. i mean, no offense, but i have to be biased. you would be biased, too.
5.20.2011
laser envy
the kiddo's beloved paw-paw is in town and not only did he bring his love for entertaining our children, he brought a really cool blue laser with a super powerful beam. for his line of work he is the kind of person who needs super powerful laser beams, and as a proud relative i am the kind of person who just found out i love to play with super powerful laser beams. for instance: did you know that if you hold black paper up to said laser it will actually start on fire!? très bien!! also, playing with laser beams during the night time is a lot, and i mean a lot, of fun. i am probably not responsible enough to own one, nor could i legally buy one, but it was a lot of fun.
last nights adventures in phosphor fun were a blast, and today brings more merriment as we head to the slides and later make some blue cheese burgers. i absolutely love the chance to spend time with family and watch the kids get some solid interaction with their grandfather. slides and books by day - science, mma, and politics by night. perfection!
my blood test results came back clean, which is good, but slightly annoying. i am almost positive i am going to have to move myself to a gluten free diet to see if that brings the feelings back into my hands. i miss having extremities that feel normal. right now i am either in excruciating pain, or numb. blah. perhaps i will make the month of july not only about our freedom, but my freedom from gluten. i am going to give the zoloft withdrawals the two more weeks necessary to finish off, too, before i make any major decisions. part of me was just really wishing the doctor would call back and give me a solid issue and solution. they never have before though, so i suppose i am not too surprised.
off to play in the rain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)