Mom's the Word!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

First Love...

My child... he has the memory of an elephant, I swear. Travis just said to me,

"Mary Ewisebef is coming over soon!"

I thought for a second. Mary Elizabeth is my mom's name. But, he doesn't know that.

Then it dawned on me. There was a little girl who lived downstairs from us. Her name was Mary Elizabeth, and she was about 4. Travis would go out on the balcony and they'd talk. Well, he'd babble when he was very young, and then they actually talked a bit later. She'd regale him with stories about school, and whatnot.

And one day, she drew him a picture. It's on our refrigerator. That day, a she wanted to share her peanut butter crackers with him. I told her he was too young for peanut butter, so we gave her some of our cookies instead. Travis STILL talks about that day. That was over 1 1/2 years ago.

And, she moved away more than a year ago... and he still thinks about her. Like today.

"Where'd Mary Ewisabef go?"

"Oh, honey... she had to move... she doesn't live here anymore."

I had to explain that she wasn't coming over today, or any other day because she and her family bought a house and moved away. His little face fell, and he just looked so sad. I just wanted to scoop him up and cover him with kisses.

Poor little man... it won't be the last time a cute little girl breaks his heart.

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 3:42 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 12, 2008

Menu Monday

Week of May 12-16 Menu

Monday:

Teriyaki Chicken (used bone-in breasts, just added about 15 minutes to the cook time)
I doubled the glaze - it's so good on top of the rice!

Jasmine Rice with Lemon & Peas (Relish! Recipe)

Steamed Sugar Snap Peas

Tuesday: Knit Night

Carnitas

Black Beans & Rice

Chips, Salsa & Guacamole

Wednesday:

Mini Meatloaves

Oven Roasted Multi-colored potatoes

Green Beans sauteed with Garlic

Thursday: Orange & Herb Marinated Pork Loin Chops(Relish! Recipe - From the freezer)

Basmati Rice Pilaf

Roasted Carrots, Pepper & Onions

Friday: Dinner out?

Labels: menu monday

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 10:04 PM 1 comments

Yawn

I was up entirely too early this morning with Little Miss Crankypants. I went back to sleep after Jeff left at 6-something , though... We just got up a little after 9:00. Travis had no nap yesterday, so he slept in. Yay!

Right now he is sitting on the potty with a book. He did pee on the potty on Saturday morning. He woke up dry, and i asked him if he wanted to try and go. He agreed, and after about 10 minutes of reading books, he peed! :)

I have my Postpartum check-up at 10:00am today. Hopefully everything healed well... and hopefully my blood pressure is okay. Last visit (2 weeks post-partum) my BP was still high. I had rushed to my appointment very, very late... so maybe that had something to do with it. He wanted me to go back on my bp meds... which after reading up online... I opted not to do. Alhough it's a generally safe medication, it transfers through breastmilk... and can cause low blood pressure, and apnea, especially in babies under 1 month old. so, if it's high today... I will resume taking it... reluctantly, but at least Ashley is over the 1 month mark now.

I guess we will see...

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 9:39 AM 0 comments

Monday, May 05, 2008

Done, like dinner...

Dinner.

Lately it's been a 4-letter-word around here... In light of the fact that I now have 2 kids... Holy crap!! I have 2 kids!! Also - the fact that one of them is a 4-week-old colicky mess in the evening....The name of the game is simplicity, shortcuts, and letting go. This means taking help from the store... and a more relaxed approach to things. No this isn't that "Semi-Homemade" crap.... it's real life. Anyone who knows me knows this: I love to cook! I KNOW how to cook, I just barely have the time right now. I still am using natural vs. additive-ridden, organic vs. pesticide-riddled, and I am just trying my best to keep things as balanced as I can.

Menu Monday week of May 5-9, 2008

Monday (Cinco de Mayo!)

Fish Soft Tacos (Tilapia) (Relish! Recipe)
Grilled on grill pan - Brush with Olive Oil, season with salt & pepper & grill. Squeeze lime juice on too & serve with Pepperjack Cheese
Guacamole (Trader Joes pre-made)
Chips
Refried Black Beans
Corn

Tuesday:

Thai Chicken Satay Skewers with Peanut Dipping Sauce (Relish! Recipe)
Sesame Sugar Snap Peas (Relish! Recipe)
Jasmine Rice (frozen, microwavable, from Trader Joes)

Wednesday:

Almond-Crusted Chicken (Relish! Recipe)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Packaged from Trader Joes)
Broccoli

Thursday:

Pasta

Friday: Dinner out with Dad

Also, the added challenge of trying to be as dairy-free (for me) as reasonably possible... I had an iced Soy Vanilla Latte the other day @ Starbucks... it wasn't half bad. Vanilla Rice Dream on my Kashi this morning. But, I absolutely had Cheddar cheese on my BBQ Beef sandwich yesterday, without apologies.

So, the next few weeks will probably continue to be a little tough as I/we continue our adjustment. I realized yesterday that we're still trying to run on 1 kid time. Thinking it will still only take an hour to go to the grocery stores... when in reality, it now takes easily twice that... when you factor in the baby needing to be nursed, changed, etc. Getting 2 changed, clean, dressed, and out the door, into the car... We're figuring this out... cause we're adaptable like that!

Labels: baby daze, domestic goddess, Family, food, menu monday

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 9:28 AM 1 comments

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Love!

ashley smile, originally uploaded by tjsmommabear.

She is so sweet!! Can't believe she'll be a month old tomorrow!!

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 9:27 AM 2 comments

Friday, May 02, 2008

The "C" word...

Ashley is doing well. She's really a laid-back, chill, happy baby. All day long, she snuggles, nurses, hangs out in the sling, or in my arms,and generally doesn't complain about anything. Each night, however - right around 8:00pm like clockwork, it's like she turns into a completely different baby. Crying, sobbing, freaking out, lower lip quivering, truly heartbreaking stuff. Like she's in pain. Seriously, I have been in tears myself the last couple of nights.

Nothing reliably helps... not rocking, swinging, swaddling, nursing, shushing, burping, bouncing, driving in the car, nothing. But for nearly 2 weeks, for 2-3 hours a night, I spend them alternating nearly every one of the above for the entire duration of her freak-out. Then, suddenly, as quickly as it started, it's over. By then, I am an emotional wreck. Last night I bounced with her on the yoga ball for almost 2 hours. Her total cry-time clocked in at right around 3 hours. We've tried the Hylands Colic tablets, and they work somtimes. I did buy some Baby Bliss Gripe water at Whole Paycheck today... so i guess we'll try that tonight.

I also talked to a La Leche League leader today... she recommended that I eliminate dairy and see what happens. It's going to be hard, because I've always had a lot of milk and cheese in my diet. Also, dairy takes 3 weeks to work it's way out of your system completely. I bought some digestive tea, at the suggestion of an herbalist/supplement specialist, and she also suggested a digestive enzyme. These things certainly can't hurt... but I sure hope something helps, and soon!

Labels: 3 weeks, ashley, breastfeeding, colic, crunchy, diet, granola, hippy

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 4:37 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

One word meme

I took this idea from Allie... thanks for giving me an idea for a post today! :)

YOU CAN ONLY TYPE ONE WORD! Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward,change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? MIA
2. Your significant other? working
3 Your hair? unwashed
4. Your mother? nutty
5. Your father? goofy
6. Your favorite thing? sleep
7. Your dream last night? huh?
8. Your favorite drink? wine
9. Your dream/goal? Skinnier
10. The room you're in? messy
11. Your hobby? yarn
12. Your fear? failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? richer
14. Where were you last night? Peet's
15. What you're not? patient
16. Muffins? Banana
17. One of your wish list items? Maid
18. Where you grew up? Here
19. The last thing you did? nurse
20. What are you wearing? comfies
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? toddler
24. Your life? content
25. Your mood? overwhelmed
26. Missing someone? Samantha
27. Your car? dirty
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? Sephora
30. Your summer? ? Busy
31. Like someone? kiddos
32. Your favorite color? girly
33. When is the last time you laughed? daily
34. Last time you cried? recently

Labels: meme

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 9:58 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ADD ABCs

ADD ABCs
Originally uploaded by tjsmommabear

Travis racing through the ABC song, effectively missing half of them. Then, at my prompting he sang it again, managing to get most of them! :)

(I have a doozy of a headache... promise I don't usually sound as grouchy as I did on the video!)

Labels: 3 1/2, abc, singing, travis

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 1:20 PM 1 comments

Two weeks down!

I've been in a vortex... nursing Ashley, changing both kids' diapers, making food... trying to remember to eat enough myself, and drink enough water... occasionally even managing to make it out of the house, you know... adjusting. Trying my best to ignore the growing pile of laundry needing to be done... the toys strewn all over the living room... the magazines and general clutter needing to be dealt with. Nothing a well-placed hour couldn't handle. But, I don't have a well-placed hour. I have mere minutes between what the baby needs, and what the Boy wants... and I must manage to do things like... ummm...go pee, and other important stuff like eat breakfast. So I guess the house-stuff; it will get done, just not right now. i'm lucky if I can remember to run the dishwasher in the mornings(pre-loaded by Jeff late-night after dinner.)

So, yeah... doing well, yet still trying to get back into the swing of day-to-day household maintenance without going crazy in the process.

Labels: 2 weeks, baby daze, homekeeping, parenting

posted by T.J.'s Mommy @ 9:52 AM 0 comments

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