Adventures of Supermommy and Flying Baby

Cooking Club

2009-11-06T19:43:00.002-05:00

I really love to cook. And this wasn't the case a few short months ago. For some reason, I had lost my joy for cooking, and it became a chore that I really didn't like to do. So much work, and with having two children, one 3 1/2 and the other 12 months, I felt like I didn't have any time. But now, I have a rekindled love for cooking. I've tried so many new recipes the past few months, and I always make a double batch of most meals. It's just so much easier to do (make a double batch), and then you already have a ready-made meal waiting for you in the freezer. Right now, I have about a dozen turkey and bean chimichangas, 4 gourmet enchilada dishes, 6 cups of homemade chipotle roasted tomato sauce, 5 batches of sweet chicken tostada filling, and a potato-crusted chicken casserole. Tonight, I cooked up 4 pounds of dried beans, which is the equivalent to 12 15 ounce cans of beans. I'll be contributing these beans to a recipe that our Cooking Club has selected, Pasta Fagioli Casserole. Yes, tomorrow is the beginning of our Cooking Club. Myself and 4 other moms from my mom's group, PATH (Parents At Home), are getting together for fun and fixing. We'll each be preparing a dish 5 times so that each can take home to freeze and enjoy later. I am fixing Chicken Florentine Casserole x5, and the others are fixing Pasta Fagioli Casserole (like I already wrote)x5, Mango-Cranberry Chicken x5, Turkey Meatloaf with Rosemary-Cranberry Sauce Glaze x5, and Pork Loin Ragout x5. This has been 5 weeks in the making, due to our busy mommy schedules, and now it's time. Tomorrow I have to go out and buy all the produce for the meals. And then when we all get together, we'll divide our grocery bills into 5 so that we'll pay each other back. And then it's time for prepping. We'll be prepping the meals up to the point that we cook them so that we won't have to wait for meals to cool before we package them up. We could be at Lisa's house all night if we cooked everything! So, we'll be sealing up everything into freezer bags, labeling them, and be on our merry ways with 5 meals each for our families. This is going to be so much fun! And I hope that this club will continue. It'll be like our very own Let's Dish. Oh, how I love Let's Dish. And hopefully we can expand and fix two meals each instead of just one. But one is good to start with. We're still working out all the kinks.

God's Green Earth

2009-08-06T17:56:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite aspects of summer (and perhaps the only) is the abundance of fresh fruits and veggies that are available to eat and enjoy. Just today, I ate an organic purple heirloom tomato on my turkey and cheddar sandwich, tender green beans that I steamed to perfection, and sweet, white corn dripping with butter and a little salt. It makes me salivate just thinking about it! This year, as you may have read previously in a different post, I tried my hands at my own vegetable growing. And much to my delight, IT WORKED, and it worked BEAUTIFULLY! Here are a couple pictures of my beauties that I started from seed.

Amidst all this glorious gardening success, I'm having trouble fathoming eating my hard work. I guess I just don't want it to go away. So, here is my post. A tribute to God's green Earth, and the wonderful vegetables that He helped me grow. Because, I can't hold out any longer! Mmmm, these veggies are good!

Way to go, Baltimore!

2009-07-10T08:54:00.002-05:00

Check out this website, Baltimore Green Works. This is so incredibly AWESOME! And then check out some information about Great Kids Farm. I'm speechless. I don't know what to say! I hope that this catches on, and people realize that they don't have to settle for processed foods and expensive produce at the grocery store. And that schools can give kids healthier food options to eat in their cafeterias. Way to go, Baltimore Green Works and Great Kids Farm! Way to go!

Come On People, JUST DO IT! 2

2009-06-15T08:57:00.002-05:00

A few posts ago, I expressed my thoughts about recycling and how important it is to me. Well, I'm going to discuss washing and reusing items this time. Reusing plastic zip-top bags in particular. What got me started on washing plastic bags and reusing them was when the Debbie Meyer Green Bags were given to me as a gift. I LOVE THESE BAGS! And YES, they really DO work. I've preserved many a piece of fruit or vegetable with them. And they help keep everything nice, fresh, and plump. You can rinse and reuse each bag up to 8 times. Something to do with their effectiveness of squashing the gases that rot food.

In addition to rinsing the green bags, I decided that I needed to step it up a notch and wash with soap and rinse the plastic zip-top bags that we use everyday and tend to throw away without thinking. Think about it, you throw the plastic baggie away inside a plastic trash bag, and NEITHER of those decompose at a fast rate. So, it's just filler in those ever growing landfills. Just take a look at these facts on Oprah.com. Shocking, huh? Makes you think twice about that bag that you just threw away. So, all you have to do is be diligent about rinsing them out and letting them dry. Now, diligent is the key word here my friends. So you don't want to be like I have been by just letting the bags pile up on the counter because I was too lazy to wash them as soon as I was finished. So, if you're going to give these green bags a try or washing zip-top bags, get yourself a Munchkin bottle drying rack or a plastic bag drying rack and go to town. Wash the bags out (the green bags only require water, no soap), give them a good shake like you're fluffing a trash bag, and hang them up. You'll be surprised how easy it is to form the habit of washing and rinsing bags out. And it won't seem like such a chore if you do a little at a time. And you'll be saving money too! And you know we all need to save money right now.

Ode to the Kitchen Television

2009-06-13T12:18:00.002-05:00

I've been waiting for this day since we heard of the digital TV switch. The television in the kitchen has always been a sort of eye sore to me, but it was nice to be able to zone out on the TV while doing dishes or simmering a pot of tomato sauce. Needless to say, I have wanted it gone for awhile. It was just taking up so much space on my counter top. Made everything on that side seem so closed in and claustrophobic. It was just this big, ugly robot-like machine that just needed to go! And FINALLY it's gone! And I am so happy. Now I can enjoy more space for chopping, mixing, and prepping the delicious meals that I cook. Maybe it will even motivate me to stick better to my points (Weight Watchers term). And maybe it will help excite me to cook meals after all our Let's Dish meals are gone (Food Stamps doesn't pay for Let's Dish, bummer!). So, it's a new day in the Cook Kitchen. Well, at least until the day comes that a small appliance finds it's home on that new found counter space. I'm going to try to avoid doing that as along as possible. Praise to the digital TV switch!

Come on people! JUST DO IT!

2009-05-14T07:19:00.003-05:00

If you know me, you may know that I feel that it is VERY important to recycle. Paper, plastic, glass, aluminum. Everything! It's not hard. Yes, it may take some effort, but to know that my stuff isn't going in the landfill makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I'm doing my part to save our planet and make it a more healthy place to live. And you know what really drives me up a wall? To see people just being plain LAZY about it and NOT DOING IT! It's like when people smoke cigarettes. They say, "oh, I'm alright. I won't get cancer. It won't happen to ME". Same goes with recycling! People who don't recycle may think, "eh, it's no big deal. Just a little extra trash in our landfill won't be such a big deal". Well, you know what? IT IS A BIG DEAL! Just because you might have to keep, for example, paper for two weeks because they only pick it up every other week DOES NOT mean that it's too hard to do so just forget about it. NO! You have to change your routine (Ooo, scary, huh?), and that goes for people who don't have trash pick-up service, and start freaking caring about our environment and STOP THROWING RECYCLABLE TRASH IN YOUR GARBAGE! Today is trash pick-up day in our neighborhood, and you wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) how much cardboard and paper products are sitting, waiting to be put out with the garbage in our growing landfills. AMAZING! And there are so many times that I just want to go and pick up all those recyclables, but then my home would be over flowing with it and my husband would probably go crazy. SO, it's GOT to be up to EVERY person to do their part. EVERY PERSON! PLEASE! Please don't throw out a cardboard box. Give it to your child to play in, or fill that cardboard box with empty envelopes from your mail or other paper products that you call "trash" and then put it out with RECYCLING. Please don't throw out that plastic milk jug. Make it a bird feeder or just crush it and put it out with your RECYCLING. Please don't throw out that glass jar. Make it a flower vase, or terrarium, or paintbrush holder, or throw it in your RECYCLING bin and set it out to be recycled. Please don't throw out your aluminum cans. Make them into luminaries or tie them to a newly married couple's car, or put them out with your plastic milk jugs and glass jars and any other recyclable container, and DO YOUR PART TO HELP KEEP OUR EARTH CLEAN AND FREE OF WASTE. Come on people! JUST DO IT!

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T18:07:00.002-05:00

So I had a really nice Mother's Day. How about you? Even though it's a Hallmark holiday, it still seems to be important, and we still celebrate. My husband pretty much gave me the day off. It was really nice. I nursed the baby at 6:30 that morning, and then, after baby was done, my husband took him, shut the bedroom door, and let me sleep. Ahhh, sleep. Glorious sleep! How I love to sleep. And sleep in. . .in the morning. I thought that I'd sleep for another hour or so, but no, I slept until 10AM! I guess I was pretty tired. And when I woke up, baby was napping, which meant that hubby successfully put him down for a nap, which sometimes is hard to do. I had made a grocery list the night before, so hubby took our almost 3 year old with him, and I got a lovely morning to myself. Time to eat breakfast in peace. Time to not have to worry about fixing something else for someone else, or changing a diaper. Time for quiet. Time to myself. Time to watch the Today Show (despite their bland interviews). Time to work on my knitting project. Time to be just me. Not a mom. Not a wife. Just me. How refreshing! Plus, it's so amazing how having one day off can really make you appreciate what you have in your kids and your family. I can get so tired of it all, and then when I have a day off and not have to worry about it. I am revived. I am a new mom and wife. Not so tired and not so cranky. I think we should have Mother's Day Off Day once a week. What do you think?

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

2009-03-26T20:26:00.002-05:00

This weekend I've decided to try my hand at starting seeds and growing my own garden with a few vegetables that I really enjoy. I've even asked my dad if he'd help me build a raised garden bed in a portion of my backyard. I figure, less for hubby to mow, and a great teaching and learning experience for myself and my almost 3 year old. Maybe this would even excite him to eat some vegetables, in addition to digging in the dirt! So, this weekend, we are going to start marigold seeds, zinnia seeds, tomato seeds, mixed colored sweet bell peppers seeds, and butternut squash. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but just haven't put out the effort. I'm feeling really motivated about starting my own seedlings because I see my front garden that was planted last season, and new leaves are blooming, and new branches are forming. It's so exciting to see the fruits of my labor. I figure, why not try something new and see if my green thumb is really a green thumb. A friend of mine over at Wishful Thinking starts her beautiful and plentiful garden from seeds every year, and I've always been impressed and amazed. Last year, for my birthday, my parents gave me an EarthBox, and I grew some yummy tomatoes. This year, I'm going to try growing something else in the Earthbox, and try the hanging tomato planter. I've heard that it's the best way for tomatoes. Maybe I'll try growing corn in the Earthbox this year. That would be fun! I'll definitely be posting some great pictures of us and our gardening journey. So, make sure you check back and see if my efforts have paid off!

Eat Your Vegetables!

2009-02-27T21:20:00.002-05:00

I think I've blogged about this before, but the issue has come up again. Why is it so darn hard to get my child to eat vegetables?! We've tried EVERYTHING (in our mind)! It's so frustrating because I think he eats too many carbohydrates. I mean, this morning he ate multi-grain cherrios and milk. For breakfast, he ate fruit and chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A. And for dinner, there was mac-n-cheese, a roll, which we took away until he ate his veggies, and sugar snap peas. Two bites of veggies and then he could have the roll. Two bites! That's all we asked! We tried force feeding him. We tried saying that he couldn't have the roll until he ate the veggies. And we tried saying that he could get down from the table. All those rolled into one big fight. Why are two year olds so freaking stubborn!!? Ahhhh! And then when I saw tears coming and screaming, "I don't want to eaaat," guilt set in, and it was so hard not to cave. He clearly wasn't going to eat his veggies. It had been almost an hour, and dinner quickly went sour. I guess this is a lesson in parenthood. To be patient with your children, and set the best example as you can. To eat your veggies, and perhaps, one day your child will follow your lead. I can only hope that my 4 month old child will eat vegetables. I sure as hell am going to make sure he gets those BEFORE he gets fruit baby food. Maybe when James sees Jesse eating his veggies, he'll think he can eat them too. I remain hopeful.

"I love Jesus, but I drink a little!"

2009-02-05T20:02:00.002-05:00

A friend on Facebook posted this on his wall, and I thought it was soooo funny! Hope you have a great laugh!

10 Years!

2009-01-28T00:00:00.002-05:00

There's this funny thing called Facebook. I'm not sure who is the genious that created this fun and addicting website, but I've been on it for only a few days, and I can't seem to stop. It's now 12am, and I'm still up. This is not normal. I need to go to bed! I keep telling myself to stop, but I can't. It's funny, I'll write something on someone's wall or friend someone, and then I'll go to my email. And usually I get an email saying that someone has responded. Then I'll go back to my Facebook page and read my wall. It's this crazy cycle that's really sucking me in. Who knew that this website could bring together so many people! I've got back in contact with some high school friends, and even one from middle school! Craziness! The sad part is that I've missed so much of their lives. I mean, it's been 10 years since I've talked with some of these people. Some have moved. So have gotten married. Some have been to grad school. Some have children that I don't even know their names. And to think that they're actually desiring to respond to my messages after being awol for 10 years?! Perhaps they miss contact with their old high school or college pals just like I do. This Facebook stuff is just so great! I hope that something can become of it all. That maybe the little group of friends that I was involved with will get back together for a little reunion. We will see. We will see.

A Play About Mommy Milk

2009-01-16T17:20:00.005-05:00

Setting: In our humble living room on the purplish lazy boy recliner

As Mommy was getting up from the recliner after nursing Jesse, she asks James if he would like to hold his baby brother Jesse.

Mommy: Would you like to hold your brother, James?

James: Hold'ee baby bruhder.

James climbs over the arm of the chair into the seat and happily sits down. Looking up at mommy with arms held out, he sits there, waiting. Jesse is placed in his lap, head supported by the arm of the chair. Soon, James has something very profound to say. . .

James: Want to feed Jesse mommy milk.

James lifts up his shirt.

Mommy: You want to feed Jesse mommy milk? Where is the mommy milk?

James: Wight where! Wight where!

As James points to his chest like he has the mommy milk, Mommy smiles and rushes to capture this moment on camera.

The End

How Many Little People Animals Can Fit On A Stool?

2008-12-30T18:47:00.002-05:00

Today was clean up the playroom day! My husband took the time, while I was at the gym and nursing our youngest, to organize the playroom and weed out a bunch of toys to make room for new ones received at Christmas. I am reluctant, though, that everything will stay in their places and not get mixed up. The reason is that it's hard to keep the house in order all the time. I can see the bins that we have selected won't stay the way they are now. Of course, it's good to instill responsibility in a child that he or she must clean up their room or playroom before receiving a treat or before nap time or bedtime. So, my oldest son's wonderful contribution to all this was taking all the animals, minus about 4, and putting them on a stool I have in the kitchen. There were so many on the stool that they were almost falling off. He even decided to start stacking them on top of each other. My child is definitely NOT showing signs of autism! That's for sure! Ha! I just thought it was a funny moment for our family and that I'd share. Hope you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas, and that the New Year is full of happy surprises!

Bummer Book Signing

2008-12-13T14:27:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite tv shows on the Food Network is 30 Minutes Meals with Rachel Ray. She always makes food that looks yummy, and I've enjoyed her bubbly personality and funny quirks. I think I've even caught myself saying "YUM-O!" a few times.

Earlier this week, my husband was out at the mall with our 2 1/2 year old viewing a model railroad at Bass Pro, and afterwards, he stopped by the bookstore to look around. While browsing the store, he noticed that queen of 30 minute meals was going to have a book signing this Saturday (today). Knowing that I enjoy her show, he told me, and this morning he went to the store to get our ticket and buy the book that she was going to sign.

After rushing to get the kids together and putting a little makeup on so I'd look alive in the picture that I'd take of me and Rachel, we arrived at our designated time.

I had no idea that a book signing would be such a rote, cold, routine. . .thing.

After waiting in the line, all excited with book in hand, I got up to the table where she was sitting. I handed hubby the camera, but when I turned around the lady said that Rachel was only taking photos with children. So, I thought, no biggie, I'll just get to smile at her, say hello, and atleast have SOME eye contact. Nope, the woman making the line go smoothly said, "stay with your book, miss" as if we were a roasting chicken coming down a belt in a factory waiting to be packaged up. So, I stayed with my book like I was told, and soon got to Rachel.

You know what?! She didn't even look up and smile at me. She just opened the front cover, addressed the book to me (someone came around while we were in line and wrote our names on a sticky note to post in the front cover so I guess Rachel wouldn't have to ask for spelling), and signed her name. Then, so top it all off, she said "here ya go!" Disappointed, I walked away almost wanting to return my book and get my money back.

I just feel so sorry for Rachel Ray and any celebrity who's got their life so scheduled that she probably has to schedule time to breath. Her life as a celebrity cook must be such a stress for her. Book signings, show taping, photo shoots. . .I can imagine that she's just about ready to blow her top and want to just get it done already!

As I watched her pose with children for a picture, it almost seems like she puts on a mask to cover what's really inside. Her bright, enthusiastic smile fades to a mere cover-up of chaos and stress.

Even though it's probably nice to make 18 million a year cooking your favorite foods, I have no desire to be in the spot light. I love my life just as it is. Two beautiful children, a loving husband, a warm home to rest in, and the occasional bummer book signing. . .

Note to self: in the future, just wait until the book goes on sale and get it later.

What does Christmas mean for you?

2008-11-26T21:11:00.005-05:00

Check out the "Conspiracy Theory" post on the blog of a wonderful friend of mine, Wishful Thinking. Click on the YouTube video, and have an open mind. Perhaps it's time for ALL of us to rethink how we celebrate Christmas.

I Found You, Mr. Tasselmeyer!

2008-11-24T18:50:00.003-05:00

As we were watching the weather on the evening news, our 2 1/2 year old was watching Mr. Tasselmeyer walked back and forth across the screen.

"Where did he go?" I asked as the weatherman disappeared off the screen.

"He's playing hide and seek!" said James, watching the screen intently.

"Oh, he's playing hide and seek? Where did Mr. Tasselmeyer go?" I asked.

Soon, the weatherman reappeared. Jumping up and down and squealing with laughter, James said, "I found you, Mr. Tasselmeyer! I found you!"

First Taste

2008-11-18T19:51:00.002-05:00

So, today was a big day for me.

Since my husband has been home, I've had alot of help, which has been great for my recovery from the birth of our second. I had an (unnecessary) c-section, so I was prescribed no heavy lifting including my two ton two year old. So, since hubby has been home, he's been doing all the heavy lifting and taking on much of the household duties.

But, today was different.

Today, he had to leave at 8am to go to an unemployment workshop, and he didn't arrive back home until 4:30pm. So, I was back to being a SAHM, but now it's not just of one child, it's two. I got my first taste of what life will be like from now on having two children. Thank goodness I had something to do today. Tuesday is Bible Study day, so for half of my day I was learning how to handle difficult people, and James, my 2 1/2 year old, was with Ms. Arka and the other children having a blast. And since I sit at a table of women who love babies, I didn't have to hold my youngest the whole time. There were plenty of ladies oooing and ahhing over Jesse. So, much to my surprise half of my day was great. Despite it taking 20-30 minutes just to get out of the door, life was going great.

And when I got home, it was lunch time, and then it was nap time, and then all hell broke loose. Let's just say, I've been barfed on more times in the past couple days than I could ever want. (Jesse is a little oinker, 11 pounds 12 ounces as a matter of fact, who likes to nurse ALOT, won't burp easily, and as a result, he vomits all the mommy milk right back up again) I've had to place my oldest in timeout probably about 5 times in 30 minutes. And, I've been peed on by my oldest right before I put him in the bath tub. And if you are a mom, you KNOW how much a two year old can pee. It's not just a little sprinkle. It's more like the Mississippi River. And it's just a delight to feel the nice trickle of urine landing on my foot, and because of my lack of sleep, not figuring it out right away. I swear, the Lord has a great sense of humor.

But after all of this, life is good. Life is good because I am happy, and also because I've reinstated ME TIME. So, from approximately 7pm-8pm, I have time to myself. Which is MUCH needed after having a normal day like this. But it's a good normal. Keeps life interesting. Keeps my head in the right place because I found myself praying little prayers throughout the day of asking God to help me stay calm. Before I felt like I was going to blow my top, I would take a deep breath, and pray. Because there's nothing I can't do when I have the Lord with me, right there beside me. What a blessing, to know that He is there watching over me, and that all I have to do is seek Him.

So, was today a good day? I'd have to say, heck yeah! Wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING! Not a thing.

Tough Times

2008-11-11T16:46:00.002-05:00

My family is going through a very difficult situation. At least, that's how some people may see it. You see, he lost his job about 2 months ago, and recently I gave birth to our second child. You can imagine how he might feel, knowing that we have decided to have me stay home and raise our children. No matter how tough our days might be or how "hairy" life might get, I always remember to pray to our awesome Lord, Jesus Christ. I try to be my husband's rock during tough times, and even during not so tough times. What's the point in worrying or being depressed? The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 "don't worry about the future" and "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). So, I choose to lay everything aside and let God handle it. HE is the one who is in control of this situation. It is in HIS time that my husband will be blessed with a new job. So, in the meantime, we just have to wait and continue to pray for anything that comes to our mind because God is a good God and he wants to bless us with the desires of our hearts. That is why he tells us, "but in EVERYTHING, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, presents your requests to God".

No matter how big or small your situation may seem, pray to God. He hears you. He knows your thoughts. He wants to hold your hand through this.

And if you need a little inspiration, check out this YouTube video. It might bring a tear to your eye. I know that it did for me.

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-24T19:33:00.010-05:00

We welcomed our second child into this world on October 17th, 2008. Jesse Scott was born at 5:45pm and weighed in at 9 pounds 5.9 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. :) He's a big boy! Hope you enjoy the pictures! He's been a wonderful blessing to our family, and we are so thankful that he's finally here! Happy Birthday, Jesse Scott!

If You Gave A Toddler A Vegetable

2008-03-18T16:51:00.003-05:00

We had tacos for dinner tonight. Hadn't had them in a while, so I thought I'd fix them. The seasoning was very mild, so I thought I'd have no trouble getting my almost two year old to eat one. So, I cut a whole wheat tortilla in half, scooped out some taco meat, sprinkled on some cheese, added a little diced tomato and gave it to him. And what does he do? He turns his head and adamantly says, "NO!" and then to top it off, he unrolls the taco, shakes the insides off the shell, and proceeds to eat the tortilla. Just the tortilla. We tried everything! Giving him his own fork, scooping the insides up and helping him feed himself, letting him take a bite of our taco, force feeding him with arms held down and head held back. Nothing works! And as my meal is getting cold, and I feel like my world is crumbling around me, I think about how I never want to see my child get fat. I don't want to see him have to diet like mommy (even though I did get to goal at Weight Watchers). Why the heck won't this child eat the food I give him? Why won't he eat vegetables? Why why why!? I feel like I've failed as a mother. This child is going to grow up only wanting to eat unhealthy foods. It's just so frustrating for me when all he asks for are cookies and crackers or chips. And I don't give those to him regularly because I don't have them in my home on a regular basis. He does eat fruit, and I only feed him whole grain or whole wheat bread. I just don't know what to do anymore. He knows I'm not a short order cook, so if he doesn't eat what I give him, he doesn't eat. I just wish his child would eat a piece of lettuce and tomato on a sandwich, or some baby carrots with a little dip instead of licking the dip off the carrot and throwing the carrot on the floor for me to have to pick up. I'm at a loss, and I feel like there's no hope for me to get this child to eat his veggies. I mean, aren't these years the building blocks for good nutrition? Am I at a total loss? I just wish I could wave a wand and the Magic Vegetable Fairy would come down and work her magic. Please! Why does this have to be so hard?

Ooohhh baby!

2008-03-01T19:46:00.002-05:00

Because I can! That's why.

One Silver Wire

2008-02-16T06:12:00.002-05:00

As I was awakened by my wonderful alarm clock this morning, I lay there in bed saying to myself, just one more hour. Then it occured to me that I am scheduled to work at Curves this morning. So, I rolled out of bed, gathered my clothes and staggered into the bathroom. As I turned on the light, through my blurry, goober crusted eyes, I spied a shiny, silver wire sticking out of my head. I leaned in closer to the mirror, being careful not to frighten myself, and was appalled by the sight of an acutal gray hair poking out of my head. I thought to myself, "dear Lord, has my life amounted to this?! Can this really be? I'm 26 years old, for Pete's sake (whoever Pete is)!"

So, I gathered my composure, got ready for the day, and quickly swooped up my sign of aging and shoved it in the trash. No way is a silly little gray hair going to get in MY way!

So there! <>

Best Friends

2008-01-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

Isn't there a quote that says "a dog is a man's best friend"? Our son and dog, a beagle named Anakin, have really come to enjoy each other's company. They play together, and my son laughs and giggles and carries on as Anakin zips around the house. Here are some pictures of them just chillin'.

Let Me Be A Light!

2008-01-03T21:22:00.000-05:00

Warning: This post might be a bit hard to swallow for some who read this.

My husband and I attend Grace Fellowship Church, a Bible based church that believes in Jesus, the one and only son of God. We have a strong faith. This faith was strengthened by being involved with our Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in college as small group leaders and worship leaders. Strengthened by involvement in small groups at Grace Fellowship Church as members, and most recently we became leaders. Strengthened by Bible study with Community Bible Study and The Bible in 90 Days program. Strengthened through the amazing worship we experience at church, that often brings me to tears. God is so amazingly present in this world. Why can't everyone just submit to Him?

Over the Christmas holiday, we discovered that a friend of mine, lets call her Sally, is attending a Unitarian Universalist church, and recently I decided to do some digging and find out a bit more. First of all, please pray for those who believe in Unitarian Universalism. As I read the website for the church she attends, I had an ill feeling come over me that Satan was very present and real and that he has a hold on those who attend this church. Having a strong faith in the truth that embodies Jesus Christ, I realized that Jesus doesn't seem to be in that church at all, which makes me wonder how it can be called a church. Here is the definition of church: a building for public and especially Christian worship. It really just blows my mind to think how people are so mislead about the truth. That they can find truth in all kinds of deities? That's so completely wrong! Please Lord Jesus, help me to be a light unto this world that they may see You in me and know the truth so they may be set free. I pray that I can be a light to as many people as possible. And please, Lord, give me the courage and strength to tell people about You so they won't go to Hell, because in the end, there will be chosen people and there will be those left behind. It pains me to think about how people are going to be left behind to burn and suffer. I can't reach everyone. Lord, could Sally be one of them? I pray that she doesn't think that she can find truth in herself. Truth is only found in Jesus. Why is it so hard for people to believe that? Don't they want total freedom? Don't they want to spend eternity in Heaven with our Wonderful Father? Father God, help me to see the world as You see the world, so that I may know how to reach the unbelievers so that they can see the truth and believe. Amen!

How To Make A Desk For $100

2007-12-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

Supplies: Two assembly-required filing cabinets from Ollie's (one,a lovely cherry finish, the other, black with "alumacast" fronts, oops!), a solid slab door from Home Depot, and some grip liner to hold the door/desk top in place.

Instructions: After hubby disappears to the basement to start a project, suggest that we finally make the desk we've been talking about. After child is put down for a nap, offer to go to Home Depot to buy the door and grip liner while hubby puts the filing cabinets together. Return home with door and grip liner. Argue a bit about how to get the 3,000 pound door inside the house. Finish arguing. Finish putting cabinets together, which takes the longest. Darn you assembly required furniture! Thank God that hubby offered to do it instead of you. Cut grip liner to fit tops of cabinets. Position cabinets so that the door will be directly over top. Lift 3,000 pound door and position over top cabinets. And voila! A huge, brand-new desk for less than 100 dollars! Enough work space to spread out. Enough room for the computer. And enough leg room too! Fantastic! And it even has shiny, new "alumacast" fronts on one side! How modern!

Merry Tossmas!

2007-12-10T17:42:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine sent this video to me today. Let us all remember the true meaning of Christmas. It's not about getting gifts, or going into debt to buy gifts, or seeing how much light you can display on your home! It's about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the only Son of the one and ONLY God! Check this video out!

Just cut and paste this link into your browser thingy:

http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000005834.cfm

Nuff said!

A Weekend in Review

2007-12-06T19:19:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, my husband and I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate our 5th anniversary in peace and quiet. We dropped off our son at grandma's and headed out to Mercersburg, PA, where we stayed at a lovely historic bed and breakfast called the Squire Smith Inn. It's owned by a friendly couple, who bought the place 5 years ago and renovated it to become a bed and breakfast. During the snowy season, they have many guest stay who like to ski at White Tail, but this past weekend, hubby and I were the only guests. Much to our surprise, they upgraded us to the biggest and most expensive room, free of charge. Beautiful king size four poster bed. Large windows with lace curtains. Down pillows that hug the sides of your face when you lay down. A crisp, clean bathroom, with pedestal sink and shower. They even had Andes mints on our pillows. And absolutely no television. Thank the Lord!!

We ordered the romance package that included the normal bed and breakfast deal, plus a box of decadent French chocolate truffles, which we devoured in 3 days, a fragrant bouquet of one dozen roses, and a dinner out at a local restaurant of choice.

When we arrived on Friday, we settled in and after chatting with the innkeepers, we headed out to have dinner at the James Buchanan Tavern and Inn. It's right down the street from our B&B, and has a most AMAZING New Orleans style Cajun food. It recently was adopted by new owners, who came to Mercersburg from, you guessed it, New Orleans. For an appetizer, we enjoyed a Chicken and Anduoille Sausage Gumbo sprinkled with white rice and a salad with an interesting dressing made of plain yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and finely diced cucumber. Very refreshing. For our main fare, my husband enjoyed a bone in pork chop stuffed with a crab cake and I enjoyed crab cakes (WAY more crab than cake, yummy!). Each was served with roasted mashed potatoes and green beans. To top it off, we had their Black Raspberry and Strawberry swirled cheese cake. YUM-O!

After dinner, we decided to walk down to the Star Theater. This old theater used to show silent films way back, and now the owners have added a big screen and sound system, while preserving the charm, and created a movie theater. Can't beat seeing The Bee Movie for 5 bucks each, huh! And the movie treats were no more than 2 dollars.

On Saturday, we got to sleep in a little (the innkeepers asked if we wanted to), and woke up to a breakfast of fresh fruit, blueberry buckle, pancakes, and bacon. YUM! After breakfast, we, even though it was windy and cold, decided to go on the walking tour of Mercersburg. So many beautiful historic homes. And did you know that James Buchanan, the 15th president, grew up there? He was the only president from PA.

After our tour, we decided to go to Hagerstown, the nearest "big" city, have lunch, and go see another movie. Since we loved to see movies at least 2 times a month before we had our son, we wanted to see as many movies as possible this past weekend. So, we went to see the movie Enchanted, which was really cute and just plain fun. If I tried to explain it, this post would be WAY longer than it is already. After the movie, we did a little Christmas shopping and then headed back to get ready for dinner.

This was the evening that the inn was taking care of dinner. So, we decided to dine at Flannery's, an old Irish pub. It was great to had a 50 dollar tab waiting for us, so we were able to pick about anything on the menu. I had a spicy vegetable coconut curry and salad, while my husband had crab cakes served with this sinful ball of breaded and fried blue cheese mashed potatoes. I thought about ordering that as a side, but shuttered to think about how many calories was in that let alone how many I'd already consumed since arriving. For dessert, since we had money left over, we each ordered our own. I had a chocolate moouse truffle and hubby had an apple crisp. We decided to take home the pumpkin cheesecake. We didn't want to have to be rolled out of the restaurant. Ha!

After dinner, we headed up to the Mercersburg Academy to be filled with the music of Mercersburg Orchestra and Chorus. They performed a lovely group of pieces from Handel's Messiah, some Rachmaninoff, and some familiar and unfamiliar carols. It was so nice to listen to this beautiful music and be filled with the spirit of Christmas. It was also nice to just be together as a couple, something we don't get a whole lot having a toddler.

All in all, we had a fantastic, restful weekend. Something we'll probably do in 5 more years, perhaps sooner.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2007-11-29T18:07:00.000-05:00

My son has a funny fascination with my chapstick. I'll find him sitting on the floor with the cap off. Hand to mouth, shaking his head side to side with his tongue sticking out. He's using the cap, not the actual stick, to put the chapstick on. He's a bit confused, so I try to help him by showing how I do it, and then let him let me put some on his lips. He ends up wanting to try and eat it. I get his top lip, but he sticks out his tongue and ends up licking it. I guess that's why they make it taste good?

It's really cute, just as long as he doesn't start rubbing it on the dog's rear end. That would be really gross!

A Mother's Job is Never Over

2007-11-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

Note to self: Never change a diaper in the dark to prevent a child from waking up. One must ALWAYS turn some sort of illuminating device on to better see a rear end.

My son woke up while my husband was getting ready for work. I heard him, so I got up, but before I could get to his room, hubby rushed in and closed the door. Apparently he was trying to get him to go back to sleep. Hubby had to change his diaper, which was very wet and poopy. After changing and rocking him, hubby brought our son out with no success. After hubby left for work and our son was fed, I got him down from the booster seat and let him play while I fixed my breakfast. As I was sitting down to enjoy my breakfast, I saw this unusual shadow on the back side of my son's sleeper. I got a little closer, gagged from the odor, and realized that he has messed outside of his diaper. Apparently, hubby, while putting a clean diaper on, managed to only cover one butt cheek, leaving the other free. And now, it was my job to clean it up. Have no fear, supermommy is here! Reminds me of the explosive diapers when he was an infant. I shutter to even think about them. Ahhh, what a wonderful life!

Post Office Angel

2007-10-28T15:45:00.000-05:00

This forward was sent to me, and I thought I might share. It is just so sweet and kind, and it put a tear in my eye:

"This is one of the kindest things I've ever experienced.

I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a kind soul
working in the dead letter office of the US Postal service.

Our 14 year old dog , Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.

She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when
Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that
I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday
and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredit h and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it.

Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of st a mps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold pa per on our front porch addressed, "To Meredith" in an unfamiliar hand.
Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called,
"When a Pet Dies." Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and thi s note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for
helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I am wherever there is love.

Love, God"

Never A Dull Moment

2007-10-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

Well today was an interesting and exciting, to say the least, day. Let's just say that God has a really big sense of humor.

James and I went to the mall to get some new shoes and a belt for him. Note: if you have a Children's Place Outlet near you, you MUST go shopping there. They have the BEST deals on clothes, and now they even have shoes!

But first, I went over to the Stride Rite shoe store to get him re-measured. I browsed around the store, but didn't find anything I liked. Most everything was a little too pricey for what I wanted to spend. Then I browsed around Children's Place, and I bought 2 pairs of shoes for the price of one pair at Stride Rite. Amazing! Where else can you get a pair of nice suede shoes for 5 bucks?!?

Anyways. . .after sharing a yummy Auntie Anne's pretzel with my son outside, I noticed that he needed a diaper change. It was time to go, so I just decided to change him in the back of my van.

Lately, he's been really hard to change, and I practically have to wrestle him to stay still. And, boy, was I in for it today! I imagined someone sitting in their car watching me and getting a huge belly laugh for what you're about to read.

Well, I wasn't expecting a messy diaper, so I just laid him down on the changing pad, ready to just put on a clean diaper. No wipes needed, right? Nope! So, picture this, I was scrambling for the wipes with one hand and holding him up with the other so he wouldn't make a mess. Then, I hear this squeal from James and I look over and he's peeing on himself and it's hitting his face and getting all over my car. He stops finally and I clean his bum off and he wiggles away from me before I could get the new diaper on. The little stinker. I catch him, and then I see this lovely stream of pee hitting the floor. Guess he wasn't done! So I quickly grab the dirty diaper to try and catch it, but the non-absorbent Velcro strap gets in the way and now I have pee running down my hand and arm. So finally he was done, and I got the new diaper on.

Whew! What felt like an eternity was probably only like 10 minutes, but jeez God, could you have picked a better day for this? Never a dull moment! That's for sure!

10-20-30

2007-10-18T14:17:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine posted a meme on her blog and I thought I'd partake since I've never done a meme before.

10-

10 years ago I was a love-struck junior in high school. I had been writing love letters to a guy I had only seen at church twice. His sister thought I might be interested so I took a chance and started writing to him and talking on the phone. I was excited because soon I was going to be meeting him officially for the first time. It was his birthday and I was going over to his mom's for dinner for our first date. He was attending Valley Forge Military College, and was coming home for the weekend. Heck of a first date, huh?

20-

20 years ago I was in first grade at The Banner School. My teacher was Mrs. Campbell. Grumpy old woman she was! I remember that our school was in an old white farm house on Patrick Street. Our class room was on the top floor, and we had to go up a long and steep set of stairs. I remember my friend Matt bringing his golden retriever puppy to school and it peeing on the carpet. I remember a little french student named Jean Baptist was visiting with us and he got us into all sorts of trouble. We decided that it would be cool to melt crayons on the radiator and smear paper in it to create art. Mrs. Campbell put all of us in detention.

30-

30 years ago I wasn't even born.

What about you? What were you up to 10, 20, and 30 years ago?

Fall Decorations

2007-10-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

The crisp fall weather put me in the mood to do my decorating for the season. I love to dress up my home. . .when I get the chance. The problem is when I get in the mood for any kind of crafty project, I get very focused and tend to partially ignore everything else. Here's what my son was doing while my back was turned. And yes, he climbed in there himself!

Here is the result of my decorating. Enjoy!

Are You Ready?

2007-09-28T12:38:00.000-05:00

Vacation

2007-09-26T14:06:00.001-05:00

Just got back from our vacation. You might be thinking, "oh she must have gone to the beach or some place warm", but no, I went to Ohio. Lovely, flat Ohio. My husband is from Ohio, the Dayton area, and he has some family out that way as do I, in the Columbus area. We stayed at his aunt and uncle's home, which was great because we didn't have to pay for a hotel. While we stayed with them, it was nice to be able to visit with family.

Since having a child, I've begun to appreciate more the value of family, which is why I enjoyed our vacation so much. While we were there, it was really important for my husband to visit his relatives whom he had not seen in 10+ years. While sitting in Aunt Shirley's (my father in law's aunt) living room, I saw pictures. Old pictures. And new pictures. Pictures of my father in law's biological mother, who died in her 30s. I saw pictures of us, my husband, myself, and my son. I had sent Aunt Shirley a photo Christmas card, and she had it displayed among other photographs. I saw pictures of my father in law as a baby, adolescent, and teenager. My husband was stunned to learn that his dad looks very similar to what he, hubby's father, looked like as a child. Perhaps that means that hubby has good genes, and he'll look the same when he's an old man.

It was really great to meet Aunt Shirley, as well as some cousins and second cousins and third cousins. Let's just all call them cousins, because it gets too confusing after the second. I mean, aren't they all just family.

While we were in Dayton, we went to the Hospice Nursing Home, where my husband's grandmother (his dad's step mom), is staying, for now at least, as she battles cancer (Please pray for her). This was the second time I've met her, yet I felt so close to her because she became family to me when I got married. It was very difficult to see her so weak and thin. She has to only weigh 100 pounds if that. We brought her a bouquet of flowers, and of course she got to see her great grandson, and her grandson. I only hope that we brought a smile to her heart and helped to brighten her spirits. The chemo wasn't working, and there's nothing else that the doctors can do except help manage the pain. My only hope is that she is saved so that she'll be going to Heaven to be with Jesus one day. It was so hard to leave her because we are afraid that this was the last time we'd ever see her. I keep playing back in my mind that very moment as I saw her face as we were leaving her room. She looked like she was trying to remember us as she was craning her neck to see us leave. I wanted to stay forever so we could be with her and comfort her, but she needed to rest and so did my son. As we left, we were happy to have been able to visit her, but were sad as well.

On a happy note, my husband got to visit where he and his dad lived when he was a child. He also got to see the home of his late grandfather and also visit his grave. I think the best part of this vacation was going to this old Jim's Dairy Shack, where my husband remembers going with his dad to get a foot long Coney. Talk about good hometown food! If you ever have seen the show Feasting on Asphalt, you'll know what I'm talking about. We also visited some family friends, whom my husband stayed with alot when we was a kid as his dad was getting on his feet after the divorce. It really made me happy because my husband was happy. He was experiencing all the childhood memories he had as a kid. He remarked how he remembered it taking much longer to get to places when he was younger. Isn't it funny how we remember things being so much bigger, yet in actuality, they weren't?

Anyway. . .perhaps it's time to end here. I'm getting tired of typing, and I hear someone calling on the monitor. Until next time. . .

All Done!

2007-08-30T17:18:00.000-05:00

It was a quiet and lovely afternoon at the home of Supermommy. Flying Baby was taking a nap and Supermommy was enjoying the peace and quiet for a little while longer. As she was fast forwarding through an episode of Martha, they just signed up for a more affordable DirecTV with DVR, she hears, "Aaaa, maaaa maaaa" signaling that Flying Baby was finished napping. Reveling in the fact that he had been sleeping for 3 hours, she quietly goes upstairs into his room. As she turns on the light, she sees her son standing at the crib rail bouncing up and down with excitement. As she approaches the crib, Flying Baby signs and says, "Alllll done!" with his little arms. This seems to be his favorite sign language sign. He uses it for almost everything that he feels he's done with, a meal, wanting to go home from a Weight Watcher meeting, and even when taking a nap. It's quite amusing and interesting because Supermommy definitely underestimates the intelligence of Flying Baby.

"Alllll done!"

24 Hours

2007-08-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

24 hours. No TV. No lights. No air conditioning. No electricity.

That's what life was like for my family in the past 24 hours. A huge, nasty storm rolled in Saturday night and lit up the sky with lightening and loud rolls of thunder. Apparently, it knocked over an electric pole and splintered a gigantic tree, which took down more power lines and half of an old produce shack.

Thank goodness we have a corded phone so we could report a power outage at our home to BGE. Then, as I was on hold probably because everyone and their mother was calling to report just like me, I thought to myself "you know they probably have figured out that I don't have power at my house and listening to this recorded message is a HUGE waste of my time". Still. . . my husband and I took turns holding the phone up to our ear in hopes that SOMEONE would pick up. It's like we're on the island of the TV show LOST in the Hatch with the old Commodore PC and the green blinky light. HA!

Talk about the luxury of flicking on a light switch! It's just so amazingly automatic that my hand and brain know exactly where a switch is on the wall. I bet I could go around my house blindfolded and know exactly where every switch is located.

It's also so amazing how easily bored I can become with not having any electricity. So much of what I do involves power. Cooking a meal for my family. Microwaving a bag of popcorn. Turning on a light to see if my son has any poop in his diaper. Charging my cell phone that is flashing low battery.

You know, I could actually read or sleep or just sit and be quiet for a while. And actually I did. Today, I finished reading the entire Bible. My husband and I joined a class at church called Rev Up Your Faith: The Bible in 90 Days. Now I am really excited about continuing my journey as I start CBS (Community Bible Study) in September. Now I have no excuse to complain that a passage is too long because I actually read the entire book of Revelations in one day. How many times can you say that?

It was nice to not have electricity for 24 hours. Despite the ice cream thawing a little bit, we got to talk about more subjects than if we had the television on. And we got to enjoy the sound of silence, minus the revving generators. Oh and hopefully our electric bill will be much less next month, but I'm not counting on it.

Faith Like A Child

2007-08-24T06:53:00.000-05:00

A friend sent this link to me the other day and I thought I'd share it with you. May we all have faith like a child every day that we walk with Jesus Christ.

How To Eat Worms

2007-08-23T18:12:00.000-05:00

Ever since my son was born, my dad has been asking, "when can we go fishing"? You see, my dad loves to fish, but when I was growing up it really wasn't my favorite thing to do. Lack of patience and complete dislike of touching worms probably had something to do with it. So, last weekend my dad finally got his wish, and my husband, son, and I went with dad to a friend's pond and caught a boat load! Dad was tickled pink! My son caught the first fish plus many others. I was mainly there to take pictures, as requested by my mom. Thanks mom, for the great idea because I got some awesome shots! Anyway. . .we had a blast, and my son even got to taste a worm, well almost. Daddy wouldn't let him bite it, but he did get it in his mouth. Here are some pictures of our little fishing trip.

Step By Step

2007-08-14T15:13:00.000-05:00

Yay! We're walking now! Not exclusively, but we're getting there. Here are some pictures of James walking with mommy to get the mail. He made it half way until he decided he was tired and wanted to crawl. Doesn't he look so cute wearing his San Francisco Giants baseball hat? His grandpa got him that.

Sponge

2007-07-11T21:06:00.001-05:00

It is truly amazing to watch my son learn and grow. He is like a sponge that never stops soaking up water.

So we've been trying to teach him sign language and he's finally picked it up. First with "milk", and now today he signed "eat" and "all done". We think he's doing "more" but we're not sure because it looks like he's clapping his hands, which he likes to do ALOT anyways. It's so wonderful to be able to communicate with him and have the ability to know exactly what he wants. For now at least.

Also, one more fantastic milestone, he kind of took his first steps today. We were at my friend Rhonda's, whom we visit practically every day. Might as well just keep a bed made for me. Ha! She watches James while I go work out at Curves and I do the same for her daughter, Hilary. Sometimes we're lucky and Tu Tu (Hilary's great grandma) comes over and watches them. Anyways. . .James and Hilary were playing and he needed to get around her. So, he daringly let go of the coffee table and took two side steps around Hilary.

I was sitting there screaming like a fool "oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh" while bouncing up and down, eyes wide with excitement. I never thought I'd react that way. It was almost embarrassing, but I guess I have every right to do that.

My guess is that he'll be walking by the time he's 14 months, which is in a few weeks. Good for him, bad news for mommy. Friends tell me it's all over when your child starts to walk. We'll see. Maybe it'll help me take off those last 10 pounds I've been trying to lose.

Isn't there a running baby trailed by a running mommy? Lord help me!

Milk, It Does A Body Good!

2007-07-05T17:06:00.000-05:00

Milk! Yaaay! Clap clap clap. Milk! Good job, lil' biddy! Those were our words as we shouted for joy after our son FINALLY signed his first sign.

After having a yummy dinner of Papa John's, we decided to try to reinforce (again and again) the sign for "milk" to see if he would finally do it.

We knew he wanted more milk, so we didn't give it to him until he did the sign, and miraculously he did it!

It's so pronounced and cute with his little pudgy fingers opening and closing. He's even more talented because he does it with both hands! Ooo ahhh.

Now it's on to "eat" and "more".

I'm such a proud mommy!

Me Time

2007-06-14T18:21:00.000-05:00

::Long deep breath in::. . .::long deep breath out::. . .(repeat 3 times).

Between the hours of 7pm and 8pm is Me Time. No whiny one year old. No hubby. Just me. One hour of whatever I want to do. One hour of destressing. One hour of getting my ::bleep:: back together.

Sometimes I decide to read my Bible (hubby and I are doing a course at church called Rev Up Your Faith: Reading the Bible in 90 Days at 12 pages a day), take a walk (maybe come home, ha!), take a long shower, or even pay attention to my neglected ::sniffle sniffle:: blog.

So, as I sit here in silence (you don't get that much when you have a one year old) I am enjoying my one hour of peace and quiet, which every mom should try (emphasis on try) to make time for. And I thought I'd share some photos from our trip to Ohio a couple weeks ago during our "vacation" to visit family. It was the first time my father-in-law got to meet my son, James, and it was also the weekend of James' 1st birthday.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I'm enjoying my Me Time.

Grandpa and James

Grandma Kathy and James

Sleepy Baby James

A Kiss from Great Grandma Cook

Aunt Ashley and Aunt Michelle playing with James

Notice how the booster seat tray gets progressively covered in cupcake.

In the end, even if I've had a bad day, it all seems to melt away when I am able to hold my baby boy and tell him that I love him.

Waiting for Mommy

2007-04-28T15:42:00.000-05:00

I had to run some errands today. Grocery store. . .Target and Toys R US to return a few things. While I was gone, my hubby was holding down the fort with son and dog, Anakin (yes, he's a Star Wars fan). Here's a cute shot hubby took of son and dog. Hope you enjoy it!

Here are two more pictures my mom took of James and I at the MS Walk. Don't you just love that hat? The outfit courtesy of "Gram" (James' grandmother).

Waffles for Breakfast

2007-04-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter, everyone! A day late. Oh well. Having a 10 month old baby tends to keep me away from the computer.

Want to know what my hubby did for me Easter Sunday morning? He brought me breakfast in bed. We didn't have much in the fridge (Sunday is grocery day), but he made the most of it. As I was sleeping peacefully in my nice, cuddly-soft Sleep Number bed, hubby made yummy waffles for breakfast. He crept upstairs to our bedroom and greeted me with "Happy Easter" and a plate fully of waffles and a nice tall glass of milk. Now remember I was fast asleep, so I kind of awoke with a start, my vision was foggy, and I had nasty morning breath. He cowered back a bit because he felt bad about waking me up, but once I realized what planet I was on, I thanked him, gave him a kiss, and was able to enjoy the warm and tasty waffles. And yes, I said warm. He even thought about keeping them in the oven on warm. And. . .AND. . .he even cleaned the kitchen up. How sweet is that! He really never cooks unless he has to. I give him an A+++ for effort. Aren't hubbies the greatest?

Bath Time!

2007-03-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

It's bathtime with baby James! James absolutely LOVES bathtime with daddy. Daddy puts him in his special seat and fills the tub up high. When the water is high enough to reach, James gets to splash splash splash all around to his hearts content. Laughs and giggles fill the bathroom with delight. It fills my heart with joy and puts a smile on my face to hear James and my husband having so much fun. "Splash splash, James. Splash splash," says my hubby. "What should we wash next? Let's wash baby James' arms. Ready?. . ." Isn't that the sweetest? I just had to share some photos I took. How could someone resist that melt-your-heart grin!

Cruisin'

2007-03-13T13:01:00.000-05:00

My son, James, cruised for the first time while we were at Small Group with our church friends. As I watched him slowly and clumsily lift his feet up and down, my little boy started to grow up so fast. I felt a bit anxious and overwhelmed as these past nine months flashed in my mind. I'm not ready for this to happen. Soon enough he'll be cruising fast, then standing alone, and then, heaven forbid, walking! Yikes! It's all seeming to go by so incredibly quick. I wish life had a pause or slow down button. I guess this means that I need to continue to cherish this little human being that God created, take lots of pictures, and love and hug and kiss him as much as possible.

60th Anniversary Celebration

2007-03-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, my family went up to Mechanicsburg, PA to surprise my grandparents with a 60th wedding anniversary celebration. It was a HUGE success, and I wanted to share some pictures of how we decorated and such.

This is the sign that I made so the guests would know where to go.

Here is a picture of the room with all the decorations finished. I was the decorating coordinator, which was so much fun. I really enjoy doing stuff like this. My dad said I should do it for a living or work in a flower shop part time. We'll see.

This is the table we set up especially for my grandparents. We thought it would be nice for them to have a table all their own. Instead of having balloons at their table, I created a pretty bouquet of roses from the supermarket.

This is a picture of the gifts/guestbook table. The picture is a picture of my grandparents on their wedding day. That thick book is the 72 page scrapbook my mom and I created from all the photos that we put together and that guests sent to us. We asked them to send any photos, memories, or memorabilia so we could create a special scrapbook for them. It was ALOT of fun. They are enjoying looking and reading through it.

There's Grammy and Gramps thanking all of the 100 guests who came to celebrate.

These are some photos taken at their home with their great-grandson, whom they so dearly love.

Hope you enjoyed looking at these photos. Let me know if you want to hire me for your next event or celebration. Ha! :)

2007-02-21T17:29:00.000-05:00

My son's personality is starting to really shine these days.

He is starting to cut his two top teeth so he's been a very cranky baby. He blessed us recently by not getting to sleep until 3:30am one lovely Friday night. I think I'm still catching up on sleep from that. Ever since he started to sleep through the night at 3 months, I've been a little spoiled with more sleep than I could ever dream of. Ha ha.

Anyway, the teething is causing him to slobber, chew, and drool on anything and everything. So, I bought some biter biscuits to see if he would enjoy them. And he did. I usually give one to him while I'm preparing his solid food for the morning or afternoon. I set it on his tray so he can practice picking it up (I think he might be right handed). He puts it in his mouth and gnaws on it, but instead of ingesting the gummed-up, soft, pastie biscuit, he spits it out and lets the sticky slobber run down his chin. Makes for a very messy boy afterwards. If a chunk breaks off into his mouth, he scrunches up his nose, squints his eyes, sticks out his tongue and shakes his head. Quite a scene! If I try to take it from him, he cries out in protest, tries to pull it away from me and chomps on it like a little piranha. After a while, he looses interest in the biscuit, and our dog, who loves to beg at baby's feet, gets a nice (nasty?) treat.

So, while I'm wetting a paper towel to clean his little hands, he decides that he wants to be little He Man. My son sits in a booster seat that has a tray with a snap-in removable dishwasher safe tray. He has figured out how to rip the tray off, which has become a habit of his while I'm feeding him. He'll grab the front with both hands, purse his lips, squint his eyes, and yank it off. He ends up hitting the back of his head on the back rest, but it never phases him. I put the tray back and start to feed him his pureed bananas. He reaches forward again and I tell him no! and he objects with a brief cry (ooo, you're such a mean mommy). It's cute though because he also avoids eye contact with me because he knows he's doing something he shouldn't.

I can only imagine what he will be like in a few months. Crawling and into everything! Aah, the joy of parenting.

I absolutely love it!

To All Prune Hands

2007-02-13T18:57:00.000-05:00

Have I got a product for you! I'm so excited about this product, it's given me a new enthusiasm for washing dishes! Uh, maybe not, but you've got to check out the new soap from Dawn. It's Dawn Direct Foam. This stuff is AMAZING! I literally cleaned 4 large pots and pans, several large mixing bowls, utensils, and measuring cups with one pump of this incredible soap. Well, maybe two pumps, but it only amounts to like 1 tablespoon total of foam.

Anyways. . .

It's definitely something that every prune-handed person must go and purchase. Right now. You can do countless loads of dishes (approx. 250) with one 13 1/2 ounce bottle. It's totally environmentally friendly because you're using less water, which is only needed for rinsing. Heck, I could be their new spokesperson!

Okay, so all of you who spend time scrubbing away at crusted over dishes. . .GET THEE TO THE STORE AND BUY SOME DAWN DIRECT FOAM. You'll be thanking me later! I gua-ran-tee it.

Milk Raspberry

2007-01-29T17:39:00.000-05:00

My son has perfected his ability to blow raspberries. Instead of fussing in his crib and crying to alert me that he's awake, he blows raspberries and says "ah bwah bwah bwah bwaaaah. . ." It's really quite funny and adorable I must say.

Except when he blows mama milk raspberries. I was able to stop him biting me while he nursed, but now he has gotten into this messy habit. After he's done nursing, he'll de-latch himself and, while he still has a mouthful of milk, baptize me with a wonderful splatter of milk raspberries all over the place. It splatters all around his mouth and trickles down the side of his cheek, and of course, gets all over me.

Now, I KNOW fellow moms can definitely relate to this. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to stop?

Christmas 2006

2007-01-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures I promised to post. Hope you enjoy them!

This picture was taken at my mom's on Christmas Eve. What a happy and beautiful family!

His Great Grandma and Great Grandpa got him this toy, Baby Tad. He really likes this one because it lights up and sings nursery rhyme songs.

James' Gram, my mom, got him this great puppet. He wasn't sure what to make of it at first. He was wondering how mommy's voice was moving Lamb Chop's mouth.

Doesn't he look so cute? A good friend of mine let me borrow this outfit.

Okay, so I forgot to rotate it, but just tilt your head to the left. Now, doesn't he look like a baby model?

Hope you liked my pictures.

One Sock, Two Teeth

2007-01-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

As I sit here surfing the web, my son is sitting in his seat and keeping himself occupied with . . .his sock. I gave him a stuffed animal, but he decided his sock was much more tastier. I have to admit he looks pretty cute. His two bottom teeth are coming in, which makes for a cranky baby in the AM (Thank the Lord for Infant Tylenol Drops), and he's wanting to chew EVERYTHING! I guess socks taste pretty good, and so do baby toes, mommy's knuckle, daddy's knuckle, and numerous other objects. He's starting to have interest in things that he shouldn't reach for. I guess it's time to start baby proofing everything. Baby gates will definitly be going up very soon. Then comes the plug protectors. And then we have to move everything that is less than 26 inches high up so he can't reach them. Man, babies are so much work! Whew! But it is definitly rewarding. NEVER a dull moment. Except when I have to change poopy daipers. Note to self: do not buy Apricots with Mixed Fruit again because poopy is VERY stinky. Hazerdous waste is more like it! Now I know what goslyn means when being able to smell the poop through their clothes. HA!

Until next time. . .

Tuesday Tip

2007-01-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's been super way too long since I have posted something.

Just a quick Tuesday tip that I tried tonight:

I recently received a nice and super warm LLBean zip fleece shirt for Christmas. After wearing it for the second time, I accidentally got candle wax drippings on it. Oops!

And then I thought, "Oh no, it's ruined!" But actually I was able to fix it and my shirt is as good as new with no wax.

Here's what I did. I cut a piece of paper bag about the size of a sheet of computer paper and placed it on the wax stain. Then I took my trusty iron and ironed over it and the wax transferred to the paper without burning my new shirt. Cool, huh?

Hopefully my next post will be this week and I'll show some photos of Christmas. James had a blast, and so did mommy and daddy!

Oh, How Much You've Grown!

2006-11-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

I recently dug out a new toy that I received at one of my baby showers. It's one of those Activity Stations. This one is pretty unique in that it has a detachable seat that spins and rotates around the activity center. When Well, baby James, aka Flying Baby, just LOVES it! I put him in it for the first time, and he just went nuts. The coolest thing is that he has figured out how to walk around it while in the seat, so little by little he pushes with his feeble little legs and actually makes a full rotation. He's such a smart little dude.

It's just so amazing how much he's grown in 6 short months. From being so small and needing an IV in the NICU

to now where he's able to hold his head up and stand on mommy's lap while holding onto my hands.

I am so amazingly blessed to be his mommy. I just love watching him grow, and he gets to be more and more fun everyday. God really did think this out, even to the most minute detail. I mean, what will He show me next. Thank goodness babies don't come out of the womb knowing everything. How boring would that be!

Give Thanks

2006-11-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that yours was a blessed and wonderful one. Our little family had a lovely time with my parents and grandparents. Here is a beautiful picture that a friend took of our family. There's my dad and mom in the back on the left, myself, hubby, and James on the right, and then my grandparents (my mom's parents) in the front. Isn't that a great picture? Everyone was smiling and looking at the camera at the same time, even baby James too!

A Loss For Words

2006-11-21T11:53:00.000-05:00

Ever since I have become a mom, my memory has been less than perfect. I think that after delivering my son the doctors must have taken part of my brain. Along with losing my mind, I seem to not have as great of a vocabulary as I once did. Or at least I can't say what I mean with the right words. Just like this weekend after attending our Saturday church service.

We were chatting with our lovely friends, Tom and Jen, about the upcoming concert at our church to benefit the Young Life Capernum Project. One of my favorite Christian artists, Sara Groves, is going to be sharing her pianorific talents with us. Since we will be attending the church service that is before the concert, I thought we might have to leave our seats and come back in for the ushers to accept our tickets. So, I thoughtfully asked my friend, Jen, "will we have to evacuate the auditorium?" She and my husband looked at me with puzzled faces, "evacuate the auditorium?!?"

Puzzled by my own words, I tried to correct myself, but no appropriate word could hop into my brain and out my mouth. I was completely at a loss for words. My brain had just totally shut down.

Does this happen to every new mother? If it does, God should put a warning on the little baby's forehead that says, "Will Cause Permanent Brain Damage".

The Five Factor Personality Test

2006-11-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

I found this test while reading goslyn's blog. So, I thought I'd take the test and it came out pretty accurate. Check it out!

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have low extroversion.
You are quiet and reserved in most social situations.
A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you.
You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people.

Conscientiousness:

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

You have high agreeableness.
You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.
Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.
You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism:

You have medium neuroticism.
You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic.
Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy.
Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is low.
You're a pretty conservative person, and you favor what's socially acceptable.
You think that change for novelty's sake is a very bad idea.
While some may see this as boring, many see you as dependable and wise.

The Five Factor Personality Test

"Let's Start Over, Honey"

2006-11-07T17:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted something on my blog. I guess I'm not as much of a writer as I thought. Or perhaps I just don't have as much time as I thought I did to blog as much as I thought I wanted. Or maybe I haven't experienced anything that I think is worth sharing with anyone who cares to read this. But, alas I have something!

My son was born in June, so that makes him a little over 5 months old now. The first few weeks we were home with him I had this strange and frantic feeling that I wouldn't have anything to do staying home with him.

So, in my new mom syndrome state of mind, I decided that I was going to fix up our 1st floor half bath. I made a list: new light fixture, new faucet, paint, molding, and pretty vinyl sticky-back floor tile. I was all gung-ho, and I had decided that I was going to do it all by myself and that I would have so much time on my hands because having a new baby to take care of doesn't take up that much time at all.

And, boy, was I wrong! Just ask how long those supplies sat in our hallway outside of the bathroom! Well, my husband and I got the energy to finally do everything that I had planned. And hubby would probably emphasize that it was all my plan. So, we painted and put of the fixtures and. . .ROAD BLOCK!

Supermommy: "Hmmm, hubby, how are we going to lay down the pretty vinyl tile I bought that's been sitting in the hallway for weeks? It's going to be difficult to figure out how to make those difficult cuts for it to fit around the toilet and the door frame molding"

Hubby: "Umm, I'm not really sure, Supermommy. Surely our useful Biology and Sociology degrees can help us. I mean, isn't this why we went to college?. . ."

So, the tiles were moved to a new home in the basement to sit. . . for 5 months.

Until last weekend.

I got the gumption (I just love that word!) to get out the handy dandy pry bar and start to chip away the old nasty laminate floor. I was chipping and peeling, chipping and peeling, and then when I got to the toilet I notice some black stuff. Hmm, I thought, this looks like the stuff on Extreme Home Makeover that makes people very sick. Maybe we could apply for the show and I wouldn't have to do this darn home improvement stuff myself.

Uhh. . .maybe not.

But that black stufff looked alot like mold. So I pulled out some bleach and attacked the mold with a scrub brush and it all came out. Ah, the power of bleach. But then I realized that it has probably spread under the adjacent tiles. So there I went, chipping and peeling, chipping and peeling. . . . chipping and peeling, chipping and peeling. . .man this is hard work! Maybe I should wait for hubby to help when he gets home from work.

So, I waited until he came home. We had an intellectual conversation about what we should do. Much like the one above. . .

Supermommy: "Look, hubby, at all the hard work I've done while baby is asleep."

Hubby: "Well I guess I know what we're doing this weekend."

Supermommy: "What, praytell, do you mean my darling hubby? I've decided that we are going to finally finish this bathroom this weekend. Isn't it going to be SO MUCH FUN?"

Well we finally finished laying the tile, after spending about 14 hours chipping up the rest of the tile, removing the old toilet, making several trips to Home Depot to buy supplies including a new toilet that needed to be installed because we were having company over the following day. And after several bouts of spousal bickering and saying "let's start over, honey" we were done!

I don't know about you, but for us, home improvement sure brings out the worst in us. We end up spending a third of the time fighting about how we should do things and who does what etc. etc. It would be a perfect world if we could just call a contractor and have them do it for free.

But what's the fun in that?!

Well. . .back to my mothering duties. Until next time. . .

I can't get no, ba da ba. . .motivation!

2006-10-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

I'm at 14 pounds and counting for my weight loss since I joined Weight Watchers after having my son.

Anyone here ever gotten to the point where they just don't feel like it anymore? Yup! That's where I am. I'm getting a little tired of counting everything that I eat and not being able to eat as much chocolate, brownies, or tortilla chips that I want. I mean I could, but then there's the sometimes dreaded weigh-in every week. And I'll kick myself if I gain anything because I know what I did wrong. Choices choices choices.

I just need some motivation! Gosh darn it! I know that I'm doing well, but sometimes I just want to throw in the hat.

Am I the only one?

The Chewy

2006-10-05T17:59:00.000-05:00

Here is the recipe for my favorite chocolate chip cookie, which I want to share with all who read my blog.

The Chewy (courtesy Alton Brown)

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 c. bread flour
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. baking soda
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 T. milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Pour melted butter in a mixer and add the sugars. Mix at medium speed until blended. Add egg, yolk, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough for a bit, and then scoop out your dough with a #20 scooper onto your cookie sheets and bake for 14 mins. These make big, chewy cookies, so make sure you do not put too many cookies on the sheet (6 max.). ENJOY!

Sunset

2006-10-04T17:12:00.000-05:00

I was at CBS (Community Bible Study) this past Tuesday, and before we broke up into our Core groups we heard a woman speak about her life before she met Jesus. She spoke about how much her life has changed since she met Him. She was raped at a young age and married at the ripe old age of 16. The pain from being raped started a pattern of affairs during her marriage, but then she met Jesus.

One thing that she spoke about really stuck in my head and I wanted to share it with you. She said, and I think she was quoting an old song, "I stand amazed by the power of Jesus. How He could love me, a sinner, unclean."

Thinking about this phrase -I wish I knew the song title- I thought back to a recent picture that I had taken of a sunset. It reminded me that I hadn't seen one in a long time. Ever since my son was born my daily focus has been on him, but that's not a bad thing. Heaven's no. It's just that I realized that I hadn't taken time to breath, time to listen to the wind, time to smell the start of Fall, time to look up into this huge sky and stand amazed by how much Jesus loves us that He paints a beautiful sunset at the end of each day (good or bad) to remind us of His power and love.

When I looked at that sunset I truly stood amazed. I think I probably was there for quite some time because I was able to notice all the beautiful and bright colors that God has created. Radiant pink and brilliant blue. And how He probably just took His powerful and gentle hand and brushed it against the sky to make the whispy clouds. He probably got a little chuckle because it's so easy for Him. God makes a different one everyday. He just wants us to take time to notice. Notice the splendor. Notice the beauty. Notice when the last time you just stood there in awe by the power of Jesus. How He could love you, a sinner, unclean.

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandpa!

2006-09-16T15:37:00.001-05:00

On Monday we're off to Delaware, OH to surprise Flying Baby's great-grandpa for his 80th birthday. This will be my son's first long roadtrip. I'm kind of worried because usually what hour happens during car rides is he falls asleep. While I know that this is good in one way, a 6 hour nap might not be such a good idea. Hopefully things will work out alright that when we stop to nurse he'll be awake enough where it won't mess up his schedule. At least he normally takes a big nap during part of the time that we are traveling.

Anyway, back to where we are going. Delaware, OH is home of the Delaware County Fair and home of the Little Brown Jug, a famous harness horse race. My grandfather (my son's great-grandpa) has NEVER missed a Jug since 1947, and it started in 1946.

He's a pretty amazing man. Grandpa grew up on a cattle farm in Delaware County, Ohio. When he was a little older (in his 20s), Grandpa's father took an interest in Standard Bred harness horse racing and became a trainer and driver. I guess this is the time when Grandpa started to really develop a love for this great sport and hasn't stopped since. Grandpa worked for the Sunshine Biscuit Company from 1956-1962. While on the job, he fell off a latter and seriously injured his back. While reading a Harness Horse Magazine, which he was an avid reader of, he saw and answered a job ad for the magazine and soon became the Associate Editor of Harness Horse Magazine from 1962-?. He stopped working for the magazine sometime in the 1960s and worked for Hempt Farms, a horse breeding farm, in the advertising and public relations area. In 1976 he became the Deputy Executive Secretary for the Horse Racing Commission of Pennsylvania, and he was also a judge. He retired from the Commission in 1991 as a well respected man of harness horse racing, and he is still a well known and respected man of this sport today.

Grandpa, even though I know you won't be reading this post I want you to know that I am a proud granddaughter. I wish I was an author or writer who could document your amazing life in a book. My short paragraph doesn't do justice to your life and legacy. I hope that someday someone will help you write a book on your life. I would be the first one to buy a copy and I'll definitely want your autograph!

HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA! I can't wait to see your face when we surprise you next week!

Guinea Pig

2006-09-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

Well I finally got my hair cut. It had only been 5 months. I went to Hair Cuttery on Monday afternoon with Flying Baby while he was fast asleep in his carrier. When you go to Hair Cuttery usually you do not have the same person cut your hair unless you request them. It had been 5 months so I figured it didn't really matter to me.

I had this nice young lady with pink and blonde hair cut my beautiful locks. The usual layering and blowdrying straight. Unfortunately, when I got home I noticed that one side was at least a half an inch longer than the other. Oh dear! No wonder it felt funny on my neck. Well I thought I could live with it, but it was really bugging me plus my hubby noticed. So I called Hair Cuttery back and told them of my hair dilemma, and they said I could come back and they'll fix it for free. YAY!

So I went back with Flying Baby in tow (Oh the things we do for beauty) and had another lady cut my hair. Thank goodness pink and blonde lady wasn't there. This new lady was really nice, and she had 30 years experience. She also told me that pink and blonde was new at this. So pretty much I was one of her innocent guinea pigs sent to the chopping block. Oh the poor souls who had to experience her hair cutting "expertise". Never again!

So, the 30 years lady fixed my hair and now everything is just splendid! It's amazing how much better my hair looks now that someone actually did it right. Thank you Hair Cuttery!

Hopefully it won't be so long before my next hair cut.

Until next time. . .

Sugar, How I Love Thee, Let Me Count The Ways

2006-09-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, my husband, son, and I are going up to my grandparents to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday. Of course, me being the nice person that I am, offered to bake a birthday cake for my dad. He likes Key Lime Pie right now, so I found a cake recipe that has a butter layer cake with sweet lime curd filling and buttercream frosting. I jazzed the buttercream up and put lime juice and lime zest in it. Well, the cake is all put together and setting up in the fridge.

You might be wondering why I started this post with "sugar, how I love thee, let me count the ways". Let's just say that during the whole process of making the cake some of it landed right into my mouth. Now I'm am currently trying to loose my pre-baby weight, and so far I've lost 15 pounds of it. But who can resist the luscious texture and taste of yummy butter cake batter and buttercream frosting right off the spatula.

Yes, I have a weakness for sweets. If they were in my house 24/7 I would consume them daily. How come things that taste so incredibly are so incredibly bad for you (if you eat them in massive amounts)?

After I put the crumb coat on, I popped a piece of gum in my mouth and chewed on it while I frosted the cake. Funny thing is I still was in the habit of taking a swipe of the creamy frosting with my finger and sticking it in my mouth. Some how minty chewing gum and lime frosting just don't mix.

Fed up with myself and feeling a little guilty, I quickly stuck the mixing bowl in the sink and filled it with soapy water. Ha! That ought to teach me! Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, he he), I must confront my addiction tomorrow at my dad's birthday party.

But it will be alright. I can definitely handle it. I guess wanting to loose 5o more pounds is a bit of a motivator because I want to get back into my size 8 jeans I wore in high school. Slowly but surely the pounds are coming off thanks to Weight Watchers, Curves, and walking my dog, Anakin, and son, the incredible Flying Baby.

I feel like a new supermommy!

-mommaladybug

Different Life

2006-08-31T15:57:00.000-05:00

As I sit here at this computer thinking about what to write for my very first post, I look back in my life recently and notice how much it has changed. I am a new mother of a beautiful baby boy, and my life is so different now compared to a few months ago. Of course, now I have another person in my life who needs me more than ever, and who depends on me daily to cloth him, feed him, play with him. Now, I can't just get up and go as I please. I notice that I now plan my days more as far as how much time I have to do things. I guess time is of the essence when you have a little baby who is breastfeeding (no, I'm not quite used to nursing in public). It's amazing how much of a bond I have with my son. He's one more person whom I think of everyday on my list of people to pray for. Even though Jesus is number one in my life, my son is my earthly number one (and then comes hubby, of course he understands).

It's hard to imagine life before baby, I have to say. Although... there are a few things that I miss. Definitely being able to go out to dinner and a movie. Lately we've only been going out to dinner because that's all the time we have. Plus, we aren't too sure people would enjoy a crying baby in the movie theater, we don't want to waste our money if that happens, and we don't want to take that risk. Anyone seen Pirates of the Caribbean 2? Guess we'll have to wait until that comes out on video.

I also miss sometimes just being with my husband and watching a TV show. It's funny...we used to sit next to each other on the couch and now it's me, baby on the Boppy, then hubby. Actually having that is almost better because we are watching less TV now. We usually have the TV on but rarely do we watch it because we are too busy marveling at our son who is much more fun. That's a picture of him. Isn't he the cutest?

How can a mother not love a face like that, which greets you every morning.

I look forward to the day that he finally rolls over, which should be soon. A dear friend of mine, who has a one year old son, told me to cherish the moments that I have with him now because everything goes oh so fast. I believe her, and I'm not sure I am completely looking forward to when he gets mobile on his own. It's nice being able to put him down and know that he'll be there when I get back.

Well I guess that is all for today. I hear him stirring, so duty calls.