i've moved

Okay ladies and gents. It's official. This blog is dead. No more. Gone forever.

Even thoughI have been slacking with updating lately, I'm back and I have lots of goodies to share with you.

So come follow me on my new blog like the rain .

If you don't, I'll have to come find you.

See you there!

fun art

Judah has really been getting into creativity.

He has creatively colored on my windows with non washable crayon and creatively sent one of those crayons through the washing machine.

Not only does he love to color, he loves him some glue stick. Whether he's using it on paper, smearing it with his fingers or eating it, it doesn't matter.

I used this to my advantage and combined his love and mine (coffee) to make a turkey or "tooky" family.

I'm only kidding about all his new ventures into creativity.

I mean, they really did happen, but that just comes with a busy boy who is locked in the house during cold weather.

This craft luckily held his interest for a while and it was fun for both of us.

I also contributed to our household art while cooking dinner:

Nearly caused a fire.

Dang it.

P.S.

I have been having quite a bit of trouble the last few months posting with this blog and as a result, have started a new one.

Be looking for the link here in a few days.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Reaching Out

I do not mind that my floors that were mopped and tidy are now covered with specks of leftover brunch, sticky dribbles from toddlers with suckers and little bitty foot prints.


It doesn't bother me a bit.
 
I hosted my first Mommy Brunch yesterday and I can't tell you how much I needed and enjoyed it. Being a young married mom, who never wanted to go to college or have a career, but rather be a wife and mommy and future homeschooling (eek!) girl is kind of rare at my age. Most of the Mommy Groups I have gone to were filled with older moms who had stepped down from their careers to stay home, which is fabulous, but just not something I can easily relate to.
 
Over the last year a handful of my friends have had babies and are staying home with them. Is it a shocker that we never used that in itself as a reason to get together?  I have become painfully anti social these last few months and felt like God was telling me to reach out to other moms my age who are probably feeling the same way.
 
So I did.
 
I opened my home to 5 mommies, 2 newborns, 2 infants and 3 toddlers.  We chatted while the kids ran loose and discovered all of Judah's long lost toys. It was wonderful sharing stories, laughing and relating to each other. Kind of made me feel like I still had some life left in me after all these months I've been cooped up.
 
AND I didn't take one picture. Not one. I was having fun and forgot all about it.
 
In other news, look who has finally taken a liking to coloring:

He loves it! Phew. I was in a panic about the winter. It was going to be a miserable time for this little guy with no outside time, so I'm thankful he came around.
 
Lessons I have learned while getting Judah interested in kids crafts:
1. Modeling clay (though, only $0.97) is not good for toddlers. It's tough and not pliable. Stick to Play-Do
2. Get slick crayons. They cheapy ones I bought were hard to use and broke easily.
3. Window markers are great, though, when your child gets a little over excited with the coloring experience, they will not come out of your curtains. Boo.
4. Veggie Tales coloring books. Enough said.
5. My child likes to eat glue sticks and crayons. Gross.
 
.... and the list is growing each day.

1 month

Time goes by so quickly.

He turned 1 month old yesterday.

Caleb, my mild mannered, calm, easy going baby...you're growing.

You have put on a few pounds since coming into this world.

You love to nurse. 

You love mommy and daddy.

You love to be held all the time.

Thanks to my sleepy wrap, it's generally not an issue.

You hold your head up, coo, smile and are the happiest in the mornings.

You get fussy in the evenings, but your bouncy seat calms you down.

You love it when I play with your hair and rub your cheeks. It makes you sleepy.

 Your brother adores you. He brings you your blanket when you don't have it.

He gives you your pacifier when you spit it out, and when you cry he says, "Uh oh. What's that?".

We're so happy you are here and were picked to be our child and part of our family.

We love you, baby boy.

women being honest

While blog hopping last night, I made my way to her blog and saw this video:



It made me cry.

I love seeing women be honest about how they feel.  It's a rare thing to meet a fellow mom and not see the "happy, perfect, got it together face" that I am all to often guilty of showing instead of my "panicked, stressed, haven't had time to look in the mirror today face".

If I were in that video, my card would have said, "if you feel alone, reach out". Because being at home all day everyday can be so lonely. It took me almost 2 years to reach out to other moms. I'm thankful that I did and wish I would have had the courage to do it sooner.

If you were being completely honest, what would your card say?

chocolate, j'adore.

i'm gonna be in trouble.
really big trouble.
i suckered drew into teaming up with me on not eating any sugar until thanksgiving.
this in an attempt to kick my bad pregnancy habits and lose some flub while having the support of my hubs.
this is day 5.
i've been doing amazing
but..
i had the mother of all poopy days.
judah would not obey. at all. i felt like i have been on repeat with him reminding him over and over to obey me.
he didn't want to nap, either.
...and he threw his sippy cup out of his crib splattering milk all over the freshly mopped floor.
drew shampooed our couch and rug last night so i have nowhere to sit in my living room.
my dog has been on high alert since caleb was born and he has been barking at nothing all stinking day.
i'm way behind on dishes and laundry even though i was caught up yesterday.
i don't want to cook dinner.
my skin is dry.
my hair looks ridiculous.

none of my clothes fit.

the boys fell asleep....
i was alone with my thoughts....
i needed chocolate.

and i'm not even sorry
you better believe i licked that spoon clean.

i might not even share.

every good woman has this recipe, but if you've been slacking, you can get it here and send your thanks later.

fall means good eats

Mmmm. Fall.

My neighbors probably hate us for the leafy mess that's in our yard at the moment, but I kind of enjoy it.

I like the crunch under my feet when I walk on them...the way they smell...they way they float about in the wind.

So lovely.

The weather is cool and it makes me want to curl up in a hoodie and sip coffee all day.

Or eat an entire bag of caramels in 3 days.

Ask me if I did that.

I'll lie to you and say I didn't.

Fall also means I can start making soup again.

Drew hates soup. He says it isn't a real food.

Too bad I'm the cook around here :)

 I made butternut pumpkin soup which was absolutely delicious.

I kind of used this recipe.

I don't measure when I cook, so I have to say kind of. Also because I have never bought a leek in my life.

And last but certainly not least, I (in all my June Cleaver wannabe-ness) got up early on Saturday morning and made pumpkin pancakes with my boy, Judah.

Right.

I have a newborn and a nocturnal 20 month old.

I was up under their will, not mine and decided to make the most of the wee hours of the morning.

I just added some pumpkin pie mix into the batter and viola.

Pumpkin pancakes.

Stay tuned for some more yummy copy cat recipes from Panera and Chili's!