2011 Review

                                                     (click to enlarge)

Merry Christmas

I can't believe 2011 is over already. Where does the time go?

Nighttime Amnesia

For the record, I don't think such a disorder exists...but I'm pretty sure I suffer from it.

Every night at bedtime I take Isaiah to his room and tuck him into his bed. (You can read more about that adventure here.) Once he's asleep I leave the room.

Mysterious happenings go down after I leave the room. I'm not exactly sure what, but something happens. Because every morning I'm awakened by a wiggly bundle of Isaiah squirming around next to me.

First I double check that I am, in fact, still in my bed. Yep, didn't wake up in the middle of the night and opt to go sleep on a lumpy, bumpy, old twin bed with a teeny tiny toddler blanket. 

Then I frantically try to replay the night in my head. OK, I put Isaiah to bed at 9. Went out, wasted time on pinterest cleaned the kitchen. Brushed my teeth. Went to (my) bed. Isaiah woke up as soon as I shut my eyes, of course. I went in and got him back to sleep and ninja hopped my way out of the room so he wouldn't notice any changes in air movement and wake up again. Tucked myself back into bed and went to sleep.

Hmm, I seem to be missing something in my mental replay. I don't remember hearing him wake up. I don't remember going into his room again. I don't remember him coming into our room. Yet, here he is.

I text my husband (or just ask if he's home) to see if he heard him wake up and tended to him during the night. Nope, he has no clue how the child ended up in our bed.

Now either the child has super sneaky, feather light abilities and can wake up, stumble into our room, climb up the bed, slip himself in between my husband and I and get himself back to sleep without ever bumping or waking us OR (and probably the more realistic explanation) I do things during the night and have no recollection of these actions come morning. Thus inventing and self diagnosing myself with Nighttime Amnesia. 

From The Desk Of...

The 10 year old.

Last time I made meatloaf for dinner Tim decided to compile a list of things he didn't like, hence meatloaf being #1 on the list.

                                      (enlarge for clarity)

We told him he needed to balance all this negativity with a "things I love" list. We're still waiting on that one.

P.S. We're having meatloaf for dinner tonight.

It Really Is True...

You can't have anything nice with children around.

Exhibit A: The state of the bathroom after Tim took a shower.

Yes, that is my brand new shower curtain(s) and rod crumpled in a heap on the bathroom floor. How this happened I'll never know, nor do I want to ask any questions to find out.

What's For Dinner?

Tired of turkey? Try this!

Meatloaf Muffins with Mashed Potato "Frosting"

Ingredients:

For the Meatloaf Cupcakes:

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tbsp onion, minced

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 cup ketchup

1 egg

1 tsp salt

For the Mashed Potato "Frosting":

1 lb (about 2 medium) potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved (I used minced from a jar.)

2 tbsp sour cream

2 tbsp chicken broth

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp parsley

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with foil liners.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, onion, breadcrumbs, ketchup, egg, and salt. Place meatloaf mixture into muffin tins filling them to the top, making sure they are flat at the top. Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.

While the meatloaf is baking work on the potatoes.

Put the potatoes and garlic in a large pot with salt and enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat; simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and return potatoes and garlic to the pot. Add sour cream, broth, milk, butter, salt, pepper and parsley and mix/mash like you would with regular mashed potatoes.

Pipe the "frosting" onto the meatloaf cupcakes and serve (I used the zip lock bag method).

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Nothing will keep him from the lollipops!

Accidentally Co-Sleeping

We never planned on being a co-sleeping family. Never in a million years did I think our 13 month old would be sleeping in our bed. It just sort of happened. Not that there is anything wrong with the co-sleeping concept. I get it, really I do. But when I sleep I need my space, just ask my husband. I don't want anyone touching me and I want to be wrapped cocoon style in my blanket atop my mountain of pillows.

Apparently the baby came with a plan of his own. It involved: the big bed + him = the only way anyone was getting any sleep. He began implementing his plan gradually.

When he was first born we had him in a bassinet next to our bed and he tolerated it, mostly. When he got too big for the bassinet but was still waking up every few hours to eat we moved him into a pack n' play, still next to our bed. Once he (finally, after switching to formula between 5-6 months old) stopped waking up 50 billion times a night to eat we thought it wouldn't be long now before he was sleeping through the night...little did we know he had his own plan. Anyway, he got to the point where he would refuse to even go in the pack n' plan and would wake up during the transfer from arms to pack n' play. We tried just putting him down in his crib, once he was a sleep. That seemed to work, for a few hours. Once he woke up he was screaming mad and refused to even lay back down without us having to physically hold him down, which we weren't going to do. So, we would bring him back to our bed for the rest of the night. He gradually shortened the “few hours” of good sleep in his crib to throwing a fit until we just took him to the big bed with us each night.

And THAT'S how it happened.

Now, I do realize we created this monster. We brought him into our bed during night feedings. We brought him into our bed when he had a cold. We would bring him into our bed when we were away on vacation, and so on.

When he decided he wanted to sleep sideways, with his head on one person and his feet on the other, it became a problem. When he began trying to push one of us out of the bed so he had more room, it became a problem. When he insisted we ALL had to go to bed because HE was ready, it became a problem.

He needed an intervention. We knew he was not going to be happy. We devised a plan.

For some reason he absolutely hates his crib. He thinks it's some evil torture chamber. He screams and cries and clutches at your shirt, arms, neck, any thing he can get his little hands on to try and get out of there. We knew a plan that involved the crib would fail.

What we decided to do was put a twin bed in his room instead of the crib. Instead of setting up the whole bed we just put a twin mattress on the floor where his crib once was. That way the height of the bed wouldn't scare him AND if he tried to get out of bed he wouldn't fall to the ground.

We've been using this make shift “big bed” for a week or two now and it's WORKING!!!

He was a little apprehensive about going into his room to go to bed at first but once he realized one of us was going in with him he was ok with the idea. He still wakes up at night and we still have to go get him tucked back in but a few nights he has actually gone back to sleep ON HIS OWN, without us even making it into his room! He's even...wait for it...SLEPT UNTIL 7 AM a few times!!!! If we had known the crib was the only thing holding him back we would have gone on to a twin bed a long time ago!!

Nap Time Activities

Hi guys! It's Isaiah! Usually my mom does stuff on the computer but I thought I'd give her a break today.

So there's this thing called nap time that my Mom tries to get me to do a few times a day. It's where we go lay in the big bed for a while. I don't like it, it's boring. Mommy says I need naps or I get cranky and walk around the house sad and whining. I'm only sad and whining because she isn't entertaining me good enough. She takes me to the big bed anyway.

I came up with some things that make nap time less boring though.

I like to start nap time by singing, like those kids in High School Musical I see on TV. Mommy says I'm a good singer but that I choose the wrong time to do it.

Then I move on to humming. I can hum really loud! Mommy tries to join in but hers comes out like Shhh instead. She isn't very good at it.

I also like to make a sputtering noise with my mouth. That's fun because my hands get all wet with slobber. Slobber is fun to play with.

I also like to wave my arms all around. Sometimes I accidentally hit Mommy in the face, I think it's funny but she doesn't.

Then I play peek-a-boo with the big blanket. That way I can still wave my arms around. I think Mommy thinks it's fun too but she tries not to let me see her laughing. Apparently you aren't supposed to laugh during nap time.

Sometimes I pretend like I'm going to lay there but then I get up on my hands and knees and ram my head into the wall. It makes a loud noise which is cool because it's so quiet in there.

I also learned this really cool thing where I sit up on my knees and bounce up and down. Mommy says, “Isaiah, lay down” a lot when I do this. I just smile at her because it's so much fun.

Sometimes I even stand all the way up and try to look out the window that's above the bed. Mommy picks me up and lays me back down, that's when I know she's serious. I just lay there and look at her. She starts rubbing my forehead and cheek. It feels soooo good that my eyes accidentally close. Then I wake up a lot of whiles later and she's GONE! That makes me sad but then she comes back and lets me get up.

I don't really get it. She takes me to bed when I get sad but then she lets me get up when I get sad. Must be a weird parent thing.

Wordless Wednesday

"Mom, do I look like an evil genius?"

Amber Teething Necklace Review and GIVEAWAY!

I'm sure some of you are wondering what an amber teething necklace even is, well, let me explain and let Baltic Amber Palanga show you.

First some information about amber: Amber is a fossilized resin, not a stone, which makes it warm to the touch, and light weight. Amber is known for its pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. In Europe, amber, a natural analgesic, is commonly worn by babies and young children to help with the pain of teething. For many parents, this is a homeopathic remedy for teething.

How it works: When worn against the skin, body heat warms the beads releasing trace amounts of oil (succinic acid) from the amber. The succinic acid gets absorbed into the body releasing it's natural anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties, making it perfect to sooth teething babies without resorting to medication. Caution! The beads are NOT meant to be chewed on!

A little about Baltic Amber Palanga and their necklaces: We are Baltic amber jewelry manufacturers. We have been making necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry of 100% Baltic amber for 20 years. We can make custom pieces in varying lengths and styles as everything is handmade. The teething necklaces are knotted before and after each amber bead. Should the necklace ever break the beads will not scatter. (Our necklaces held up to a 1 year old and a 10 year old so they are pretty durable and I don't foresee them breaking anytime soon!)

The etsy shop, Baltic Amber Palanga, gave me the opportunity to review and GIVEAWAY a few of their amber teething necklaces, here are our observations.

But first here are just a few samples of what they have to offer:

Once we received the necklaces I put one on Isaiah. I also offered one to Tim who had been complaining of tooth pain. He was in the process of losing a baby tooth and having an adult tooth come in. Perfect! I knew I wouldn't be able to ASK Isaiah how he thought the necklace helped him but I would be able to ask Tim.

Tim said he noticed a difference within a few hours of putting the necklace on and by the end of the day the tooth pain he had been experiencing was completely gone. He would occasionally take the necklace off then put it back on when the tooth was bothering him again. He was very happy that something as simple and easy as putting on a necklace was able to take away the discomfort.

With Isaiah it was a little harder for me to tell how well it worked for him because he ended up getting a cold the same week he started wearing his necklace. I will say that he seemed to handle the cold a lot better than he had in the past. The cold didn't seem to get as bad or last as long as they usually do either, coincidence? I'm not sure. Also, the following week I was feeling around in his mouth and stumbled upon a new tooth that had popped through! I was totally surprised to find it because he hadn't been miserable about it at all! AND did I mention how ADORABLE he looks in his necklace?!?!

As mentioned, Baltic Amber Palanga sent me a few pieces to use for a GIVEAWAY! There will be TWO winners for this giveaway!

Giveaway Rules:

Please leave ONE comment for each entry. Each comment must include an e-mail address so you can be contacted in case you win.

- Mandatory Entry: You must be a public follower of this blog. Leave a comment saying you are a follower AND be sure to include your e-mail address in case you win.

Optional Extra Entries:

- Visit Baltic Amber Palanga's etsy shop then come back and tell me about your favorite item (doesn't have to be teething related either!).

- Follow Baltic Amber Palanga on twitter.

- Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post so I can check it out.

Rules: Incomplete entries or entries that do not follow the rules will be removed. You must be 18 years or older and a US resident. The giveaway will end Sunday, November 20 at 11:59 pm EST. The winners will be chosen using random.org. I will e-mail the winners and they will have 48 hours to contact me back. If I'm not contacted within that time frame a new winner will be chosen.

GOOD LUCK!!

30 Day Shred – Revisited

So, because I feel fat and lumpy I'm starting the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred again.

Now, I'm sure anyone who knows me in real life this is going to think I'm CRAZY and exaggerant (is exaggerant a real word? I'm using it anyway) saying that I'm fat and lumpy BUT I was once told that your weight isn't all about the number on the scale it's also about how you FEEL and I FEEL fat and lumpy! I also weigh more than I ever have before, not including when I was pregnant.

To be honest I didn't give it a fair shot last time because at the end of the first 2 weeks I found out I was pregnant and quit.

This time I'm going to really make an effort to stick with it for the whole 30 days and see what kind of results I get.

Today was day 1 and all I have to say is, torture, pure torture. That. Is. All

I want to take measurements and check my weight so I can keep track so I'll probably add that tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

What's For Dessert?

THE best Apple Crisp! And super simple too!

Ingredients:

6 tart apples - peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, divided

1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place sliced apples in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

In a bowl, mix melted butter, flour, sugar, oats, and the remaining tablespoon of cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle over apples. Dot with remaining 1/4 cup butter.

Bake 45-50 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned and apples are tender.

I like my crisp extra crumbly so before I put it in the oven I made another 1/2 batch of the crumb topping. For the half batch I used 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar, I added a little vanilla and a tiny bit of nutmeg. I added this on top of the first layer of crumb topping then dotted with the 1/4 cup of butter.

It came out so incredible amazing!

Submitted in the I love fall foods linky on Kludgy Mom's blog.

Wordless Wednesday

In The Blink Of An Eye

Our baby is one.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

uh-oh

He Says/She Says

This is an actual conversation that transpired between my husband and I.

The scene: Me: doing random things in the kitchen. My husband: comes in after showering (with a terrible headache)...

He says: "My head hurts so bad it hurt to dry my hair."
She says: "You dry your hair?"
He says: "Uh, Yeah! Otherwise it'd be dripping all over."
She says: "I thought guys just shook off, like a wet dog, then got dressed."

Oh the conversations we have...

Honeymooning Honeys

Natalie, over at Mommy of a Monster is doing a honeymoon link up! Makes sense since she just did the down the aisle link up a few weeks ago.

We had sort of a unique honeymoon where we spent the first week in Luray, Virginia, just the two of us. Then we spent the second week at Rocky Gap State Park (camping) in Flintstone, Maryland with my new family-in-law. This post will only contain the Luray part since that is what we consider the "real" honeymoon. 

Once we arrived in Luray we stayed at Brookside, a cozy little cabin near the Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive (a few of the places we wanted to visit).

So, here we are.

And here's our cozy little cabin.

We spent most of our time driving Skyline Drive, it's so beautiful there! Here's a view of the Shenandoah Valley.

Along Skyline Drive we saw lots of deer and black bear (7 black bear to be exact!). The wildlife is everywhere, right along the side of the road, not even afraid of the passing cars!

We also went to Big Meadows, which is pretty much a huge field full of deer! You can walk right up to them!

We also visited a few of the nearby caverns, Luray Caverns and Shenandoah Caverns. We liked Luray Caverns better, it seemed more authentic and less touristy (yes, I'm aware, they are both touristy things to do). 

Inside the caverns.

And here's a photo of the ambulance we loaded the wrecked motorcyclist into.

Oh wait, I guess that one needs a little more explanation. Yeah, so one evening we were driving down Skyline Drive, leaving the park, and we came upon a motorcycle laying down in the road. At first we didn't see anyone around so we thought maybe they got off and went sight seeing (why would they leave their motorcycle laying down in the middle of the road, still running, to go sight seeing?? I don't know, that's just what we were hoping thought at first). We started to drive around the motorcycle and saw a deer, laying in the road, in front of the motorcycle. Now we realize something isn't right. I back the car up and put the flashers on while my husband jumps out to look for the person. We found him a few feet further down the road face down, half in the road and half in the grass. My husband comes back to the car and grabs some gloves (you might be wondering what kind of person keeps latex gloves in their car, well, a paramedic and an emt, that's who). We go back to the guy and roll him over, he's awake and able to talk but has no clue what's going on. I'll spare you the details of his injuries. We try using our cell phones to call 911 and guess what, there is NO cell service on Skyline Drive!! Not even to reach 911! A few people drive by and we ask them if they can call 911 when their cell phones work again and we wait. And wait. Finally a lady, who calls herself a "local" comes (from who knows where) to help us. She tried using her cell phone to reach 911, or anyone at this point. She has the same problem we did but she says she is able to get a text to the ranger so she tries that and it finally worked! A short time later the ranger (or someone official looking) shows up. While we were glad to see him he was lacking one important thing...911 assistance! Once he saw what was going on he used his radio to call for help and finally, finally, finally an ambulance and police show up! So we helped secure him to a backboard and load him into the ambulance and went on our merry way. 

And that's our exciting honeymoon! 

P.S. I'm not sure why my font keeps changing (from gray to black and back, it's supposed to be gray) and I don't know how to fix it so I'm leaving it.

Wordless Wednesday

First day of 5th grade.

Waffle Cookie Fail

So, remember, here, when I talked about wanting to make chocolate chip cookies in the waffle iron because it would be fun and look neat?

Welll...

It didn't go over so well. I thought I should try it to make sure it worked out BEFORE the party instead of waiting until the day before or the day of to try, and fail.

Here's what happened...

A big pile of cookie fail. The cookies were too soft to remove from the iron so they just crumbled. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong, it could have been a number of things.

1. I used a prepackaged cookie mix (one where you only add like 2 ingredients)
2. Maybe my waffle iron was too hot (maybe if the heat was lower I could have left them on longer and they would have been firmer/crispier)
3. Maybe I tried to remove them too soon (but I was worried they would burn - again, to #2)

If anyone has any suggestions for making successful waffle iron cookies they would be greatly appreciated!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Days

Birthday Ideas

*Disclaimer: This post may be boring to some as it is mostly for my Florida family and friends that won't be attending the party...but you can virtual attend too if you'd like!

Isaiah turns 1 in next month! Ahhh!! How has it been a year already!!

We are going with a balloon themed party because he *loves* balloons and balls too. He even says ba for ball or balloon, not mom or dad, nope, it's BA any time he sees one.

We are having the party at a park because we are inviting more people than we have seats for at our house. Here are some party ideas so far...

Decorations:
I want to have a balloon banner like this one...

Or maybe this (easier but not as grand) one...

I also wanted to make this balloon wreath but since we are going to the park and I won't have a door to hang it on I'm not so sure anymore.

I also thought this would be neat, to have the balloons hanging from the pavilion rafters.

As for food I'm thinking:

Watermelon because it's one of his favorite foods right now.

So is string cheese... 

Chocolate chip cookies made in the waffle iron - they're more fun this way!

Raspberries with chocolate chips in them - so easy and looks pretty!

And last but not least Strawberries cheesecakes!

We will also have a main meal type food, we are currently debating between pizza or chicken. Pizza is easier but the chicken is oh so yummy!