Responses to...Top 10 Things Never to Say to a Stay-at-Home Mom

A dear mama friend of mine share this list from The Laughing Stork with me this morning.  I obviously had not had my coffee yet and came up with some responses....

Top 10 Things Never to Say to a Stay-at-Home Mom

1.    When the kids are older, do you think you’ll get a real job?

-      I don’t think anyone could afford me.

2.    How June Cleaver of you!

-      Oh no, I’m more like Wonder Woman, thankyouverymuch.

3.    Oh, so you don’t work?

-      Hahahahahahaha.

4.    Since you have extra time on your hands, could you whip up a few dozen brownies for the bake sale tomorrow?

-      Sure! Can you hook me up with some office supplies next time you go into the office?

5.    All day with your kids? I can’t even imagine.

-      I know.  Imagine yours!!

6.    I’m jealous. I wish my husband were rich so I wouldn’t have to work either.

-      Actually, the money we save on daycare is more than my paycheck would be. Also, I buy local in bulk and use coupons. I wish I had money to throw away like you do.

7.    So what do you do all day, anyway?

-      Pfft. How much time do you have? Nevermind, I still have to go to the store, pick up my nephew from school, drop the kid off…talk…to…you..la….

8.    Don’t worry; I’m sure you’re not the only one who’s ever wasted money on a college degree.

-      True.  Think of all of the Art History, Psychology, Philosophy, Nurtituion, and Communication majors out there who are flooding the markets making it impossible to find a job in their field and end up working at Target.  

9.    That explains why your son is so clingy!

-      Explains why your 4-year-old calls you by your first name.

10. Weird. I assumed your house would be super clean.

-      Weird. I assumed my friends had better manners.

      Too much for you?  Here's an card...would you like a cookie too?

Rainbow Rice, Part II

This is a follow-up to our awesome Rainbow Rice Project that we did a few weeks ago. 

I wanted M to do some sensory play with the rice. I knew I needed a bunch for it so I used about 3 gallons worth of rice, divided between six colors.  I didn't even add purple, using that as filler since there's 'waste' every time you use it. I expect to get maybe 5-8 more uses out of this batch. 

This was a lot of fun for little hands (and big hands too.)

We added one color at a time. 

Then mixed it all together. 

He had a blast running his fingers through it. 

Until he realized he could get *IN* it

He's going to love the beach. 

Rice Shower!!

 

Then it was all about the scoops.

EGG HUNT!!

"Do Again, Mama?" 

He loved this, we played in rice for over an hour and a half.  If you don't mind messes, 

I highly recommend this activity to anyone with a toddler. 

**Warning: He did try to eat this as well as got rice in his hair and even up his nose.

Not for the younger kiddos**

Pregnancy, Dos Edition

Pregnancy-

Maddox was a surprise, but you’d think that when I got pregnancy again right after his first birthday it wouldn’t have been such a shock…well you’d be wrong. Very, very wrong. Silly us, thinking that my being on a low-dose birth control and breastfeeding would have been enough. Ha. Ha…. Ha.

Baby #2, or ‘Dos’, as we affectionately call him or her, is due July 23^rd.  RIGHT smack dab in the middle of summer, awesomesauce. I’m really not looking forward to being 9 months pregnant in the middle of the summer, with an active toddler who loves going outside.  Oh, did I mention that we will be moving in June….OY!!

'Dos'

It’s weird, although I’m sure pretty common, I don’t even feel pregnant.  I mean yes, I have a belly and I feel the baby move but it hasn’t really sunk in yet.  I’m so busy with Maddox, work, cleaning, planning the house that I feel so guilty for not being as ‘in tune’ with this little nugget as I was with M. The scariest part for me is that I’m starting my 3^rd trimester and I feel like D-day is YEARS away, when in reality, it’s just months.

Maybe it’s because I’m more relaxed during this pregnancy, all the ‘stages’ are still pretty fresh in my head so I’m not scouring the internet trying to find out if every feeling is normal. Although at my 20 week ultrasound they did find a white spot on the baby’s heart or an echogenic intracardiac focus which they told us was an indicator of a chromosomal abnormality in the baby (most likely Edwards’ or Downs syndrome). Needless to say we were pretty shocked by this news. But after a long, long, long talk (and some research by yours truly) we decided that we would forego any additional testing. If our baby has either, so be it.  We’ll still love it to pieces. No one wants to hear that there might be something wrong with their baby. And we also have our young age, no family history and no other indicators working for us. Again, nothing is a guarantee but I have faith that we will have the child we are meant to have.

20 weeks

Back to more positive thoughts…

It’s crazy to think that in a few short months we’ll be adding to our family, forever changing our happy little dynamic. Will we have another little meatball that looks just like his father?  Or will Joe get the little girl he’s been dreaming about?  Ah, yes. Gender. We never find out.  For soooo many reasons: I love surprises, it prevents us from being buried in baby clothes before the baby is born, and I’m a HUGE procrastinator.   

Although the biggest benefit of not finding out gender didn’t even occur to me until I was at a baby shower (pregnant round #1) and my friend who was having a little boy was constantly being told how Baby Boy was going to ‘just like daddy’ For her ‘daddy’ was out of the picture so w ell meaning party guests who weren’t privy to this info were just opening a painful wound in a pregnant woman.  I didn’t realize until then how much I disliked people making plans for a baby before it’s even here. They will be how they will be, they are little people and will have their own personality and identity. Don’t write their life story before their life begins.

That being said, we are really just hoping for ‘healthy’ at this point. Another little boy would be awesome; M would have a playmate/scapegoat for life and we don’t have to buy any clothes really. At the same time a girl would be wonderful considering how much Joe wants “a little curly haired girl that looks just like my beautiful wife.”  (He does say the right things from time to time.)

Hello Gorgeous! What do you think? Boy or Girl?

Do I know? No. I have NO CLUE. This pregnancy has been so different from the last; more morning sickness, more acne, less weight gain, different (and healthier cravings).  I’m not sure if it’s the fact that I’m in a completely different place than I was when I was pregnant with M.  In less than three years, I’ve gone from single workin’ gal in my apartment to married with two kids buying a house.  

27 weeks

It’s incredibly scary and I’m praying that little dude will be able to handle all the changes too. I'm so very excited for this next child. But I'm also nervous for our happy family unit to change. I'm just going to cherish every moment we have left as a family of three.   

 ♥

Overnight French Toast Casserole

Since my father and sister (remember? I work from home for them) are accountants and Easter fell super close to D-day, April 17th, this year and Joe miraculously ended up having the day off from work the hubby and I decided to cook Easter brunch and dinner from THEM this year at my parents house. Well, I took this opportunity to use my family as guinea pigs for a recipe I found on Pinterest. Mwahahaha....

This is the recipe I found on Ezra Pound Cake and tweaked it a little bit after my first attempt. 

Over night French Toast Casserole 

4tbsp of butter (or marg) melted
3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 loaf of thick bread (I used french) 
8 eggs
1 c Milk
1 tbsp of vanilla
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ginger 
1tbsp of chopped pecans

Mix together butter and brown sugar. Press into the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Dice bread into 1-inch cubes layer over butter/brown sugar mixture. I used almost half a loaf. Wisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. Pour evenly over bread. Sprinkle pecans on top. Cover and place in fridge for 3 to 12 hours.


Preheat oven to 375 . While preheating the oven, let casserole sit for 20 minutes. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with powered sugar, maple syrup, fruit, anything!! Enjoy!! 

Nom nom nom!!

I had 2.....ok, 3 servings...

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

So, Joe turns to me last night and says, "we have a bunch of diced chicken to use up. Why don't you look up one of your Pinterest recipes for a soup or something?"  Um...OK!!! You're enabling me to spend time trolling one of my favorite websites?! *swoon*  I knew I married that man for a reason.

Here's the kicker, I could not find ONE recipe that sounded good. So, I scoured my cupboards (I really need to get on my pantry inventory project...) and saw what I had.  Hmmm...well, from what I had on hand it reminded me of chicken and dumplings...so that's what we're having.   And I rarely measure when I’m playing around so these measurements aren’t exact….please let me know if you like it!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

1-1.5 cups of cooked diced (shredded) chicken
1 can of chicken broth
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of diced carrots
1 cup of diced onions
1 cup of Frozen (you could use canned) peas
1 tbsp of garlic
2 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of Italian seasoning

2 ¼ cup of Bisquick
¾ cup of milk

In a slow cooker set to HIGH. Place chicken, broth, soup, carrots, onions, peas, garlic, pepper and Italian seasoning. Stir together. In a separate bowl mix the Bisquick and the milk.  Knead ten times. Carefully spread/spoon the dough over the rest of the ingredients. Doesn’t have to be perfect , in fact, I stayed away from the edges. Cover for 4-5 hours. Serve and Enjoy!!! 

Yummy goodness mixed together

Dough spread over top, again it's not perfect.  

I used a spatula, that helped spread the dough without drowning it.

I let it go a bit longer than I would have liked too but 

I think this turned out better, honestly. 

Yummy chicken dumpling goodness. 

And the little dude approves so a complete success in my book!!


Oh, and Joe liked it too...

,

Crayons!!

I think everyone has seen the pin on Pinterest with melting crayons in muffin tins. I couldn't find the original source but 'followed' the pictures. 

Woo-hoo!! Crayons!! Who doesn't love to color with their kids?  And what better way to get rid of those mixed matched, half empty boxes or the broken crayons at the bottom of the box then to make fun shaped crayons? This was a lot of fun for me to do but M is still a bit young for this project but I bet it would be fun for some older kids (or teens or parents or grandparents). 

Step #1: Peel crayons. I used an Exacto knife and things went a lot faster. 

Step #2:  Preheat oven to 275°.  Break up crayons into pieces, and place into muffin tins. I used non-stick spray and silicone trays. It took 4-5 crayon halves to fill up these big ones.  I think I'll even put more in the heart ones next time. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until completely melted. 

Step #3: Remove from oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes. Place the trays in the freezer to make the  process faster. Pop 'em out and ENJOY!! 

This batch of crayons is going to a very special little girl who's about to be a big sister!! I'm going to pretty them up and give them to her at her mother's baby shower. Hopefully I will update this tomorrow with a new picture. And I'll let you know how the second batch comes out. 

Gift for the Soon-to-be big sister. 

Rainbow Rice

Like most moms I know, I'm addicted to Pinterest. So many wonderful ideas from creative moms on there. One great idea I saw was dyeing rice with food coloring. So simple and so pretty. 

Here's what you'll need. 

• White rice 
• Food Coloring
• Vinegar 
• Baggies 
• Tin Foil
• Cookie sheets...And that's it!!

Step #1: Divide rice into baggies. I used up the tail end of a huge bag we got from our warehouse store so I put roughly 2 cups into each bag. Next time I'll be making a lot more!

Step #2: Pour vinegar into each bag, I guesstimated and put about 1 tablespoon-ish in each.  Then I added the food coloring, a lot of food coloring, because I wanted nice BRIGHT colors. 

Step #3: The F-U-N part!! Smooshing the rice in the bags. This is the part Maddox really got into, seeing the colors mix and spread over the rice was a lot of fun for him.  I took the opportunity to work on his colors with them (identifying the right color with the right word). 

Step #4:  This part is a bit messy.  Pour the rice from the bags onto cookie sheets lined with tin foil. I had a hard time getting the rice out of the bags. I ended up turning the bags inside out and scraping the rice off the inside of the bag with a butter knife.  

Step #5: Place cookie sheets with rice in a preheated oven set to around 275°. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, stir and repeat. I think mine took so long because I used so much vinegar. 

Step #6: Remove, play, enjoy.  The warm, dried rice was fun to run through my fingers (little dude didn't make it that long and crashed for a nap.)

Soooo pretty!!!! 

Stay tuned for updates on what we do with the rice!!

Original idea pinned from Unplug Your Kids

A Hippie Love Story

A Hippie Love Story

A little back story, I was raised by middle class hippies in Upstate New York, no not New York City, upstate; where all the cows live. I’ve been ‘living green’ all my life. We recycled before it was cool, ate produce from local farms, re-used ‘trash’ for art projects and I’ve continued this with my own son.

Cornell University in Ithaca, NY where I grew up

My husband, Joe, and I met online…not on a classy site like match.com or eharmony but good ‘ol Myspace. Remember Myspace? Yea. Well, it gets better from there, don’t worry. We lived two hours away from each other and did the long distance thing while Joe finished his Culinary Arts degree at Alfred State. I was a supervisor at Borders, it was this place where people bought books before Amazon came along.

Joe and I, pre-baby,  in Time Square 2009

Anyways, he graduated, moved in with me and we lived together for a blissful three years before the unthinkable happened: the jerk got me pregnant. Thankfully, we ended up having the coolest kid ever and I let Joe marry me 5 short weeks after Maddox was born. No, I didn’t wear white; with a newborn I figured I couldn’t fool anyone.

Maddox Orion 

♥ Our Wedding ♥

We decided that it would be best that I be a WAHM (for those of you playing the home game, that’s Work-at-home-mom).  I should mention now that after Borders went bankrupt, I went to work for my father who owns a small accounting business. Yes, nepotism is a wonderful thing.  Joe worked at various restaurants in town before finding his dream job at a local bar & grill under new ownership. I got to say, it’s a pretty nice place and he loves it. So I do too.

Daddy's little sous chef

Back to me now, as a WAHM, I pretty much stumbled through the first year of Maddox’s life. All of my friends were either new parents themselves or had kids 3-4 years before. My parents, Goddess bless them, believe in letting their kids find their own way. So while they would answer questions if I asked, they never hovered or imposed and I love them for that because it made me do the research myself and figure out how I (or we) wanted to raise my kid.

♥

I’m now know everything I could ever want to about breastfeeding, babywearing, cloth diapering,  co-sleeping, sensory play, baby led weaning, Cry-it-out, car seats, I could go on and on. The point is, I’ve learned so much and have had so many people come up and ask me questions that I decided to start a blog to consolidate it all.

Just a taste...

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a guru or wizard or expert on anything. I love to learn new things and share with my friends and family. That is all.