Mommy who?

Yes I was a little offended that at 8 months G.E first words were “Dada” even though I had already read that most babies say “Dada” before “Momma” because it is much easier for them to say.  I feed her, burp and change her by default because I am with her 24/7 so my little heart was crushed.  Even at 15 months she tries to say everything but “Mom”, “Momma” or “Mommy”. Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little bit. On two occasions I think I did hear her say it, but still that is NOT enough :) .. So what did I do last night after putting her to bed???.... Went to Google for the answer.  Even after I found that I was not alone, I insisted on searching for ways to encourage the golden words.  A little much right?..  Any advice?!? Guess I will try to leave it alone for a while.

Its that time of the month!

The other day I was in my “once a month” mood and decided that I wanted a chocolate snack. What greatness could get me out of the “TUDE” I was about to unleash on everyone that I saw? And that certainly included my dear, sweet, precious, fussy, whiny, irritable, needy, innocent daughter G.E.   Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies!  I could reward her for her lovely behavior, send her into a sugar comma and finally get some peace to myself for a moment until someone else (loving, sweet, understanding, annoying, messy, clueless, father of my child) came home.  I walked into my kitchen and a voice called to me from another cabinet. I decided to answer. I opened the cabinet and as if I was at the pearly gates of Heaven, music began to play and two Betty Crocker Moist Chocolate Cake boxes called out for me.  Why not try the Chocolate icing recipe that my neighbor Janice had been raving of since I met her about a year ago. The recipe had been handed down to her from her mother.  So I called her and of course the main ingredient I did not have ...Coco.  Everything seemed to be falling in place because Janice had plenty to spare.  When I went to gather the Coco, Janice stressed that I add coffee grinds for added kick.  I thought cool why not. I am down to try just about anything at this point.  Did I have coffee? Of course not! I had espresso but no coffee. So of course she found some to give me. While caught up in the excitement of finally trying one of her childhood favorites the lovely man in my life, who earlier got a small taste of the storm to come, called for details on what he calls “the thing” I needed from the store. While I was picking up my cell Janice asked, “How much do you want?” and I replied, “Oh whatever you have is fine” and went on with “No not regular. I said I needed super… No 18 will not be enough... They have to have a bigger box”.  And sometime while talking to my sweetheart I told her to just add the coffee to the coco she had already put into a container for me. I grabbed the goods and headed back home.  Well everything went well with the cake, but apparently after consulting with Janice the icing had a little too much coffee.  “Oh No! You shouldn’t taste the actual coffee grinds. Maybe you used too much”... “Oh why thank you Janice “I” think I may have”.  All that for a little fix.

As I have said before, I will share the good and the downright bad recipes that I come across. While this wasn’t BAD... It was a little screwed up.

Other than that small error the recipe is very good. The cake is almost entirely gone after 1 day.  I do encourage you to try it, but only after making the necessary adjustments. 

Mommas Famous Chocolate Icing calls for: 1 box of powdered sugar, 4 heaping spoons of coco, 2 tsp. of coffee ( I NOW recommend sprinkling in last until you reach your desired taste), ¾ c. butter, 1 tsp. of vanilla or more, and 2 tbs. of hot water or more. 

Blow the dust off those make up brushes!

Never spend a dime on a makeup brush cleaner again!!!

Answer: Baby Shampoo!

Now I know that there are people who:  A. spend tons on brush cleaner, B. don’t even think twice about cleaning their brushes or C. Never use makeup because they have been blessed by the beauty goddess and should ignore this post. :)

I was looking in the mirror the other morning with disgust at how much I had let myself go. I decided I was going to get back into the swing of things and that started with putting just a little effort into myself.

I wanted to start fresh and clean. To get motivated I decided to first blow the dust off all my makeup brushes and thoroughly clean them. I had heard that baby shampoo works 10 xs better than actual brush cleaner and is sensitive enough to not damage them, but I had no IDEA how WELL it works!!! I have spent tons on solutions used by professional makeup artists and they don’t seem to work as well as this. I have found that I use a lot more of the solution than I do the baby shampoo and I have plenty of baby shampoo on hand (as most of us moms do) at a much cheaper cost.

Good make up brushes are costly! You want to of course get the best use of them, but also know they harbor lots of dirt and bacteria. Washing them frequently will not only prevent this, but will also keep your face clean and healthy. 

While many of us moms barely have enough time to even put makeup on (for those of us who need it…ME), this money saver tip just might lite the spark for you to find that time again.

1. Wet the brush with warm water.

2. Apply a small amount of shampoo to the bristles and work into a lather.

3. Rinse thoroughly and repeat step 2 if necessarily until no color leaves the brush.

4. Allow to air dry.

Another important tip is to “shape” bristles back to its original shape then lay them flat on a paper towel. 

DO NOT place them upright in a container. This will cause water to run back into brush/handle creating a home for bacteria and could also create rust depending on the type of brush. I like to place something like a pencil perpendicular to and under the brush handle to further decrease the chance of this happening. 

Now get cleaning and get to put some time into yourselves mommies!!

Happy 1st Birthday G.E

G.E’s 1st birthday went very well I have to say. I so stressed out more than necessary.  Daddy and I ended up inviting our close friends and family over for a cook-out and made her first party a very casual affair given that 99% of the kids invited are under 9 months old. It was 80+ degrees out so we decided to have a kiddie pool for all the babies interested. G.E loved the pool!! That is her and her friend Camillo. She is so helpful, Isn't She?  Dad’s grilled chicken was a hit (sorry he will not share the recipe with me) and so was my mac and cheese and cold pasta salad. We also had hamburgers, hot dogs, corn, bake beans, watermelon, and of course cake! A ton of food! G.E only had one flipping out moment in the beginning, but the pool solved that very fast.  We had a late start cooking as well. We underestimated the time it would take to finish all the food (I blame Daddy for that estimate), but all in all it went great! G.E had a great time with everyone and that is all that matters. That's her with her smash cake in the "after swimming outfit!

Such a diva! She had 3 outfit changes (Party Dress, Swimsuit, and After swimming outfit! :)

Of course I couldn’t end today without sharing a recipe...  Because we celebrated G.E’s birthday on the weekend before the actual day, it still felt necessary to do something the day of. So we baked cupcakes.  I wanted to try a fresh strawberry buttercream that was simple and also looked good (I don’t like recipes with no pictures). Using fresh strawberries will require A LOT of sugar so don’t be alarmed, it will not be “too sweet”, less sugar will make the buttercream runny.  After hours of searching for something simple and good looking, I found a blog and immediately fell in love with the pictures! (I did add more sugar than recommended. I had very juicy strawberries). It was sooo yummy!! G.E even inhaled 2 cupcakes in a matter of seconds.  Please visit this wonderful blog for the recipe!! Try it and tell her and I what you think! Strawberry Buttercream

Talk to you again very soon!

Technology is NOT my BFF

OFFICIALLY OFF TECH STRIKE

Now that I am over my first major tech crisis of my hard drive crashing and losing a ton of G.E’s first 10 months of life I am back!! (Smile). Thankfully, I have family and friends that are just as camera happy as I am and was able to get a lot of replacements. I thought I would never say this but thank the tech Gods for Facebook and all the pics I had uploaded to share with family as well. While I had the super cute ones printed there were a lot (hundreds) that hadn’t made the cut, but still loved.  What came of all this... I now have downloaded/use Flickr (an online photo album). It’s the only solution I can think of (CD’S get scratched and lost, hard drives crash, photos get damaged or lost).  I also wonder why I take soooooo many pics. Half will never get a second look. What do you all use to protect your little ones pics?

Double Trouble

I have been away too long.. So much has been going on:  my birthday, Father’s Day, etc that I have not had 2 seconds to post, but I just had to get this one in today. More post to come in regards to what has been keeping me busy soon .

However, today I decided to take on my childhood friends 3 month old son Riley. My G.E, now 11 months and “baby Riley” wore me out something major today. I am now sitting in bed at 10pm and its been MONTHS since I have touched a bed this early.  I will say though, that I am very much proud of my G.E‘s behavior today. She did not get too jealous, she was very gentle with the baby and she didn’t get too frustrated with my “off scheduleness”.  Riley’s mom couldn’t recognize a schedule if it slapped her in the face J.   I should have known what  I was in for when I asked as she was leaving how often he ate (every 2 hrs or so) and her response was “Oh I don’t know. Whenever he gets fussy”.  I think he drank 32 oz in 8 hrs!! Now I am not one that has an inflexible/ ridiculous schedule. I have THOSE in-laws that can not travel 2 hrs or plan a grocery store trip if it interferes with their 3 yearr olds schedule and make sure all visits regardless of who you are come with a 2 week notice. However, I do believe that a little bit of a schedule helps my G.E adapt to pretty much any situation.  I don’t just restrict bed/nap time to letting her fall asleep in my arms, but also laying her down awake in her bed around the time she normally takes a nap. I do this so when we travel she is not too hard put to sleep, she is use to both. Finally about mid afternoon I was able to get their schedules somewhat synchronized to the point that nap times were at the same time (I needed a break from both). However, it did create somewhat of a problem when both work up hungry at the same time. I don’t even think that I sat down for lunch until about 4pm. I plan on helping my dear sweet lovely childhood friend on a regular bases because I do understand childcare cost two arms and two legs for infants (hence the reason that I am a stay-at- home), but I need help on how to not be the woman feeding a bottle to a baby in my arms and soothing another by rocking them in a bouncer with my foot again! I don’t know anyone who has dealt with caring for two babies so close in age before! HELP!!!!

Birthday Blues

Ok, so G.E’s 1^st birthday is around the corner and the party supply magazines are rolling in. YAAAY!! However, I must say I am not as excited about it as I once was when I bought that overly priced $20 birthday hat from a specialty shop when she was first born. I am not sure that I even want to have a party anymore. I would just like to do something special with her and Daddy.

At first I wanted this BIG TO DO party extravaganza, but as we get closer to the day and with everyone giving their .02 cents on what her first party should be like, I am hating the idea more and more. The invite list IS the biggie right now.

I have a set of girlfriends (10+) that I have kept in touch with from college over the years and often get together with for “girls night“ every few months. Before I say anything else, I will say that I have a great time with all of them when we do get together. However, on a more personal level there are a few that irritate me a little, don’t see eye to eye with on some issues and are a little too gossipy for my taste. Most of them I don’t see or talk to outside of our gatherings. Through the grape vine I did hear that many of them are wondering what’s going on for the big day. Being in this birthday blues phase (as I hope its just a phase) has me considering not inviting a few of “the girls” most of which are also “childless”. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or create drama, but at this point I want to share G.E’s 1^st birthday with very close family and friends. Not with girlfriends that I or G.E for that matter only see a few times a year . I have even tried talking to G.E’s Godmother (one of “the girls”) about this. She thought the people I tentatively held off the invite list would be quite offended since they are regular guests of the “gatherings“ and did attend the baby shower. (Does that mean I owe them an invite?) I am really struggling with this.

Should I invite “the group” to not upset anyone or have the intimate 1^st Birthday party I want? Am I making a big deal out of this? HELLPP!!!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Now I certainly cant take credit for the delicious recipe but I just had to
share it. I made this the other night as an appetizer and lets just say this ended up as dinner for Daddy and I. We didn't even touch the dinner I had made because we practically ate the whole 22 servings.  I even shared the tiny l bit leftover the next day with my lovely neighbor and she loved it!!

I was having one of those days were I decided to put G.E to bed a little early and prepare a "2 course" meal for Daddy and I. I have a Kraft app on my phone that gives me "Recipes of the Day", "Quick Meals", "Budget Friendly Recipes" and much more and this is where I found this easy recipe.  I like Kraft recipes because everyone that I have tried has tasted really great, are simple and don't have all of those "unheard of" ingredients.

So once I got G.E to bed, I cracked open a bottle of wine and went to work on the dip. Well, I had a few sips first then I went to work. I had to send Daddy out to the store because I had forgot to pick up tortilla chips at the store earlier that day. I popped the dip in the oven and began prepping dinner so that it would be just about done by the time we finished our appetizer. The dip came out just as great if not better than any I have had at the popular restaurant known for this particular dip. However, I realized half way through baking that in the midst of a few sips of wine I forgot to add the parmesancheese. OOPS! lol. After stirring in the parmesancheese and popping it back in the oven for the remaining time everything was back on track.

So enjoy:

What you need:
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
3/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup KRAFT Light Mayo Reduced Fat Mayonnaise (I used regular mayo)
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
*i did add in about 1/3 cup of milk. Some of the reviews I read stated if you drained the spinach too much the dip didn’t turn out so creamy

Instructions:
HEAT oven to 350°F.
MIX all ingredients
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through.
SERVE spoon into 9-inch quiche dish or pie plate

avg rating
total time 30 min

prep 10 min

servings 2-3/4 cups or 22 servings, 2 Tbsp. each

I have included the link to the recipe on Kraft’s site for other tips and substitutes:with tortilla chips or crackers:
Spinach Artichoke Dip

Welcome.. "Whats whispering to you?.."

“What’s whispering to you and will you hear it? Your life is speaking to you and what does it say?“ Oprah Winfrey.
For several weeks I have had thoughts about adding my .02 cents to some type of blog. The idea of sharing my thoughts and experiences, be them good or bad, has crossed my mind on numerous occasions. Last week, Oprah made that statement during the final episode of her show and it has really resonated with me. Therefore, I today have decided to actually take the leap into the blogging pool. (SPLASH!!!). I am not sure if it was the fear of starting something new or the effort of getting it started that was holding me back, but after a few hours of experimenting with layouts, colors, (BLAH BLAH BLAH) I have finally gotten the page to a point in which I am satisfied. Well, I did take a lot of breaks for diaper changes, feedings, playtime, etc.
G.E, as I will refer to her in my blog, is my first bundle of joy. I am sooo proud of her patience with me today. And as I speak of her the “borrowed time” which has allowed me to create my blog and start my first post has just ended. She has decided to chew on mommas freshly cut “Save $1.00” Lysol disinfectant spray coupons as she sits in my lap while I type at the kitchen table. Boy do I love her. The very same coupons that I had hesitated on even keeping in the first place. Why? Because prior to being a mom I was not a “couponer” and clipping coupons simply “took toooo much time and effort”. Now don’t jump to conclusions, I have no intention of signing up for the new hit TLC series Extreme Couponing, but I did come to the decision that it would only be wise to take advantage of some of the coupons that did come my way in order to save some money. As you know we now have G.E‘s never ending expenses to add to our monthly budget, but I will get into “extreme couponing” another day its bed time now.
But before that, I did want to end on this note:
Moms have so many hats to wear and for that I want to remind other moms that we have earned an A+ for effort, patience, commitment, sacrifice and the list goes on. As I have stated in my profile I created this blog because I am learning that motherhood comes with its own set of chapters that belong in a book of its own. I want to share my experiences, questions, "Ah ha" moments and so much more with others and hope to gain knowledge, support and insight from the experiences of other moms I come in contact with through this blog as well. So here goes… I hope you all ENJOY! See you later!
XOXO