One of those days... #194

Today was one of those days. Morenna has been a handful over the last few days... days when my poor husband has been swamped with law school activities and consequently unavailable. Isn't that how it always is? Yes, you nod. But you're really wondering why I have a picture of a toilet posted here, aren't you? I have my relavant reasons.

The temper tantrum Morenna threw yesterday was quite shocking, in my unexperienced (on the flip side as a mom) opinion. We've had our little sin issues before, but this one manifested itself in old fashioned heel-kicking angry 'tude (as Matt would call it). Three-quarters of an hour later, we had peace. And friendship. And awareness of the learning curve ahead.

Today was day two of three without my hubby support. I knew it would be a rough one when Morenna awoke 4 times throughout the night with teething issues. But I was ready for it! Oh, how the mighty fall. Even before her morning nap Morenna had:

• ... somehow gotten herself caught in my Philodendron plant on the mantle and toppled it on top of herself. Dirt and all; and
  
• collected papers off my desk and dumped them in the toilet. I found her seconds later (seconds too late) bent over the toilet swishing them around in the water. GROSS!

So where was Mommy during all this? I hear you wondering. That's just it. I was right there. The whole time. And it still happened. It was just one of those days...

Bring it on.

Winter Joys

Yesterday was a snowy day. And seeing how Morenna had yet to be properly introduced to snow, Matt and I decided it was time. My parents had bought her little rain boots and we used them as snow boots, seeing how her big feet already fit into the T-2 size boots!

(The boots are special ones to us. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but they say "Rescue #4" on them... the exact station where my dad is a firefighter. When we stumbled upon them at Babies 'R Us we exclaimed "What are the odds!" The rest is history.)

It definitely took us longer to get Morenna bundled up than we were actually outside. She appeared a solid combination of the abominable snow monster and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. It made for a good laugh. At her expense.

Once outside, she was very cautious of the white powder, but on the whole seemed relatively unimpressed. I think the bitter wind that was nipping at her cheeks stole most of her attention. After only a few minutes she appeared miserable and cold... so we headed back in. Maybe next year she'll be a bit more interested.

The Snowy Day

It was a snowy day at our house today. I love snowy days, and particularly this one. You see, I discovered last night that I had jury duty today. Though I had been hoping I would be selected, as of last night I wasn't looking forward to rising at such an early hour and leaving Morenna all day (with Matt, of course!).

But wonder of wonders, VA actually received a decent amount of snow overnight... along with so much wind that I had trouble sleeping. :-P When I phoned the jury management office early this morning, I discovered all jurers were dismissed... so I went back to bed. As did Matt.

And now we are all cozy here at home. Together. Let it snow.

Around the House

Tired of all my "Morenna" posts yet? :-) Sorry to be sending a slew of them your way! Here's the last for a bit... a few random ones I captured this month:

As previously mentioned, our bed is one of Morenna's favorite play stops.
Especially favored right when she wakes up in the morning.

Baskets are great for carrying stray toys... or unruly children.

My little BG, playing like a big girl in her room.
And making a big girl mess, as I later discovered.

Angelic Playtime

February 18, 2009
Location: Daddy & Mommy's Bed

Search Rewards? Search No Longer

A few months ago I started hearing about a search engine called Swagbucks. Supposedly this search engine would combine the powerful returns of Google and Ask Jeeves, but also offered points, or swagbucks, for your internet queries. These bucks can be used to purchase gift cards, books, movies - pretty much anything - from the Swagbucks store.

I'm not too into things like this, but one random afternoon I decided to give it a shot after hearing of so many others who had success with it.

I'm so glad I did!

I've been a member since the first of the year and already have enough bucks earned for a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card or a $15 Starbucks card. Can't beat that!

So if you're interested in taking my word for it and giving it a shot, feel free to try it out! You won't be disappointed! (To sign up, you can either click the link above or the banner at the bottom of my blog.)

Going Swimmin'

Last weekend a friend and I decided to take Morenna to a local public pool. After a bit of scurrying through a box of Morenna's old clothes, I unearthed her swimming suit from last summer (size 3-6 months). I had a hunch it would still fit her... and it did. :-) She's growing leaps and bounds - UP - not out, so that certainly helped.

She absolutely adored the pool despite how loud it was. She took turns pretend "swimming" between my friend and I until we were too tired to keep holding her. It was wonderful exercise!

Here are a couple of pictures of her when we were "fitting" her for her suit:

I think the suit definitely fits her better than it did 7 months ago :-) :

Oldie, but Goodie

November 2008
Forgotten, but rediscovered.
Definitely a favorite.

BTW, Happy 11th Month Birthday, BG!

Baring the Shelves

Two years ago this week I moved into then Matt's townhouse. (For those of you doing the math, yes I moved in before Matt and I got married, but it was all on the up-and-up: Matt moved into the guest bedroom and I stayed in the master with my mother. Yes. My MOTHER. :-).) He had been living there nearly a year with a handful of other bachelor guys. Yeah.

Since that time, I merely scooted all my food items into the pantry and that was that. Until last week. Spurred on by some spring cleaning posts, I decided to empty the pantry, clean it, and start from scratch. How fun.

Meanwhile... two hours later...

I was thrilled with the results! First of all, I didn't know I could store so much in such a skinny little pantry. Second, I didn't know so much spoiled food could hide there! Two of my more interesting artifacts were a 2005 box of graham crackers and a 2006 bottle of white grapefruit juice. Yum. I blame Matt. I don't drink grapefruit juice.

Now we have nothing but good food in there and lots of extra space. And no grapefruit juice. Yippee!

A new outlet for self-expression?

I stumbled across a new collaborative web-publishing site today and fell in love. Not quite sure what to do with this new-found interest, but it certainly could be promising. :-) Anyone ever heard of iScribd before?

Cheaper Diapers...

Who doesn't enjoy cheaper diapers now and again? I know I certainly grab them up when I can find them at a reduced price. While I typically do my diaper shopping at CVS, I recently found a relatively good deal at diapers.com! What's even better is that the diapers are delivered quickly (1-2 business days) right to your doorstep. Awesome.

To score the deal, simply log onto diapers.com and select $50 worth of diapers (most jumbo packs are currently on sale right now - although they aren't as cheap as I can get them at CVS, combined with the following transaction they are significantly cheaper) and head to the checkout. In the promotional code box, enter UNDE4330 to receive $10 off your order.

Once your diapers arrive, simply fill out this rebate form to receive back an additional $15! (Simply print and fill out this form and attach proof-of-payment of your Diapers.com qualifying purchase(s) and mail both pieces.)

Like I said, for those times when alternative deals on diapers seem scarce, this is a worthy purchase. :-)

Tagged... Just for You

I have to admit I was happy to be tagged in this random photo tag. I think they are so much fun!

Post the 4th photo in the 4th folder of your picture folders.

I guess it's no big surprise that my picture would be of... Morenna! Probably 80% of my pictures are, although I was kinda hoping maybe one of the lone 20% might be the one tagged. Oh well, I can't seem to get enough of the curious, cheerful face on this little tike. I snapped this picture earlier this month when she was standing at the wicker chair picking at it with her finger trying to understand the pattern.

And now, I tag Sarah M., Jessica, and Janice. You go girls!

Baking Day

Yesterday was baking day in our house. A new phenomena, but definitely a keeper. Why not dirty up measuring cups, spoons and bowls all at the same time?! It's great!

So want to know what we made? Whole wheat waffles*, banana crumb muffins, oat bran muffins*, and breakfast hot pockets. (*Recipe below.)

It was great fun and now my freezer is filled with yummy, healthy, items M can grab and take for breakfast on workdays.

Best of all, Morenna was well-behaved and emptied and examined all the items in her play cupboard while I cooked. It's so nice to freely move around the kitchen without a little one tugging on your pant leg.

Whole Wheat Waffles 1 3/4 cup wheat flour 1 3/4 cup buttermilk Combine and let soak overnight. Then mix in: 1 t. baking powder 1/2 t. salt 2 eggs 1/4 cup coconut oil (or I use 1/2 cup of applesauce) Pour batter onto greased waffle iron. Best if served with fruit syrup.

Oat Bran Muffins 2 cups oat bran 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 2 t. baking powder 1/2 t. salt 1 cup milk 2 T. oil (or 1/4 applesauce) 1/4 cup molasses 1 egg Mix all ingredients together and spoon into a greased or lined muffin pan. Bake at 425F for 15-17 minutes.

Valentine's Meets OBX

For Valentine's Day this year, my husband (and family!) gave me the greatest gift ever: time away with some girlfriends. It was perfect... and now I'm back with them feeling more refreshed and invigorated than ever.

My parents came over for the weekend and joined M in watching Morenna so that I could get away. Saturday I headed south to a beach house on the shores of Outer Banks, NC. There I joined up with seven girlfriends from college for a three day stay on the beach. Though it was super cold, it was beautiful. We pretty much laid around and ate, read, gazed over the horizon and watched old movies. It was wonderful to be without responsibility for a couple of days.

Me with one of my college roommates
and the host of our weekend.

Heaven shines down.

The gang, all together again.

Monday I made the trek back home and was so excited to be reunited with my family... especially my little girl. She did really well considering I was away for two nights. The smile on her face when I walked in was so valuable to me. I love being a Mom.

As a side note, you may be wondering, as some others have, why I would choose to celebrate Valentine's Day apart from my Valentine (now that I have one!). My answer is just this: my husband and I try to make every day Valentine's Day, in that each day we purposely make time to spend quietly with each other, reminding each other just how much we value and cherish the other. So while the card-manufacturer holiday is great for an excuse to go out to eat, sniff brilliant flowers or splurge on an extra 300 calories of chocolate (something else I do just about every day anyway :-) ), M and I don't see it as any more special of a day than today. And that's why my hubby was ok with me being away. :-)

The Finger...

Morenna's finger, that is. It goes where she goes and is her primary method of communication. Every now and then a companion grunt goes along with it... but for the most part it "says" all she needs to say.

"B-b-b-baby!"
Evidence of Morenna's latest fascination with babies,
toddlers and small children, all of whom she dubs: babies.

Her adoration of the garbage men... or truck.
I'm not sure which.

Not the same finger, but the same meaning.
There goes my good box of Wheat Thins.
Ever want to see the inside of my pantry? Ha!
Pretty pathetic after sticky-fingers has been on the scene. :-)

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

Many thanks to Erin over at $5 Dinners for her inspiration with this recipe. I simply added/adjusted a few more ingredients to her wonderful creation. My family loved this and it was so easy to do.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

4 chicken breasts
8 slices of bacon
1 cup bbq sauce (I used KC Masterpiece Sweet & Tangy, and it was perfect)
3 T lemon juice
1 large granny smith apple, peeled & cored
1 T dried parsley (or fresh)
1 t. garlic powder
2 t. sea salt

Wrap chicken breasts with slices of bacon, 2 per breast. Place in a 6 quart crockpot (you could try 4 quart, but may need to lengthen cooking time, especially if your chicken is frozen).

In a bowl, shred apple and mix with bbq sauce, lemon juice, parsley, garlic powder, and salt. Spoon on top of chicken. (If your chicken is layered, place a bit of sauce between each layer). Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or on low for 6-8. If chicken is frozen, lengthen cooking time. Chicken should register 165F when fully cooked.

Enjoy!

Open & Closed

Doors are a new fascination for Morenna. Each day she giggles her way into our bathroom to push open and closed the bathroom door. Why she prefers our bathroom door to all the rest is still somewhat of a mystery, although my thought is that she can finagle herself around the door better on the slippery tile floor. For the last week I've been meaning to capture some of her joy on camera and finally got around to it today. (Note the drool. I told you she was teething.)

Some babies start crying when they discover they've closed themselves in a room and can't get out. Not mine. Once the latch clicks she'll laugh out loud and squeal. Then she goes about tearing the bathroom apart. She's smart. Too smart.

When she's not pulling all the towels down or banging on the tub, she likes to have things passed to her under the door. Today, she started sticking her fingers out and wiggling them around. Too cute!

Triple Coupon Days

It's triple coupon days again at Harris Teeter. I love when they do this! Today I scored free taco seasoning, free worcestershire sauce, 2 free cans of Del Monte vegetables, $0.50 Celestial Seasons Tea, $0.39 organic yogurt, $0.44 Wet Ones (antibacterial wipes) and $0.84 bacon, $0.85 Honey-Nut Cheerios, and more! For those of you on the East Coast with a HT nearby, here are some great coupon match-ups for you!

Walkin' 'n Talkin'

Morenna stands alone now. And she could definitely walk, if she wanted to. I really witness in her a certain fear of falling down. She'll walk all over the place if you hold her hand, or if she's focused on something she really wants... like food. Heaven help her. :-)

Here she is with her signature toothy grin. Aw, I could just eat her up.

Thriving

Dear Journal,

Thriving. I've often voiced to M since Morenna's been born my longing not just to "get by", but to "thrive".

I want to be as a tall oak by a flowing stream that gives brilliant beauty in every season. Beautiful. Useful. Strong.

Yet so often I feel as though I'm a cactus in a parched desert, with just enough water to make it through one more sun-scorched day. I offer little beauty to the world around me. No shade. Just sharp thorns for any passerby.

But even the cactus can flower. It's a choice.

Each tree is beautiful; each serves a purpose in bringing glory to God. I need to find contentment as either, for each relies on equal amounts of God's grace to get through the day.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

Feelin' Sew Sew?

I'm not big into sewing, but my mom always has been (and she's good at it!) and so I have the honor of owning all of her hand-me-down sewing hardware. My current stash boasts of her used (but definitely like-new) Bernette sewing machine. It's been sitting in my closet screaming "USE ME!!!" for quite some time now. I'm usually good at ignoring it, but this quick & easy sewing project is just what I needed to answer the call.

Here 'tis: A child's pool robe made out of a standard bath towel. Isn't it so cute!?

Many thanks to blogger How About Orange for alerting me of this great sewing opportunity. You can download the quick directions here.


Bet I can have mine done before you! ;-)

Sundays and Shadows

Peek-a-boo Toes, 1/11/2009

Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup

I was looking for a simple, but yummy meal to serve my family last week, seeing how there was a lot to do and my parents were coming.

So I decided to get creative and make butternut squash soup in the oh-so-easy crockpot. We had this delicious soup along with Banana Crumb Muffins and a big spinach salad. Yum!

Within the last 5 months, I have become a huge crockpot fanatic. It's saved my life (what little "life" might be left in me at the end of "one of those days"). Back in the fall I stumbled across the blog "A Year of Crockpotting" and it was love at first site. For Christmas, my husband bought me another crockpot (a 7 quart!) to add to my growing collection. Now all I need is the "little dipper" crockpot and I'll be all set! I would highly recommend you browse Stephanie's collection of recipes if you're looking for some inspiration.

And now, for my impromptu Butternut Squash Soup creation:

Butternut Squash Soup

3-5 lbs of peeled, seeded, and chopped (1" cubes) butternut squash
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 large granny smith apple
2 stalks celery (chopped)
3 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup apple juice
Dash of: salt, pepper, cinnamon

Cook the above ingredients on high in a 6-7 quart crockpot for 4-6 hours, or until squash is very tender. (If you find the squash challenging to peel, you can always stick it in the microwave just until soft enough to peel).

Blend squash mixture using an immersible mixer or by placing small portions in a stand-alone mixer. *If pureeing while mixture is hot, be sure to vent the blender lid.

Return to crockpot and add:

4 oz cream cheese (cubed)
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream, half and half, or whipping cream
3 T. butter
1 T. sugar


Cook another 1 hour on medium/low, or until cream cheese is melted and fully blended.

Enjoy!

See, See My Playmate...

Come over and play with me! Aunt Rachel and Kavan came over today to play. Morenna and Kavan usually play well together, but lately we're wondering how the whole "sharing" thing is going to work. Kavan's actually pretty good at it... kinda. Morenna, however, doesn't really have a clue.

It seems to me that a 10-month-old might not quite understand the meaning of "share" when it only is associated with Mommy taking a toy and giving it to a peer. But we'll see how things go... any seasoned moms have suggestions for this?


And aren't Morenna's new little sneakers just the cutest things? Ok, I'll stop now.

One of those days...

Yesterday was "one of those days" in our house. While the snowfall that draped the Virginia countryside in dreamy white was breathtaking, it wasn't the beauty making me catch my breath. It was my baby girl. Yes, yesterday was one of those days where I never really completed anything I wanted to (well, ok, the laundry did get done... somehow), Morenna was constantly pushing my buttons (how does she do that at only 10 months?), my husband made a surprise visit home (skipping classes in light of the snow) and my patience/energy ran at an all time low. Yes, it was one of those days.

But you know what? Today isn't one of those days.

As a stay-at-home mom, I found this post a bit refreshing and a gentle reminder of why I (all of us moms) do what we do.

A Night Away...

Gosh, a night away with my best friend sounded like so much fun! And so many of you agreed with me that the Mandarin-Oriental DC hotel looked like just the place to kick back and relax. Boy, was I wrong. Let me share our weekend with you...

We arrived at the Mandarin around 2:30pm after a leisurely morning browsing the stores at the Pentagon City mall. We had reserved a premiere waterfront suite with a view of the Jefferson Memorial. Our view was definitely beautiful, but our room looked very little like this picture that represented it on the website. It was nowhere near this large. Here's what our room actually looked like:
And what the picture fails to show is the lovely set of railroad tracks directly under the windows. Every 30-60minutes your room starts vibrating when Amtrak thunders past. Great fun. And the furniture was pretty ratty.

As I mentioned, the view was lovely, but the windows were so dirty I couldn't take any good pictures through them. Major bummer. Here's the best one I was able to capture:

The bathroom was very classy, but the marble in the shower had rust stains and the wood vanity was scratched and smudged a great deal. Not the thing you would expect when staying at a five-star hotel and paying an arm and a leg.

We had called in the morning to schedule our reservations for dinner at the hotel's well-known restaurant, CityZen. Having not heard back from them upon check-in, we inquired if we could make a reservation for the evening... and were practically laughed out of the hotel. Apparently that restaurant's reservations fill up approx. 2 wks-2 months in advance. Oh.

I really can't tell you how disappointed we were. I had purchased a special Chinese dress (from Shanghai) for the occasion and, well, there were many other factors this hang-up complicated as well. I admit, at this point I started pouting. Big time. But after a lot of strange events (it would take too long to recount them all) we ended up being given a table for the 6:30pm seating. Thank you, Lord!

The food at the CityZen was delicious (though not even comparable to the stuff we raved about in St. Lucia)! Perhaps the most notable event was that I ate rabbit for the very first time. And it was really good! We did enjoy our time there, although our waitress left a lot to be desired (lots of fun stories there, but I'll save it for another time). But hey, it went with the theme of our weekend. :-) I wasn't able to capture any good pictures of us or the dress, but this kinda shows the artistry of the silk cheongsam. My husband adored it... which was all the mattered to me. :-)

On the whole, we would heartily discourage anyone from going to the Mandarin. I've left out a bunch of stories about the poor service and all the ways they nickle and dimed you out of your money. Probably the real breaking point for us was learning they had a $15 per 24 hour fee for wireless internet. Uh, come on! Even Super 8 motels have that for free. We had a far better experience (and far better suite - a bedroom, kitchen, and living room!!!) at the Reston Hyatt where we spent our wedding night. And it was half the price.

But should you think my weekend tale is over, it's not. On Sunday morning we found out that my mom had experienced some troubling symptons similar to retinal detachment with one of her eyes. Long story short, we had to head home early so she could make a visit to the ER. (Good news, it was a vitreous detachment, and not as much a cause for alarm.) So that definitely brought our already awkward weekend to a dramatic end.

::Sigh:: I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. :-P

Uh oh.

This morning I gave Morenna a box of Cheerios to play with. I should've guessed there might be a mess. :-) This is the first mess of any significance that she's created (I know all you seasoned moms are laughing at me right now) so I acted rather surprised when I saw it. Poor thing, she thought she had done something really wrong.

My parents are coming today and I can't wait. While I'm definitely excited to see them (and Morenna can't wait to see Uncle Buddy, the dog), perhaps my excitement more stems from the fact that they are coming so that M and I can leave. Yup, we're leaving Morenna overnight with Gramma and G-Daddy and heading off to the Mandarin-Oriental Washington D.C. for a night of peaceful sleep and sweet luxury. I. Can't. Wait. More on that later. :-)

Here's another semi-out-of-date, but favored picture of Morenna, below.

1/7/2009

Helpfulness

Today I noticed the beginning of a helpful "big-girl" attitude in Morenna, and what a joy it was! Her new favorite thing? Handing me the clothes out of the dryer.

For being so little, she certainly pulled those heavy clothes out well! I loved the joyful grin she gave me everytime I praised her. I'm so going to love teaching her how to run a home! :-)

Though about a month old, this picture shows something else she loves to help me with, though she's not too helpful...

It's Been A While

I stink at blogging. It's a vicious circle... I don't post, so I obviously don't have floods of people visit my blog. And often when I think of something interesting to post... well, I figure I don't have any visitors so it's not worth it. Silly, huh.

Most of you know that I publish an e-newsletter about the latest goings on with our family. I originally wanted to post all my newsletters here, but didn't want to wrestle with making my blog private. But a new wind might be blowing. Stay tuned for more.

M and I have been really busy with work/school/parenting challenges, hence the lengthy absence. But I know some family members are going to kill me if I don't start updating them on our goings-on, especially with Morenna growing up so quickly! So here's my hopefully-not-empty promise to resume regular blogging soon.

And keep in mind that I will probably make this blog private if I do end up posting often, so if that happens just email me or drop me a note on facebook.

In the meantime, here was our family Christmas 2008 picture for those of you who may not have seen it. :-)

.... A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas has made it's way to our house, albeit a little delayed on account of a hubby with the flu and a little one with a bad cold. But nevertheless, we've had a batch of Spritz Cookies, some Peanut Butter Blossoms and this evening I turned out a dozen homemade Truffles (above). Mmmm. They make such great gifts and are so pretty, rolled in almonds, coconut, powdered sugar and Christmas sugar. Not to mention, well, I mean they're chocolate. :-)

And for those of you who receive our bi-weekly newsletters... no, I haven't forgotten about them. Things have been just so busy that I hadn't had a spare second to turn them out. If you don't get our newsletter, and would like to, feel free to just leave a comment or shoot me off an email.

Merry Christmas to all!

Sing sweet and low your lullaby till angels say, "Amen." A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem while wise men follow through the dark a star that beckons them. A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem. "A little child shall lead them," the prophets said of old. In storm and tempest keep 'em until the bells is tolled. Sing sweet and low your lullaby till angels say, "Amen." A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem. choir Sing sweet and low your lullaby.