Battle zone

Every day I go to battle.

My opponent is a worthy adversary.

Weighing in around 16 lbs, he is a force to be reckoned with.

He has tears, screaming and sheer will in his corner.

I have my own iron will, a crib and a monitor that can be turned down with lights flashing in my corner.

He can pull himself up to standing now. And will do it in an instant, in the crib. If he is awake in his crib, he is standing. It does not matter what time, day or night. He is standing.

He screams. I lay him back down. Repeat.

The ultimate goal?

Sleep. Naps. Anything.

We started this battle around 5 months. He tricked me into believing that he was a good napper. I was thoroughly convinced.  He was go down for a nap awake, asleep...it didn't matter. He was happy in his crib and would go to sleep on his own.

Than he figured out how to move. His freedom. His independence. Sleep is not a concern when there are objects to touch, wood to chew on, brother's toys to steal.  A crib is now his prison, stopping him from exploring.

Now, it is a battle.

It takes 20-45 minutes of scream, crying, soothing, belly rubbing before a nap will take place.

Every day.

That is just the morning nap.

We won't even get into the afternoon nap.

My opponent is strong. He is willful. He determined.

I am stronger.  My will is stronger. My perseverance my waiver, but it will not fail.

This boy WILL get on a nap schedule.

I may have lost a few battles, but I will win this war.

Things I learned...

...while being a single parent for the last 4 days.

~ My blankets are not sufficient for one person. I froze. Husband is a furnace.

~ I get progressively crabbier when I have no break from the boys.

~Toy Story movies are my saving grace.

~ I can handle anything...till 8 p.m.

~ Putting Colin back to sleep at 10:30pm, 11:30pm, 12:30 pm, 2am, 5am, 6am and 7am does not make for a nice mommy.

~ It is amazing how the morning light and the sweet, naughty little smile of your baby helps you forget that you were threatening punishment to him multiple times in the middle of the night.

~Single parents are rock stars. I do not know how they do it.

~ Going to the airport to pick up is much more fun than going to the airport to drop off.

~ And last, but not least, when Husband is home all feels right in the world.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday!

It's that time again. Time to publicize the awkwardness that is my life. I was going to do it last week, but than I realized that it was Friday. So, it didn't happen. High five for being on top of it this week.

Awkward~

1. Most of my clothes have some form of baby food/spit-up/toddler food on them. It just appears. Even my clean clothes seem to have it spring forth from some unknown spot.
2. Carrying around a potty seat in a plastic bag, since your toddler is deathly scared of "falling in" and won't go without it. SO, you carry it to your friend's house like it is no big deal. How is that for a haute couture accessory for spring?
3. Aerotek Sales Conference. It is taking Hubby away this weekend. Remember that one episode of the Office where Dwight spoke at a sales conference and there was a lot of flashing lights and loud music and screaming? Yeah. That is an Aerotek Sales Conference.
4. Having a guy come into your office to ask you a question and than start rummaging around. Opening boxes, looking at hard drives, asking where the power cords are. You are sitting there the WHOLE time. He is a managing producer, so you can't really kick him out. So you watch him just look around, for no apparent reason. You ask your boss about it later and it appears to be an odd habit of his. A rummaging through boxes and tapes of other people's shows habit. Who does that?

Awesome~

1. Winning a $50 gift card to Anthropologie on a blog contest! Random generator finally was on my side! Photo used for submission can be found here.
2. I started Weight Watchers and I lost a couple pounds last week.
3. My parents are coming to visit in a few weeks. I am excited to have them here and to get out and do some fun things with the boys.
4. Flowering trees in bloom. Spring is, by far, the best season in VA. Most of the trees here will bloom and it is beautiful. It is not too hot yet and you can walk around and enjoy the flowering buds everywhere.
5. Jack going up to his baby brother, hugging him and giving him a gentle kiss and than tells us that he loves Colin. It sounded more like, " I wuv Cawin", but that just makes it cuter.



The most awkward video. Ever. Ryan will watch it and laugh and laugh. I can barely stand to watch it. It is just SOOOO awkward.






And one more awesome little thing. Jack just asked if I would be his friend. Cutest. Hopefully he will remember that he wants to be my friend when he is 16.

Big fishies and little fishies and TURTLES!

We ventured out to the Virginia Aquarium with some friends this week.

It was the first time Jack and Colin had been to an aquarium and both seemed to really love it.

 Jack was excited to see the turtles. Big ones, little ones, giant sized turtles.

These little guys are fresh water turtles.

Colin was obviously super excited.

Jack decided he was going to be funny and squint for every single picture. He thinks he is hilarious. I was not as impressed.



 This little guy was part of the warm water life that lived in the the underwater tunnel that you could walk through. Colin liked the fish and sting rays that would swim over him.



Sea turtle. They are so huge and graceful. Jack loved to just stand there and watch them.

I like jelly fish that are little and fluorescent. I do not like jelly fish that are the size of frisbees and that will sting you as you swim in the ocean come August.



Jack was able to get a close up view of sting rays and even tried to touch one. Our good friend Roza was very patient with him.

All in all it was a good trip and we are looking forward to going back in the near future. It was the first outing that I did with both boys alone. (By alone, I mean without Ryan) Thankfully, Roza was able to help with Jack while I nursed Colin...and there may have been a bribe of a sucker involved... but we made it! I can go out in the middle of the week with both boys and not lose a child, or have a major meltdown or pull any hair out.

That, my friends, is a success.

7

 

7 months. Colin turned 7 months old a bit ago.

So big.

Too big.

It seems to go that much faster the second time around.

 

He is cute. The cutest.

He can clap.

And crawl.

And laugh and laugh.

He is working on tooth 5 & 6.

 

Naps are still a battle.

He usually wins, but Mom is making a strong comeback.

He is loving solids and put on a pound and 6 oz in 25 days.

I am pretty sure the weight went straight to his rolly little thighs.

Just like his Momma.

  

He is my funny, busy, crazy little man.

He keeps me on my toes.

He keeps us laughing.

We just love him.

First Hints...

 that Spring is on the way!

My walk into work was just a little bit nicer today.

Fresh buds are starting to bloom.

Daffodils have made their way through.

Spring is on it's way.

Comfort food for raining days

It is a rainy, dreary day today. It is the perfect kind of day to make some warm, delicious soup.

I found this recipe while browsing the Internet when trying to use up some of my ingredients in my fridge. My husband is a huge lover of soups, so I figured it was worth a shot. I found this recipe on food.com and it is fantastic. It is a very thick soup, and if you over cook your potatoes, it turns into a thick mashed potato like texture, which we both liked just as much. I adjusted the recipe to suit my ingredients better and it turned out so great. In fact, this is the second time this week that I have made it. The husband asked for it again today!

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

 (My adaptions are in parentheses)

• 3 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced (I keep mine with the peel)
• 1/3 cup celery, diced
• 1/3 cup onion, finely chopped ( I did not have any onion, so I used carrots. I did add some onion powder for flavoring)
• 1 -2 cup ham, diced and cooked
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules (I chose to use 2 cups of chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups of water instead. It had a nice flavor to it.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk ( I used one cup skim and one cup whole, as that is the only type of milk in my house)
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 30 mins

1. Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water/stock in stockpot and bring to boil.
2.  Then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
3.  Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.
4.  In separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook stirring constantly until thick.
5. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form and all milk is added. Continue to stir until thick (4-5 minutes)
6.  Add in cheese and stir until melted.
7. Stir the cheese mixture into the stockpot and cook until heated through. (I also will break up some of the potatoes for thickness. It gets thicker as it cools and next day)

Really. It is so good. I could eat the whole thing. Ryan could eat the whole thing. It is the perfect rainy day soup.

And...

He sounds like a little snorting piggy with his little congested laughs.

And it is March and I forgot to document our day in February.

And I haven't updated any of my pictures in over two months.

And this guy is working on tooth number 5.

And I need to shoot some 7 month pics and do that update.

And his baby blues just kill me with their cuteness.

The end.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday: The sick edition

I have sick boys here. I have a really sick two year old. It is sad. We have been holed up in the house for the last 4 days. It is not pretty.

Either are most of these awkwards...


Awkward:
~Seeing your pediatrican twice in the same week...each time with a different child.
~logging inappropriate amount of hours in the same pair of sweatpants.
~ Sleeping on 6 inches of your queen size bed because a sick, fevered two year old is pressed against your body.
~ Watching Toy Story 3 and Thomas the Train more times than you care to remember.
~ ALWAYS seeming to sit down with one of the sick kiddies and catching the last part of Toy Story 3. And crying every time.
~ Stuff that is green that should not be green.
~ That the tempatures this week have been: 72, 46,63,42... this is why my kids are sick, people
~ Being so exhausted that I fell asleep before taking my shower last night. I have yet to get into the shower today and have been to the doctor and to Target. Thank God for dry shampoo.

Awesome:
~ Colin's lungs and ears are clear...so it is just a cold, probably from insane weather drops...
~McDonald's Shamrock shake has FINALLY arrived her in Hampton Roads. I have been missing them for the last 4 years here. Welcome to Virginia, my long lost friend.
~ Finally getting to drink in the nectar of the gods, aka, a shamrock shake.
~Umm...weekend is almost here and that means I have an extra man to help sub into this sickness ring we are running here.

That is all.

Praying that next week we have lots more awesomes and a no more sickness.