Back in business and November happenings

Storage upgraded: check. Now I can finally get back to posting.


November has been full of fun times.  The weather has been fab, so fab that we were able to go see the Christmas lighting of our local outdoor mall and not worry about Teagan freezing to death.



I ate my weight on Thanksgiving day. Our fridge is still packed with leftovers so I'm still eating my weight.  I have a bridesmaids dress to squeeze into this weekend.  Not good. Parker is continuing the Thanksgiving festivities by serving tea and crumpets to her scarecrow. 



Parker started gymnastics last month and both Kris and I are shocked at what a success it's been.  This little monkey is having a blast on the trampolines, beams, and ball pits.  I waffle on whether or not to get her one of those little inside trampolines for Christmas.  I know she will love it but the fear of how many bones will be broken as a result keep that purchase in my "save for later" section on Amazon. 



There's "that mom" in Parker's gymnastics class.  The one that has her hardcore game face on and is totes serious about getting her 3 year old prepped for the 2016 Olympics.  Gym mom doesn't smile, she doesn't socialize.  She's allupinherkidsface making sure she follows each and every instruction. Hard.core. Geez, I'm not ready for this level of seriousness quite yet.


 I've been getting on lots of my pins and have found some clear winners.  Namely Honey Chicken and Italian Parm Chicken  (4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 16 Ounce Bottle of Italian Dressing, 1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese Italian Seasoning, 4-6 Potatoes scrubbed cut in half or wedges, 1/2 bag of mini carrots). I'm all over crockpot meals. Anything that will make life simpler when I return to work is a bonus for me. And I may or may not have made this single serving choc chip cookie (1 tbsp. butter, melted 1 tbsp. white sugar 1 tbsp. brown sugar 3 drops of vanilla pinch of salt 1 egg yolk 1/4 c. flour 2 tbsp. chocolate chips MICROWAVE 40-60 SEC IN A CUP OR BOWL. single serving deep dish chocolate chip cookie) at noon today while watching 16 and Pregnant.  Judge away ;)

Teagan hit 2 months (post to follow) and still smiles all the time.  Even in her sleep.

Parker is now 25 months, though since that's weird to say I'll stick with two.  She is SO much fun at this age, mixed with days that make me want to throw myself off our roof.  Forever she will keep me on my toes.

She loves to read books to herself, her dolls, and Teagan.  I'm often shocked when she actually reads the books correctly.  Songs are always being sung, she can count to 25, has nicknamed Teagan Teags which is comical since we've never called Teagan that, says "what's that?" I don't know, maybe 718 times a day, and loves kicking around soccer balls.

We cannot get her to bed unless she is wearing a flower in her hair, she knows her days of the week, and she is obsessed with Kris.  Obsessed to the point where it's made me feel upset.

I feel like since I'm speding so much time with Teagan (she's still nursing every two hours on the dot during the day) that it's making Parker feel like I'm abandoning her.  Maybe I'm being irrational (me, nah, never....oh wait...).  Right around the age of two girls tend to gravitate to their dad so maybe it's just the timing of things but it still gets me down.  It's all part of trying to balance the needs of an infant with the needs of a toddler and I'm trying my best to get it right.

Getting Parker to keep shoes and socks on her feet is the impossible task.  The hints of jealousy we saw in Parker due to Teagan are a thing of the past.  Parker loves cooking in her kitchen and feeding Teagan the goods, asks "where's Teagan?" any time T is not in the room, and has lots of fun caring for her during bath and diaper time.

I'm in desparate need of a new vehicle.  Our trip to Ohio this weekend may be the last long voyage for the Equniox.  Squeezing a toddler, infant, and all of our stuff in the car will be near impossible.  There's no room for poor Syd so she will have to stay behind.  My heat broke last week and we took that as a sign that it's time to retire the car that's been with us since I graduated from college.  Now we wait for the perfect GMC Acadia to pop up in the inventory and we're pouncing on it!

The Christmas tree is in the process of being decorated.

My sister is getting married this weekend! I'm the MOH and need to finalize my speech.  FX that Parker, a flower girl, makes it down the aisle.  And FX that everything goes nice and smooth.  I'm beyond pumped to see my little sister get hitched.

I'm all ready for December.  Christmas is my fave holiday and getting to celebrate it with two babes and the best hubs is going to make it that much sweeter this year.

And now I need to hunt down the ahole who just disobeyed my "only ring the doorbell if you're on fire" sign and make him calm the dog down and babysit my crying babies for the remainder of the afternoon. Jerk.

Slacker

I am quite the blog slacker as of late.  I just started to add photos of what we've been up to--eating that delish buffalo chicken pizza wrap a la Pinterest, visiting hands on museums, the zoo (in November!), scoring ah.may.zing Black Friday deals in the comfort of my own home via online shopping, day dates with the hubs--when Google tells me I'm out of photo space.  Ummm, help anyone?

I'll be back when I figure this one out. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and scored some major shopping deals.  Now onto peppermint flavored everything, Christmas tree cutting Clark Griswald style (on our agenda for tomorrow), and enough Home Alone and Christmas Vacation until you can't take it anymore. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Gnocchi Soup

My gnocchi was begging to be used in a non-traditional manner.  Typically I serve it up with olive oil, chicken, veggies, and parm but I wanted something different this time.  I found this recipe which recreated OG's soup.  Somehow all the times I've dined at OG I've missed this soup.  Weird. 

The end result was fab.  I subbed milk for the half and half, cut out the carrots (since someone fed the entire 2lb bag to the dog), and omitted the celery as well since I'm not a huge fan.  The leftovers are now sitting pretty in Mason jars in our deep freezer waiting to be devoured on a busy evening.  I have a slight obsession with freezer meals so this recipe made me feel happy all over. 


I'm looking forward to Kris being off the next ten days. We're kicking it off with seeing a parade, Santa, and Christmas lights tomorrow, gymnastics class for Parker on Saturday, and lots of staycation fun--hands on museums, jungle gyms, shopping, etc.  Making enough eats to feed a small army is also in the works for Turkey day.  I'm gonna have some fun bringing new Pinterest recipes to life.  I'll report back.

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Author: CopyKat Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart half and half
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1 cup onion, finely diced
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 14 ounce cans of chicken broth if you enjoy thick soup, use one can
• 1 cup carrots, finely shredded
• 1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
• 1 package gnocchi, cooked  (you can find these in gourmet/pasta section of the grocery store - you may want to cut the gnocchi in half if it is large, or purchase the mini size if available)
• 1 cup of fresh spinach coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add the flour and make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half.
Cook gnocchi according to package directions.
Into the roux, add in the carrots and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick, add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasoning; simmer until soup is heated through.  Before serving season to taste by adding additional salt.

Birth Story

Since we're nearing the two month mark it's about time to finally post Teagan's birth story.  Check out the new page if you're into another lengthy read.  Four entire Word document pages again.

After I had Parker, Kris videotaped me swearing up and down that I would never, ever, EVER, subject myself to the sort of unnecessary pain that a drug free birth brings again as long as I lived.  Welp, I obviously changed my mind.

Part of it was guilt.  I went sans drugs with Parker so I felt that Teagan deserved the same birth experience.  I'm real good about putting pressure on myself. Another part was my overall dislike of many meds.  So what the hell, might as well give it another whirl.  As I was in triage unknowingly about to birth my baby in mere minutes I was so regretting this decision.  Gah, the pain!

No time for an epidural even though I was begging everyone for one. I'm glad that my time was up. That moment of feeling it all as your baby is birthed into the world is such a raw, powerful experience that I'm glad I was able to go through again.  I feel more confident than ever when the time comes to meet the next one. I say that now...

A Day in the Life

I get asked how life is with two little ones all the time so here's a little snapshot of my day.


Yesterday:
6:10am: Kris broke his cuddle time short with Parker and she didn't approve.  Up for the day she was.  That wonderful husband of mine toted the babe around until he handed her off to me at 7am. Loved that extra hour of sleep.



7:00am: not regretting my choice to drink coffee while nursing.

7:15am: Teagan wakes.  Parker does an epic mix of whining, screaming, and crying, "Mommy, Teagan needs breastmiiiiiiiillllkkk."  Many times when I nurse Teagan I'll turn the TV on for Parker so she's always desperate for nursing time.



Teagan nurses, Parker watches TV, and I zone out on my phone.

7:30am: TV is off.  Parker protests in her not so quiet voice.  Breakfast time.  I balance a crying baby between heating up pumpkin pancakes and slicing apples. Sydney jumps up on the edge of the table and knocks down Parker's milk.  Parker screams bloody murder.  Teagan screams.

8:00am: "Mommy pick up, mommy pick up!" It is now evident that 6am was entirely too early for some little girl to wake up. Teagan gets Moby'd, I try carrying Parker at the same time, but when I have to set her down the screaming continues.  OMG I'm going to scream.



9:00am: I've looked at the clock five thousand times and the minutes are creeping by while the screams continue.  All those tantrum resolution tricks in all those books can suck it.  The only thing that works for us is getting out of the house.  Off we go.

9:15am: We're at PetSmart to look at the fish and birds.  I see a bird for $549 (for real?) and of course it's kitty adoption day.  Parker is unhealthily obsessed with cats. She stares at the cats and people tending to them awkwardly for like 20 minutes.  I finally convince her to leave with the promise of stopping next door at Marshalls to play with toys.



9:45am: Marshalls.  I like this store because they've got their shopping carts right.  You can fit both an infant car seat in the big part and a toddler in the seat.  Makes sense, right? Maybe Old Navy, which is right next door, should get that message. Back to the point...

10:00am: life is good until this point.  I'm finding cute clothes.  Parker is occupied with a toy.  Teagan is sleeping peacefully.  Now Teagan wakes and she's pissed.  Wet diaper and starving.  Thankfully there is a family dressing room (also a good idea, Old Navy...nah, I'm not bitter about that store in the least) so I'm able to change and nurse.  Parker realizes she's exhausted and freaks the eff out.  I thank God for YouTube and find some Sesame Street.




10:15am: for like the only time in her life Teagan nurses for more than 5 minutes.  Parker's screams go in and out.  Apparently when I am asked for "a new one," I'm not picking the right new YouTube.  Go figure.

10:20am: regret leaving the house with my entire soul.



10:30am: I am buying those cute shirts I found, dammit, screaming children and all.  Weekday shopping = short lines so we're good.

10:40am: Parker is still screaming.  Teagan is now on a napping strike.




11:00am:  still screaming.  When is nap time again?

11:30am: early nap.  Looking forward to Teagan sleeping so I can paint our entryway bench (pics to come!) but she's not on the same page.




12:30pm: Parker's crying.  Come on, up already?



And it continued like that all day.  Mad toddler, wakey baby, mom who wanted to do nothing but rock silently in a corner. A good, strong run followed by a steamy shower in our new master bath (pics to come of that too) and I no longer felt like I was losing my mind. 



Today though? Easy peasy again.  Teagan has been asleep since 9am (it's 3pm now).  I've watched a movie and ate B&J's Late Night Snack (choc covered potato chips are genius). I made an appointment to get my hair cut.  Parker is in a pretty decent mood and is going on hour three of her nap.  I've done some odds and ends around the house.

Roll with the good, roll with the bad.  No matter the day, we are blessed.

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback to the Seinfeld episode where Kramer had his Asian friends sleep in dresser drawers.

Can't leave out the smiley babe.

Happy hump day!

Happy Halloween!

So what if it was 40 degrees and slightly raining and we have a 6 week old and a toddler who refused to wear her costume? It's Halloween and rain or shine you gotta go out and get that candy. It's just what you do. 

It took a little bribery to get the costume on,  hearing "I want candy" on repeat, and a few layers on Teagan but we made it out of the house. 

And now we have a pantry full of sweets that I must consume.  Kit Kats/Almond Joy/Reese Cups/all that peppermint bark I made + losing my motivation to work out thanks to the cold weather = keeping those last 6 pounds on for a while.

Someone painted a pumpkin at school.

Butterfly princess #1 and 2. 

You can see sheer joy in Parker's face. Sydney was having a great time too as she planned her escape route.

Let's not forget all the fun Teagan was having too. 

Maybe they'll like Christmas better?

Doubtful.

"I want candy, I want candy."

Candy coma.

All ready for the Halloween party at school!

We gave pumpkin painting another whirl.  Brave move if I say so myself after last years, err, experience.

Sassy much?

See that paint creeping up her arms? Precisely why I have to stain remove her clothes every single day.  There was a time in my life where I only did laundry every 3 weeks.  That time is not now.

Happy Halloween!