I said "I do", now mommy of two…

Some of my favorite November Things ~

French Toast Coffee – yes, it does exist and it is deeeee-licious!

Waiting for the Christmas channels to start on XM radio (they’re coming on the 12th this year – can’t wait!)

Gingerbread lattes @ Starbucks…enough said!

FINALLY getting cooler temperatures around here and getting out all my fabulous sweaters and snuggly scarves!

Mailing out our Christmas party invitations!  A big CHECK off my to-do list!

More sunshine in the morning.  The way early sunset stinks, but the bright sun in the early hours helps me get up!

Seeing my breath in the air at night…

HARRY POTTER coming to theaters on the 18th! Excited about a date night with the hubbs!!  Yes, I’m a nerd, I know.  But H.P. is awesome.

My cherry red Christmas pedicure!

Starting the decorating process around the house

Eating chili on chilly evenings =)

The countdown till Christmas!!!   47 Days if I’m correct in my quick count!

THINGS I DON’T GET:  THING 1

Wow – it’s been FOREVER!  I’m a slacker, but now with two little men there is limited or no “me time”.  My me time consists now of laundry, dishes, and maybe a shower if I’m lucky!!  Before baby #2, I could still do those necessary house things and still have me time that didn’t involve housework.

I am starting a new series within my blog titled, “Things I Don’t Get”.  Out and about in the everyday world, we see, hear, or experience things we simply don’t get and should probably look up on google or something.  But I prefer to ponder, exclaim over and be amazed by odd, unusual, weird, crazy, or just plain stupid things/people.

So, Thing 1 on my list is people who jog/walk in the street when there is a sidewalk available 3 feet from them.  Our neighborhood has a mixture of streets with and without sidewalks, some with sidewalks lining either side of the road.  I continually wonder why on earth some exercisers must stay out in the road when there’s a daggum sidewalk RIGHT NEXT TO THEM.  Joggers, walkers, men, women, people with dogs, people with strollers, multiple persons walking side by side who expect traffic to move way out of the way to navigate their cars around them….really???  It’s called a sideWALK for a reason and it was put there for y’all!  If there isn’t one available, fine, I get that you should be in the road (do note that certain heavily trafficked, non-residential-y type roads should be reconsidered when judging appropriate exercise routes).

I came across a gentleman runner one evening, it was well after 10pm, it was obviously dark, it was raining, and he was jogging not only in the street, but on the wrong side of the street.  I’m not 100% sure, but I believe pedestrian rules/etiquette says that you walk facing traffic so you will always see the traffic on your side as it approaches.  This guy, out running in the rain in the dark, was in the road with his back to me.  STUPID.  Stupid, I say.

With all pedestrian traffic who choose not to use the provided sidewalks all I really want to do is lay on the horn the entire time I’m slowing up to go around them and rig a scrolling LED sign attached to the top of my car like the pizza delivery guys that says “GET OUT OF THE STREET!!!   THERE’S A SIDEWALK JUST TO YOUR LEFT!!!  TAX DOLLARS ARE WASTED MAINTAINING SOMETHING YOU AREN’T USING!!!  WHY MUST YOU INSIST ON WALKING IN THE ROAD ANYWAY??”  Maybe I’ll make the sign.  My husband probably knows how.  Then I can use it to notify other motorists that they forgot to use their turn signal, or that there is a lane divider and they need to stay on their side…or that the phone attached to their ear is hindering their driving performance (see previous post on driving while chatting).

So, that’s Thing 1.

Mexican Two Bean Chicken Chili = CHILI HEAVEN

I helped a girlfriend make this at her house last Friday night and it was deeee-licious!!!  It was super easy to make, tasted awesome, and it seems like it would be fairly easy to take out things you don’t like, add others, and adjust the spiciness level to suit your tastes.  I had to steal her recipe and share it with you!!!  It makes a lot, freezes well and is hearty enough that my hubbs wolfed his down and was satisfied.  Hey – works for me!

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken broth

1 jar (16 oz) thick and chunky mild salsa

1 cup tomato sauce

1 medium zucchini coarsely chopped (about 1  1/4 cups)

1  1/2 cups black beans

1  1/2 cups pinto beans

1 cup whole kernel corn, drained

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 clove garlic, presed

1  1/2 – 2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

Optional toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, sliced green onions or fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

1) Combine chicken broth, salsa and tomato sauce in a 4-qt. casserole dish.  Add zucchini, beans, corn, chicken, garlic, chili powder and cumin.  Bring to a boil; reduce hear and simmer 30 minutes.

2) Ladle chili into soup bowls and top with desired toppings.

Yield: 6 servings (10 cups)

Nutrients per serving:

1  2/3 cups: Calories 290, Total Fat 7g, Saturated Fat 1.5g, Cholesterol 60mg, Carbohydrate 29g, Protein 29g, Sodium 1740 mg, Fiber 8g

Enjoy!!

Balance???

So, here I sit, officially a mommy of two under two.  Well…for another couple weeks anyway ~ Evan’s second birthday is quickly approaching!

But I’ve been thinking about balancing life with these two boys in our lives.  People are asking “how are you, are you sleeping, how’s Evan doing with the new baby, are you finding balance in the new routine?”  Well, I can answer: “fine, kinda, great and Hell No!”  I think balance isn’t the right word perhaps.  We have a little schedule, things I try to incorporate into the days for Evan and Zeb.  Certain regularities they can count on, but everything in between is different ~a bit chaotic, but I’m making it work for me and for us as a family unit.  I think that’s what mom’s do – we make it work.

My already limited “me time” is just about gone.  I try to finish a long email to my best friend since grade school who has moved far away and the computer freezes on me before I can hit send.  Bastard computer.  I’m ready to put kiddos in the car to meet the hubby for dinner and big little man poops in his diaper as we are walking out the door.  I go to the store for bread so we can make sandwiches for lunch and walk out with 2 bags full of stuff, but don’t realize I forgot the darn bread till we get home and end up running to McD’s to get the child some chicken nuggets and apple slices since mommy is an idiot.  I am too exhausted to get up at 6 to shower before both boys wake up, so I spend 30 minutes of the precious, quiet afternoon naptime showering when I wish I were snoozing, too, but I’d rather give up my nap to shower & dry my hair and not smell like feet for the rest of the day.  My husband and I will get takeout food for us because I don’t feel like cooking (Thai, Chinese, Taco Bell….) but we’ll still fix Evan something good and sit at the kitchen table to eat dinner together.  No.  It’s not balanced.  Life as a mommy is completely lopsided.  But you do what you gotta do and make it work.

I feel bad for letting Evan watch cartoons while I nurse, but it keeps him calm and happy for 20 minutes and that’s what I need, so it it so bad?  I leave an Elmo movie on in the bedroom while I clean the kitchen or fold laundry so he can run back and forth…I promise him bubble baths or a trip to the grocery store to see the lobsters if he helps mommy with something…bribery – yes.  Good intentions – yes, also.  At least he’s got preschool a couple days a week and has time to be around friends and activities that are different from what we do together.  I am also so thankful that Zeb is as mellow and chill as he is.  He’s an excellent eater, an absolute pro at nursing and quite efficient so it doesn’t take us that long per feeding.  and he sleeps like a dream (in comparison to his brother at the same age) at night so generally I feel fairly human in the mornings, though I will admit to having become a “coffee person” over the last 6 weeks.  Caffeine in my breast milk?  Yes.  But not that much, so I don’t freak out about it.  Zeb is happy, portable, and Evan adores him (for now!!) and it’s pretty easy to maintain daily daily activities and outings, though my time schedule for prep work is much longer now, but I’m learning & adjusting, and it’s ok!  We’re making it work for us.

I look at my brother and his wife (my best friend since the two of them met), and their twin boys ~ a completely different schedule than us…twin boys who are almost 17 months old and very different than one another.  One sleeps well at night one still does not.  I know it makes them nuts, as well as being very very tired, but they go out and do things when everyone is rested and happy, and their outing times don’t necessarily match up with ours all that frequently, but it works for them!

So to “balance” I say YEAH RIGHT!

I’m just doing what’s right for my family and making it work!

“Sugarpuff’s” Nursery

Well….here I am.  unable to nap while my big little man is napping, and 2 days past Sugarpuff’s due date.  Yep.  “Baby Watch 2010″ is still ON!  I’m fine, I really feel great, but I’m getting antsy to meet my little little man.  Until then, here are a few pictures of his nursery.  A new ceiling fan has been installed since these were taken, but otherwise, this is the finished project, and I’m quite tickled with how well everything turned out.

I painted the wall canvases myself using the crib bedding as inspiration.  And the GORGEOUS curtains were a custom design collaboration between myself and my dear & talented friend and interior designer, Amy Christie, out of Chattanooga, TN.

Generally I’m not a huge fan of dark/earthy colors, but the espresso wood finish just lent itself so perfectly to the safari animal theme.  I’m very pleased with the choice.  Plus it allows the vivid colors of the bedding, curtains & walls to really pop, which I wanted, as this room is a smaller space.  I just wanted it to be a bright and happy place for us and for a little boy.

Also, the good thing about the wall canvases, is that whenever kiddo decides he’s not into jungle animals anymore, I can just take the paintings down and we are still left with an awesome room that could pair well with trucks, trains, dinosaurs, monsters, whatever his imagination leads him to!

This is one of my favorite maternity photos that my sister, Elizabeth, so graciously took for me.  She is quite the skilled photographer and has been “booked” (by us) at numerous family affairs – holidays, birthdays, baptisms, etc.  I am proud to be her first paying client with this particular set of photos, but cannot post more right now as quite a few of them contain baby’s name spelled out in blocks.  We are keeping his name to ourselves until he gets here, which we did with our first son as well.  Then we can introduce him to his waiting brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends!  Any day now….any time….tonight…..right now….we’re ready to meet you, honey!  Come on out!