Well that was enlightening

This morning, this picture showed up on my Facebook newsfeed. So I thought I would give it a try.  Who knows what valuable insight I could gain from my kid?

1. What is something that Mommy always says to you?

No

2. What makes Mommy happy?

Tickles

3. What makes Mommy sad?

When I'm not tickling you

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?

tickles ( im beginning to sense a theme here)

5. What was Mommy like as a child?

she was little, and pretty

6. How old is Mommy?

3

7. How tall is Mommy?

Very tall! ( holds hand up to an inch above her head)

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?

clean up the playroom

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?

cry

10. If Mommy gets famous what will it be for?

princessing at the music store

11. What is Mommy really good at?

tooties ( she totally means Daddy here)

12.What is Mommy not very good at?

I don't know ( good girl)

13. What does Mommy do for a job?

cleaning up the laundry

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?

peanut butter sauce (ummmmm no)

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?

She shares with my sister

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

The Mickey Mouse clubhouse

17. What do you and Mommy do together?

play

18. How are you and Mommy the same?

were both wearing Tshirts!

19. How are you and Mommy different?

Mommy is old

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?

I don't know, maybe she could give me a kiss and I would know....

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?

The museum and Mexico

Lol, so apparently I'm the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I love to clean and do laundry. Oh and the next time you see me at The Music store, watch out, Ill be princessing my heart out on a mission for fame.

Try it with your kids, their answers may surprise you.



13 years

-------------Warning, extreme sentimentality ahead--------------------------

13 years ago today, I went on my last first date, not that there had been many. I met my husband when we were both 16, in school. He was the cute new guy, and I fell hard. Over the last 13 years we have had our ups and downs, sorrows and smiles, but we've grown closer through all of it. He is my rock, my partner, my conspirator, and my best friend.  He made me a wife and a then a mother, but has never forgotten that I am also a person. 13 years ago today, was the luckiest day of my life.

Strawberry Lemon Muffins

Its starting to feel a lot like spring out there! The grass is growing, flowers in my moms garden are starting to sprout ( my "garden" is still a giant mud pit!) and the girls are bugging to go outside a lot more. One sure fire way to tell that warmer weather is right around the corner though, is the growing selection of yummy berries at the grocery store.
Strawberries are my absolute favorite and I love baking with them. Usually my go to berry baking involves shortcakes, bars, strawberry-chocolate cupcakes and muffins. This year though I'm trying to focus on more healthy snacks for my family. 
A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for flour/butter/sugar free banana muffins that were supposed to be amazing, they were a huge disappointment, but I thought with a few tweaks, the recipe may actually be salvageable. Here is what I came up with.

Strawberry Lemon Muffins



Please refrain from licking your computer screen, or not, but Im not cleaning it.



Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

 2 1/2 cup Oats (old fashioned kind, not quick cooking)

1 cup Plain Greek yogurt
2 Eggs
1/2 cup sugar ( yes the sugar snuck back in)
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/2 cups strawberries
4 whole strawberries
1 TBSP lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Garnish (optional )

1/2 cup strawberries sliced thin

1 tbsp whole oats

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12 muffin tin
Add oats into blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Add in sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and lemon zest and combine. Add yogurt, the whole strawberries, and eggs blend until smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add strawberries and mix. Transfer batter to muffin tin. Top with strawberries and whole oats.
Bake for 25ish minutes, but keep an eye on them. They are done when a knife/toothpick/whatever you use to check muffins comes out clean.
Let cool and enjoy.

Note: One of the mistakes I made with the banana muffins was using paper liners, apparently paper liners do not work well in flour less recipes, so I bake these naked ( the muffins not me, lol).  You could use reusable silicone liners though, if you prefer.

Happy Baking

Nautical Nursery



Photo Source



Photo Source



Ever since I found out that this baby is a boy, I have been scouring every source I can find for nursery inspiration.  At this point I consider myself somewhat of a professional at girls rooms, but boys are a mystery in pretty much every way, and I have to admit, I'm a little lost on how to mesh boy stuff with our home style.

Luckily there are some incredibly talented amateur and professional designers out there and I have found more than inspiration than I can ever use ( short of becoming a Duggar).  Now the hard part will be choosing the inspiration for my own little boys room.
One of the themes I really like is the nautical theme, it would be so easy to do a fully nautical themed room, or just use a few elements to add a little preppiness to your nursery.



I love the color possibilities in a nautical theme. I also really like how it can carry a travel theme without being too mature-looking. Another big bonus about a nautical theme is that it can grow with your baby, or even work for a shared room, just switch out the crib for a mates-style bed and your big boy will fit right in too. 

 

 

 

1. Crab Pillow, $15 Personalised with Love

 

 

2.Burlap Banner $15 Mr and Mrs and Co.

 

 

3. Anchor Wall Hook, $15 The Shabby Shack

 

 

4. Wooden Whale Wall Art, $89 Slippin Southern

 

 

5. Light Switch Covers, $16 SSK Designs

 

 

6. Sailboat Mobile $89 MichimaLLC



Wordless Wednesday - Best Friends

Boogie Wipes wants you to Pledge to Save the Sleeve

Boogie Wipes is out to save your kids sleeves, and if you take the pledge, your family could win one of 1,000 Save The Sleeve Kits, each packed with Boogie Wipes temporary tattoos, a backpack button, Boogie Wipes samples, and coupons. You can take the pledge at, http://www.boogiewipes.com/take-the-pledge/

Love This

Happy Birthday to me

This past week was my birthday, I turned 25 (again).  It was a nice quiet weekend with my family, and it was perfect. We shopped, had a nice dinner out and spent a few hours enjoying the sunshine at the park.
Its weekends like this that really let me remember how lucky I am. 

Lock up your daughters

Introducing my LITTLE BOY who has ( for now) been named Chocolate Bar by his super excited Big Sisters. I am in absolute shock, its a boy!

Old Wives Tales

I am normally a very level headed person, ( if you dont ask my husband), but for some reason, every time I get pregnant, somewhere between peeing on the stick and finding out the gender, I go a little nuts.

It always starts out like a trickle, Ill check the Chinese gender chart, or compare symptoms with past pregnancies, or over analyze the fetal heart rate. 
As my ultrasound nears, It usually gets a little worse. Ill start swinging my wedding ring over my belly on a string to analyze the patterns, every craving becomes a sign, and Ive even been known to come up with a few crazy theories of my own and call them science.
Then comes the week before the ultrasound, and I go completely nuts. I have spent a huge chunk of this week scouring the Internet for new Old Wives Tales.  I came this one and it seemed pretty legit to my crazed pregnant mind, and so I introduce you to, The Baking Soda Gender Test.
Its based on the theory that if you're pregnant with a boy, you will have a higher level of uric acid in your pee, (or something like that).  Basically you pee in a cup, add a Tbsp of baking soda and swirl it around. If it foams, you're having a boy, if it stays flat you're having a girl.
I read a little bit about it before hand, and expected to have to listen for the foaming, or for it to be a small amount ( it was described to be like head on a beer), I was not prepared for this,

Its was like a pee volcano!

If the foam = boy theory really is correct then I think I may be pregnant with the manliest baby in the world !

All of this craziness will hopefully end Monday at our ultrasound and I can move on to obsessing about things unrelated to gender, but until then, here's a breakdown of Old Wives Tales and what they say about the creature invading my uterus;

Spongebob Theory - GIRL

Heart Rate  - If the baby’s heart rate is above 140 bpm, it is said that the baby will be a girl. If it is under 140 bpm, then it will be a boy. Heart rate has been 145-150 every time GIRL

Shape of Belly - If you are carrying high with a big, round belly, you are having a girl. If you are carrying low with a smaller belly that sticks straight out, it’s a boy. GIRL
Ring Test - Using a string, hang your wedding ring over your belly. If the ring swings back and forth its a girl and if it swings in a circle its a boy. BOY

Acne - If you have acne while pregnant, it’s a girl. GIRL

Cravings - Salty = boy, sweet = girl  INCONCLUSIVE

Ancient Chinese Gender Predictor - GIRL

Side You Most Rest On - Left Side = Girl,  Right side = boy.  GIRL

Dad’s Weight Gain
If the dad-to-be gains weight while you are pregnant, it’s a girl. If he doesn’t gain weight, you’re having a boy.  GIRL ( sorry D)

Morning Sickness - Girls make you sick and apparently boys don't. GIRL

Baking Soda - BOY

So it looks like its 6:4 for a girl with the old wives tales, for now, I'm pretty confident that this craziness wont end before Monday.

Wanted for crimes against my home and sanity

Name : Vanessa

AKA : The Little One, Vinnie the Destroyer, Psycho Vin
Last known Location: Under the table pulling fur off the cat
Height/Weight: short and skinny
Hair: Messy, often with an elastic half pulled out of it
Eyes: Blue and shifty, constantly looking for trouble
Other Phys. Characteristics: extreme cuteness

Wanted In connection with a recent crime spree that has resulted in the destruction of property and thier mothers sanity.

Exhibit A

One of the many crime scenes where the suspect decided that the four month old beige carpet featured throughout the house was in need of a makeover, in this instance with a sharpie.  Suspect has also been known to use spaghetti sauce, mud, and the entire crayola line.

Exhibit B

This fridge was 5 minutes old when the suspect got ahold of it. Injuries have been diagnosed as permanent

Exhibit C

Suspect has made it her mission in life to remove all paint from the front door, and attempt to feed it to cats.

Exhibit D

Every. Single. Doorstopper.
Every. Single. Day.
Suspect then proceeds to run around slamming doors open and shut.

Exhibit E

Suspect insists on completely distroying front entranceway immediately upon hearing of company coming over. Attempts to stop destruction result in extreme tantrums.

Vanessa is suspected to be operating in cooperation with Sophia ( aka The Big One, Sophie Wophers, and chicken) although Sophia has managed to avoid being caught red handed it is suspected that she is at least partially involved in this crime spree, though it is unclear at this point to what extent. If you see the suspects in action, please for the love of god stop them!

Wordless Wednesday - The Difference a Year Can Make

I woke up this morning and realised I'm over 18 weeks pregnant, and I have no idea how that happened. OK well i know How it Happened, but was it really that long ago?  How did I not notice?
My baby is now the size of a bell pepper, (which makes me feel a little bad about the omelet I had for lunch) and his or her ears are in their final place, which sounds a little creepy.
18 weeks!!!!!!
With both my girls I had the Big Ultrasound booked for the day I turned 18 weeks, and this time around i don't even know where in this city i can have an ultrasound done! It reminds me of this email my mom sent me a few months ago;

Changing Attitudes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd Babies

Your Clothes

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean & discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Diapering

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.

2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Pacifier

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Swallowing Coins

1st child: when first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.

2nd child: when second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.

3rd child: when third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!

source: unknown