Lately

There are phases in everyone's life where it just seems like you can barely hold on without falling off the ride. This is a time like that for us. While my FIL was diagnosed two years ago with stage 4 prostate cancer, and my grandma fell at the beginning of February, it has all seemed a bit overwhelming the past 3 weeks. If we are being honest, it could ALWAYS be much worse, but the first 7 months of 2012 has been, well, crazy. For now, I have to let things go. My house is a mess, which really messes with my sanity, but I can only do so much. Mu husband is being neglected, but I guess I am too. We are holding strong and trying to spend time together when we can. Information does not get passed on as quickly, and it may be a few days before I get to tell him something, but it gets to him eventually. My support system with the boys has taken quite a hit. First I was unable to work because I lost my childcare (my wonderful MIL, then my wonderful mom) then I lost any backup as both my mom's were in and out of hospitals, doctor appointments, and just plain exhausted. In the meantime I have learned how to take care of myself in other ways like escaping for a few hours Saturday mornings and in the last month getting out to jog. We only got half of Brad's "stay cation" this month, but he was able to sit for over 15 hours with his mom as his dad went through emergency surgery. After we got through that as a family, my grandma went down hill. We've made a lot of trips to the "city" and have spent a lot of time in a couple different hospitals. I have also learned where I can pump in these places.... My mom and I have talked a lot about all of this being temporary and I have been reminded that this life itself is just temporary. This is not my permanent home. So we press on, making the best of each day. Enjoying the time with extended family even though we don't like why they had to come home and enjoying time with each other when we have a minute, even if in a surgery waiting room. In a week, a month, a year we will be in a new phase of life. I am hopeful that it may feel a bit slower and possibly involve a bit more sleep. If not, it's only temporary. :)

A Day in The Life

I was inspired to write about a typical day in the Beer houselhold after reading a few in the blogging world. Of course I can't find them now to link to them. 

I chose a Monday since they all seem to look the same.  I normally don't plan any playdates or anything since I just catch up from the weekend.

330- I awake to a stirring, cooing baby.  This can't be right, I just fed him at 130... I lift him out of the bassinet to nurse, and he doesn't eat well, not a good sign.  I lay him down to get to the bathroom and I come back only to be greeted by a now SMILING and cooing baby.  Not. Good. Luckily the hubs gets up and takes him downstairs so I can sleep longer.

400- Hubs comes back in because he can't find the pacifier.

415- Hubs comes in to get a new outfit for baby since he just spit up.

430- Hubs comes in for something. I didn't find out for what.  I look at my phone for the time. Ugh.

600- I awake to the simultaneous sounds of my phone alarm vibrating and the sound of an awake baby being brought up the stairs.  I tell the Hubs to take him back down I will nurse him downstairs, hubs knocks the door on a toy when opening it.  I inform him that he will have to try to get the toddler back to sleep.

615- Yep, I hear the toddler's door open.

630- Hubs tries to rock him, then graciously brings me a cup of coffee with lots of milk.

645- I hear toddler's door open again.  I allow him out 15 minutes early.

655-I hear crying and lots of toddler "no's" and the hubs informs me he is in a really bad mood.  The hubs is now afraid to leave me for work.

705 - Toddler officially in tantrum mode and put in his room.  3 times.  I am happy if he just does the screaming on the second floor. I make conversation with the still smiling, cooing infant.

720 - Screaming quiets down. I offer toast with jam. Screaming ensues.

735-Breakfast.

755- Clean up kitchen. Try to play cars with toddler since baby fell asleep.

805- Diaper change since I thought I smelled poop.

810 - Another diaper change. Actual poop.

815- Toddler requests to eat again. I take the opportunity to throw kale in the dehydrator.

825 - Finally, playing with cars.

830- We pet the dog instead which I realize is shedding all over the carpet I just vaccumed so we take him outside to brush him. Toddler thinks that dog trying to escape into the hostas is hilarious. Also facinated by the "flying billy hair".

835- Cars again.

836 - Somehow, toddler realizes in the midst of his 50 Matchbox cars that the tow truck is missing.

837- I find the tow truck under our bed. Weird.

900- Nurse happy baby.

930- Bathe happy baby.

945 - Dress the other members of our family and listen to music WHILE playing with cars upstairs.

1000 - I announce we shall take a walk!

1010 - We are finally downstairs with shoes on. I peek at the thermometer. 82. Too late to back out now...

1019 - Goldfish, water, cell phone, keys, double stroller, teddy bear, dog, 2 children, one mom out the door. I look down at baby trying to eat his own arm. I forgot the pacifier. Sprint inside to grab pacifier praying toddler doesn't move the stroller. I think this constitutes a safety violation.

1020 - Actually walking.

1040-Back home. I release dog and toddler into backyard only to remember 60 seconds later that the hubs set the toddler pool up over the weekend.  I set the baby and other things occupying my hands inside while watching toddler through the back window. I go to retrieve toddler only to find that I was too late, he is soaked from the waste down. I think this also constitutes a safety violation.

1045 - Grandma here so I can get my haircut.  I remember I had told her I would have lunch ready. Hastily put together a toddler lunch. Remember I need to eat too. Shovel a few graham crackers with peanut butter in my mouth and throw pretzels and kale chips in a baggy. Fill my water bottle to wash kale chips out of my teeth.

1108 - Drop stuff at a friends house. Stuff I should have dropped off 2 months ago. Both of us apologize profusly for our sweaty non-showered selves.

1120 - Late to hair appointment. Realize I know the other lady getting her hair cut. Lovely 40 minutes of laughing talking about kids, movies (there is a movie about strippers??), tattoos, and turning 30.

1200- Return home to happy kids and hungry infant. Nurse happy baby, change diaper, nurse happy baby right to sleep!

1230 - Convince toddler to go read books since baby is sleeping. Change toddler diaper. Read 2 books, rock toddler to almost dreamland. Happily, toddler stays in bed and falls asleep.

1250 - Throw diapers in wash and fold a basket of clothes.

100- Check email, facebook, blog in that order. Return some emails, work on blogs with a snack of goldfish and milk. Make mental note that we NEED groceries. Look up Shepard's Pie recipe for dinner. Throw around the idea of just thawing some venison chili. Think briefly of taking a nap.

220- Decide that I am tired of looking at a computer screen and round up the ingredients for the Shepards pie.  Of course I didn't pull the meat out of the deep freeze so in the microwave it goes. I know that I will not get dinner completely finished as I waited too long to start but plow ahead anyways.

300- The dog flies downstairs which means the toddler is close behind.  He greets me grinning on the landing. I clap my hands and tell him I am SO glad to see him which makes his grin even bigger. I hear the baby stir. I have two hot pans going, I knew I waited too long.

310 - Hurridly get meat simmering and realize I have 10 minutes left on the potatoes. Nurse baby on one side.

320 - Quick! Turn off the burners, switch the laundry, grab a snack for the toddler, toddler asks to watch a movie, finish feeding baby before he realizes what I'm doing. Sit baby in kitchen while I finish up dinner.

400 - Dinner ready to go in oven. TV off.  Give toddler an activity choice and he chooses cloring. With markers. What happened to crayons? Trace lots of toddler hands on pieces of paper. Ask nicely several times for toddler to keep marker on paper ONLY. Draw a picture for daddy.

420- Make race track out of poker chips.

445 - Set table and throw dinner in the oven. Baby falls back asleep.

525 - Daddy is home! I let him say hi, send him to change his clothes and a toddler diaper. Baby has been eating between 6 and 630. Because I got dinner on the table before said time baby wakes early trying to devour his fist. Daddy and toddler eat at table, I feed baby again.

600-Everybody full. Found out on Facebook today that a friend taught their toddler how to do a sumersault. Sumersault lesson commences. We can tell that's not going to happen anytime soon so we head to the store so I have something to eat besides goldfish.

720 - Back from store with baby that is STILL trying to eaet his entire arm.  Daddy starts bath for toddler while I get PJ's on baby and feed him. Again. This is how I ended up with a ginormous baby. I listen to toddler and daddy argue about throwing water out of the bathtub. Daddy wins the argument.

800 - More books then rocking. I am trying to get baby to sleep in another room. Set baby down because I have a large baby and my back hurts. Contemplate my deltoids and blank on what exercise I need to do to strengthen the front head of the delts. Start raising my arms forward whle feeling the muscle only to see the hubs has caught me in this weird act from the other room. I go back to trying to get the baby to sleep.

830 - Hubs sends me to take a shower. I didn't take one yesterday. I think he could tell.

840 - I get out of the shower to see the door opening slowly. I see the shadow of a toddler on the wall. I tell toddler to get back to bed.

842 - I open the bathroom door to see the same toddler on the floor outside the door. I think about the fact that I now have to enter this information into this blog post. Great.

845 - After a great big hug and kiss, another hug, and then finally using toddler's full name, he stays in bed.

850 - I cut up watermelon we bought at store over my just mopped floor. Of course I drop a piece out of the first slice.

910 - Hubs in the shower, I check email and work on this blog. I have until the shower stops to get upstairs if I have any chance of coercing a foot rub.

1000 - I lay down exhausted, thanking God for every moment of this really great day.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Welcome to the July 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family Creations
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared crafts, recipes, and philosophies of creativity. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
***
As the mom of two little boys, I own a lot of cars.  Big cars, little cars, cars that go on tracks, cars that make noise, cars with remotes. My oldest loves them. And as a mom who tries to parent intentionally, I like to get on the floor at least once a day to just play. This play time more often than not (OK, always) revolves around those cars.

I'm embarrassed to say, I'm getting a little burnt out on cars. 

Naturally, since I am tired of playing with them I want to think that he is too. So we made a trip to our local craft store armed with some Pinterest ideas. Side note: that never makes for a cheap trip!

This week I brought out the poster paint and a fresh sheet of poster board. I thought we could make a picture that we could hang proudly in his room (since I have yet to find a suitable piece of artwork for the big boy room).

As it turns out, 25 months is a bit too young to use these paints. Or at least with my little man it is. Squeezing the bottle, which seemed to produce MUCH joy for him, let an excess amount of paint out. Trying to explain that little tidbit to a 2 year-old didn't go over well.

I enjoyed watching him mix the colors until I realized that by mixing the colors we were taking away the possiblilty of future use. See the black paint on all of the bottles?

At one point the red bottle was thrown to the floor with a squeal of glee. 

As I told my MIL of our painting fiasco she reminded me of the important part: he enjoyed it.

Which reminded me who I should be intentional about spending time with.  This time isn't for me, it's for him.

So here the picture sits, in our living room which he chose. You can imagine us sitting there today, playing with cars. :)

***
Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• Garden Soup — Bailey finds a way to help momma Katy (from Muse of a Daffodil) in the garden.
• This One Time, I Tried To Make a Car — Ashley at Domestic Chaos tries once again to make something crafty from stuff around the house.
• Pin-tastic creative ideas — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud shares how Pinterest is inspiring creativity in her family this summer.
• Baby Hiccups In The Womb — Alinka at Baby Web shares one of the ways she bonds with her unborn baby.
• Turtle Mosaics — Lyndsay at ourfeminist{play}school and her little family spend a quiet hour making a turtle mosaic inspired by the work of Melanie Mikecz.
• Edible Art Plus 8 Art Supply Recipes — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares some natural, chemical-free art supply alternatives, which are gauranteed to be tons of fun for children of all ages. They taste great too!
• A surprise art lesson — Tat at Mum in search has been taking art lessons from her 5-year-old son.
• Memory Creation — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen talks about how her family aims to create as many memories as they can as a family.
• A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words — Melissa at Momma Beer tries to replace cars with crafts.
• My Creative Family: Sometimes Messy, Always Fun — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM embraces the messes that sometimes accompany creative play but admits you don't always have to get dirty to have fun.
• Fun Family Learning: Constellation Cave Tutorial — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter gives step-by-step instructions for building a fun new twist on a cardboard box playhouse.
• Cooking... Kind Of — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings makes pizza with her daughter, hoping to inspire a love of cooking and encourage a bigger interest in food. As well as making mess and having lots of fun, of course!
• Crockpot Refried Beans — That Mama Gretchen's family loves to experiment with new recipes, and today she's sharing a kitchen success!
• Creating Memories — Andrea at Tales of Goodness reflects on how the best creations can emerge from just letting kids be kids.
• Making Beautiful Things ... And Sometimes Just Average-Looking Ones — Tamara at Tea for Three looks for ways to add more craft and creativity into every day family life.
• Making Fruit Leather Together — When Amy Willa at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work took some time to involve her children in the process of finally trying a fruit leather recipe stored on her Pinterest food board, she got more than just a scrumptious homemade snack as a result!
• Making Glasses from Children's Art — Mandy at Living Peacefuly with Children used her children's artwork to make some very special glasses for her husband for Father's Day.
• Preparing Family Meals Together — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares how she started the tradition of creating meals together with her children, which makes family gatherings more fun.
• It's a trap! — Lauren at Hobo Mama shares the innovative snares her son and husband have set for her.
• How To Make The Most Of A Very Wet Summer — Luschka at Diary of a First Child shows us the first few weeks of the Summer Camp At Home project for keeping boredom at bay.
• Creating with... well, what do we have? — If necessity is the mother of invention, Momma Jorje thinks perhaps boredom is (or at least can be) the mother of creativity. In a pinch, she got creative with a household item to entertain herself and her toddler.
• Creating Joy! Felt Counting Fish and other Fun — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle started creating Felt Counting Fish and then fell down the rabbit hole of fun with a number of other games.
• I Am Going! (A Code Name: Mama Homemade Theater Production of Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie book) — This might be the finest example of child and baby acting ever recorded. Enjoy this Mo Willems treasure via video from Dionna at Code Name: Mama.
• DIY Summer Sleep Sack for Baby Tutorial — Shannon at GrowingSlower made an organic summer sleep sack for baby, and you can too with her easy tutorial.
• Chalk It Up! — Amy at Anktangle recounts how an impulse buy has turned into a fun collaborative activity that she hopes will continue to foster creativity in the whole family.
• The Family Garden — Excited that her son has been a big help in the garden this year, Ana at Pandamoly shares how her garden grows and offers up some secrets on how a toddler can be a great assistant in the garden.
• Getting my craft on — In a guest post at Natural Parents Network, Jona at Life, Intertwined takes a trip down memory lane — and finds it in stitches.
• Easy DIY Sandpit for Toddler Play — Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares her easy DIY toddler sandpit tutorial.
• Building Without Nails — Laura at Laura's Blog builds a swinging bar using just sticks and twine.
• Family Talent Show — Erika at Cinco de Mommy holds an after-dinner family talent show.
• Ar matey! Fun and Learning with Pirate Play. — Positive Parenting Connection is sharing lots of really fun Pirate-themed learning activities for the whole family.

Munchkin Meals

I have to admit, this week has seemed a bit crazy.  So to link up with A Healthy Slice of Life I had to take pictures from different meals on different days. Not because I was SO busy I didn't have time, but because I was busy enough that my brain stopped working and I would remember AFTER the toddler had devoured the meal. I'm sure the lack of sleep is partially to blame.  I hope this has happened to you too. No, just me? Great.



Breakfast: Homemade yogurt & honey with watermelon and raspberries



Yep, you read that right. Homemade yogurt. Do you know how long I have been putting that off? A long time. I've been thinking about it for two years since I read about it in my favorite baby food book. Then I learned I could do it in the crockpot. Then I got really low on yogurt and had an extra half gallon of organic whole milk in the fridge. Awesome. 



Lunch: Natural PB on NOT natural graham cracker, feta cheese crumbles, blueberries

I know, I know, graham crackers. As in the store-brand-lots-of-junk in them graham crackers. I had them in the pantry for a cheesecake crust. I am trying to go through our pantry and freezer. For the record, they were delicious and reminded me of my childhood.



Granola Energy Balls

This was a snack AND an activity since the recipe is easy enough for a 2 year-old to help with. I was out of vanilla for these but they taste great without them. I will halve the coconut the next time, but only because the hubs doesn't care for it.
 

Dinner: Angel hair pasta with Avocado Cream Sauce


This, my friends was amazing. I think I've had pasta on the last two Munchkin Meals but this is worth writing about. I got the recipe from That's So Michelle. It was super quick, easy, and the toddler had 3 servings. That's right, 3.

CSA #7 and Beet Greens

Seriously, I love this CSA. I love the drive out to the farm. I love that my two year-old knows that his vegetables come from said farm - not the grocery store. I love that we get to have potlucks with these farmers.

Sadly, I'm not sure we will continue with them next year because while I love the drive it's on the long side. I thought that since the hubby commutes and it's *sort of* on the way home it would be easy for him to pick it up. However, I have made that drive a couple times on the way home from visiting family and it's a bit much.

So for now we will enjoy the drive picking out the horses, the barns, and the hay bales along the way ("Mommy look! Horses! Horses eat grass!") and will REALLY enjoy the eating part.

Cabbage
Lettuce - 2 Types
Kale
Basil
Swiss Chard
BEETS!!!!!

I wanted to add here that I tried something new this week. Beet greens. Now hear me out here. I found out through my mom that you can actually eat the greens that are on the tops of the beets. Makes sense, those healthy Mediterranean people eat all sorts of greens; whatever is growing in the back yard is game. So I thought I'd give it a whirl why the hubby was away on business.

I sautéed some washed beet greens with garlic scapes in olive oil until bright green and wilted over medium heat. They were delicious! They weren't too tough, or bitter, and had a great flavor different than most greens I eat. That night however I had TWO different nightmares concerning my children. 

I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but I will be waiting to try those again for when the hubby is home! Yikes!

2 Months - MBB

Oh, our little guy had a difficult start to the month.  He was been sick, sick, sick which I of course felt terrible about.  He got his brother's cold, which turned into his brother's cough which made it very hard to keep milk down.

Zonked!

So when I became quite sick I was put on antibiotics which we think was bothering him.  Every night at 6:30 we were dealing with 1 to 2 ours of crying.  Not fun.  He's also REALLY gassy, poor guy!

On a happy note he got to go on his first, and second trip to the zoo.  He thinks it's a great place to take naps!

He has pushed out to eating every 3 hours, especially overnight which has been nice. He still likes to be held all the time, but he is so young I consider that normal.  Tiring, but normal.

Why is daddy sad? Because I am making him pick strawberries?

He started grinning at 4 weeks and while we thought it was a fluke he has continued to flash us little grins.  Usually he is most happy early mornings.  I am waiting for that super big smile I can so vividly recall of Asher's-when I realized that he looked like my brother and therefore me... I'm not so sure I'm going to get that. Maybe that's because he's own person and doesn't have to look like me? Jeez!

Those smiles do come pretty easy now at the end of the month.  SO fun!

Asher making sure Micah is still in there.

I can't quite put my finger on who Micah looks like.  He was Asher's twin when he was born and when he is asleep they look a lot alike but something is different in his eyes when they are open.  They are still blue, which I am still in shock about, but something about the shape throws me for a loop.  I am excited to watch him grow to see his little face take shape.

One day I won't remember how little he was.

I love that Micah is such a laid back little guy. Not only is looking more like his daddy, he seems to be taking after his personality as well.

We are looking forward to his 2 month appointment as the child is HUGE and growing out of most of his 6 months clothes already, yikes!



Enjoying his first hotel stay.



And an update ( I like to write these things down throughout the month) once I finished the antibiotics Micah stopped with the nightly screamfest.  Except for today out of the blue. At a playdate. Yikes again!



My chunky monkey.