There is a specific way to feed a baby

Last night was very interesting, first the Cranberry Pudding Cake was a huge hit. I love finding an easy low-fat dessert and it tasted better today. So, one good recipe and one not so good one - Lemon Garlic Chicken tonight and we will see if it is a hit. Now, FEEDING BABY...They use their mouths to eat not the back of their head. Last night, I was so tired and I got baby and laid him bed with us and went to feed him and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working, only to realize I was trying to nurse him with the back of his head. Note to self - nursing in the dark is not a good idea.

A Great Disappointment

Well, I tried this new recipe from the cookbook - Pork Chop Combo and it was not a huge hit...I like to try recipes without making very many changes in all fairness to the person who wrote the recipe...but this was very, very bland. So, I am going to try again, but next time I am going to add more spices, more tomato sauce and cook it a little longer. Tonight is Cranberry Pudding - hmmm sounds good, but we will see. I know that Low-Fat and Crock Pots can work.

Not Enough Time

So, it has become apparent that I have too many responsibilities (5 kids, husband, etc) and not enough time to get them all completed. And , of course then I have the stuff that I enjoy doing and keep pushing that further back in my day that I never get to it and therefore don't get to enjoy it. One of the things that I enjoy doing, is watching my family eat what I cook, weird maybe, but it brings me joy and there has been way to many fend for yourself nights at my house. One of the other things that I wouldn't say I enjoy doing so much as I must do and that is get back to my pre-pregnancy body by summer, so that means watching what I eat and exercise. I found this great cookbook that is going to allow me to combine my love of cooking healthy with limited time. I am going to try all the recipes in this cookbook and let my family rate them. Tomorrow night - Pork Chop Combo!

I might feel like a clown wearing a lot of hats but I am just a mom

It is amazing that things get done around here, because I feel like I am being pulled in a thousand directions. I am no different than most mothers who have learned to wear hats. If our hats were visible I would think that I would look like a clown with hats stacked on top of each other. What a picture that would be...let’s see a chef’s hat, taxi cab hat (I think I would like that one best all checkered), nurses cap, maids hat (not outfit, sorry hubby), a different sports hat depending on which child is playing Go Chiefs/Husky’s/Eagles, the not so occasional with 5 kids party hat. I am sure that I have missed a few and some never seem to come off. Before my husband and I got married he nicknamed me Hatts, because I like to wear a lot of hats, but know that nickname is more figurative and I wear less “real” hats. I still love the name, but now because it reminds me how important I am to my family.

The next time you find yourself complaining about all the hats you have to wear, just think about yourself as being a super important figure in your family. It’s kind of rewarding, because without you the kids do not get to point A, they do not eat (or eat well), they wear dirty clothes, their booboos go unnursed, they don’t hear their name being screamed out at their games (which they outwardly hate, but secretly love), and all in all they do not feel loved. Even though you can’t see your hats and you know that they are there, know that other moms see those hats and smile when they see you running from one place to another knowing that they are not alone in this career called MOM!

The older we get the more we forget!

Have you ever listened to your parents talk about you when you were a child and you remember the story being a little different? For example, when you got into trouble you remember how bad it was, but they are telling the story as if it was no big deal. Sometimes, they laugh it off as you were just being a kid and that it was really ok, but wow, do you still remember that punishment. It made me wonder how much we forget as we become older. I am writing this with very little sleep as my 2 ½ month old won’t sleep unless he is being held in a certain position. I feel bad for him, because I know he is not feeling well, but that doesn’t make the exhaustion any less real. I have forgotten how tiring these days are since my youngest was 11 when Eli was born.  I will admit that having a 16 year old daughter around has been great and I can only imagine how much harder this would have been without her help or that of my wonderful husband.  But, the 16 year old, like most teenagers, only wants to help when she wants to help and my husband can only do so much, as Eli is still attached to me for so much right now. I know that these days shall pass, but I forget when that is. These are the joys of being an older mother of an infant and I can say that, that the lack of remembrance of these days doesn’t really bring me comfort…when do they teeth again…when do they sleep through the night…LOL!   I am very thankful for Google since I did not have that access with my other ones. Books are great, but the internet is so much faster at 2 in the morning when you are questioning this new cry that your infant is making. I too know that in 10 years from now I won’t remember this time as being exhausting, only the smiles that he makes when he is in the kitchen with his dad jamming to Bob Marley. 

I Should Feel Guilty...But I Don't

It is Saturday morning and I am sitting on my bed watching Bones, which I DVR’d and watching Eli sleep. I know that I should be taking this time to finish cleaning the kitchen from making cheese grits for my husband’s men’s fraternity meeting at church. However, I just am enjoying the peace and quiet, as he is the only child in the house right now and trying to steal some “me” time. I think that is the best thing for my family, because if we do not find that time for ourselves in our chaotic day, we can become easily frustrated. It is interesting, but as I become older I start to sound more like my mom, which is not a bad thing at all, but having a baby later in life I have realized that while there is still a lot that I do not know, there are things that I have learned from the previous ones.

So, while the old me would be feeling guilty for doing nothing productive, the older me, is realizing that this unproductive morning is far and few between and  that it is what is best for my psyche. And the baby wakes…feeding, diaper, laundry, kitchen, football game, yard work and the day begins.

  

Babies and Bifocals

We have all heard the saying that we are only as old as we feel and well I felt old after my eye doctor’s appointment. I just went in for my yearly eye check up and basically, I just wanted or rather needed a new prescription to get more contacts. Now, I don’t know about you but every time I go in I struggle with that part of the eye test, where they ask you, “Which one is better, one or two”. For those of you who have never had an eye exam, well this where they put this rather large machine up to your eyes, it is called a refraction test that has different strength lenses and it helps the doctor determine what corrective lenses I will need. Well, since I can’t decided between lens one or lens two, I fear that he thinks that my eye sight has affected my decision making process and he puts me in contacts that are stronger than my last prescription, which only means my eye sight is worse. You see, I already have a 20/800 visions score, which is not like the SATs where you want a higher number. After, he put those contacts in we realized that by not picking one or two during the refraction test, I am still wearing the same prescription and he puts me in the correct lenses.

Now you are probably wondering how getting the same lenses that I have been getting for years have made me feel old. Well, let me tell you as I was getting ready to leave to go home and nurse my 2 month old, I ask him about corrective eye surgery that is ever so popular, but still scares the pants off me, only to be told that he did not think that it would be that beneficial. Why you ask, well he told me that I would probably need bifocals in about 6 months to a year.

I was thinking great, now I am going to look like my sons grandmother (no offense to both my mother and my mother-in-law) but I don’t want to look like the grandmother. He did inform me that they have bifocal contact lenses, so if I am still going to have put contacts in my eyes, I will not have the surgery.

We are only as old as we feel, so maybe tomorrow I will feel 16 and see if I can dig up some clothes from the 80s…just joking (if my 16 year old daughter is reading this).