honesty corner

sometimes, even when i hear that Scarlett has woken up from her nap with little coos and noises, i don't go in her room until i hear she's fussing.

i worry this is unacceptable mother behavior because once, on teen mom, they showed amber, the one who hits her boyfriend gary, lying in bed with the back of her hand resting dramatically over her eyes while the baby was awake in the crib in the other room. it was portrayed as a very bad thing.

um, pretty sure i've done exactly that. minus the hitting the boyfriend part.

sometimes i want to stare momentarily into space or finish clipping my toenails or actually unload the dishwasher before i resume as full time entertainer for the baby S.

is this allowed? or does this make me a horrible mother rivaling an mtv reality star? {keeping my fingers crossed for the former}

forward motion

snuggle time

at nana's (david's gramma) in texas. is there anything better than snuggling with your little love?

christmas dress

Scarlett is wearing a christmas dress that her great-grandmother opal made for her aunt christine twenty something years ago. it's beautiful and in perfect condition, repaired by great aunt mary-o for Scarlett's first christmas. love handmade family heirlooms like this! having fantasies about Scarlett's future baby girl wearing this already.

christmas tree/christmas card fail.

there is no way i am the only woman in the history of the world who has made her husband return a christmas tree. don't get me wrong, i love christmas tree decorating and the amazing smell of an evergreen from december through mid feb {because, lets be honest, there is no chance of it getting de-decorated and taken out to the trash before that}.

it sounds so absurdly cliche to tell a story of a husband bringing home an oversized tree, and i really don't mean to be a grinch of a wife,  but this tree was seven feet tall with a six foot diameter. i measured. our living room is about 12x12, with furniture that only leaves about 6x6 of open floor space. do the math. it had to go!

we returned to the tree lot and came home with an appropriately sized four and a half foot tree that works perfectly in our small city living space. after tree decorating, there were no fewer that one hundred pictures taken in attempt to capture the perfect christmas card photo of baby Scarlett. this was another fail.

true or false, she looks like a baby jesus manger figurine in this picture? unintended, i promise. {i'm sure all the nuns from my 16 years of catholic education are not happy with me comparing my child to the baby jesus.} regardless, you'll have to wait for the mail to see our actual christmas card slash turned into a happy new year card because i waited too long to order the prints...until then...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

where have I been this week?

working. working. working. 

and just in case i forgot how cute Scarlett was while i was at work today, shelley sent me this pic when they had lunch together.

{please note the adorbs double pom pom hat}

i love you little baby! mamma misses you so much!

tired.

 

me. not her. but she's got the cuter picture. 

basket of fun

why do i feel like i was the first person in the world to invent putting a baby in a laundry basket? she loved it! perfect containment while mamma got pretty this morning.

{by pretty I mean brushing my teeth. and morning is a very liberal term}

bath time talking

to the toy turtle, to the mamma and to the toes.

quinoa

i was so energized from successfully making baby food for Scarlett that i even made myself a healthy lunch! left over red quinoa {from dinner last night} mixed with fresh organic chopped spinach, a little olive oil, balsamic vin and shaved parm. yums.

fyi, this is a rare occurrence. the healthy part and the lunch part. i don't even know what i've been eating these last five months. nothing good or good for me, i'm sure. lunch gets kind of lost in the day while of taking care of a newborn. but now that she is eating healthy big people food, shouldn't i too?

also, ps, quinoa is my new fave food to make. just like making rice, but easier and quicker.
2 parts water to 1 part quinoa.
boil water.
add quinoa.
cover.
turn off heat.
sit for 13.
done.

serve warm for din instead of rice or potatoes. but save the leftovers in the fridge. add anything to it as a salad for lunch the next day. so easy and so delicious and so nutritious. it's a whole grain and a protein, low carb, gluten free. perfect! now if only i could figure out how to pronounce it correctly...

sweet pea and the triple b

i went to the triple b today and purchased a cuisinart immersion blender {with the 20% off coupon, obvs}. i'd wanted one of these for a long time and finally bought one under the guise of its necessity in making homemade baby food. i immediately went home and {unnecessarily} used every single attachment piece to make organic sweet peas {and a mess} for sweet Scarlett. 

{recipe plus great info about introducing slash making baby food in this cookbook}

 {thanks for the great present aunt christine!}

as expected, the first veggie trial did not go so well.

Scarlett wailed in her outside voice, "dubs-t is this mamma?" don't think she made one swallow. the eating of the first vegetable trial was over pretty quickly. 

later on though i struck a genius cord and remembered the cookbook suggested mixing it with a little rice cereal. i added some pumped ta-ta mums to thin it out and create the illusion of familiarity. perfect solution. she ate it all up! yay for veggies!

and yay for mamma's new toy! totes love it. more recipes, stories and pictures about homemade baby food to come. i'm so excited!

What foods has your baby loved? How did you make it? Any fave recipes or suggestions?

happy stories and adventures to come, proms. i've got the next three days completely off and will spend every minute with the little b.

oh! what to do? what to do?

good night turned sad night

tonight i came home to a happily sleeping baby, the laundry washed, the dishes clean, a frozen pizza and an open bottle of wine. all without asking! made coming home from working a twelve an a half hour shift not so bad. aaahh, relaxation. thanks daddy dave!
   

 

 

d and i were enjoying a nice night together and i was feeling good about being back at work...until...the baby woke up. i let her cry for ten minutes like we normally do, but it was more brutal than before because i hadn't seen her all day. i went in to give her the pacie and i just couldn't help picking her up to calm her down and to get a little selfish snuggle for myself too. however, when i picked her up she started screaming even harder. what? mind racing. what was wrong? more teething? fever? something else? i tried to console her but all my usual tricks weren't working. i tried to nurse her but she refused and continued to cry. oh my. i was starting to panic and became really concerned because this was very unusual. i called for david, "help! what do you think is wrong?" david came in the room, i handed her to him and she immediately stopped crying. instant change. and then she even smiled at him.

whaaatt?

dev-a-sta-ted. seriously. heart = broken. in a million pieces. she was crying like never before and i couldn't console her and then david came in and she was instantly smiling? i mean, i'm glad that she has special time with daddy, but how could she forget da mamma so soon?

i totally get now why working mammas spoil their children. it's not about the babes, it about us!

look who has a tooth!

cool dad

david is a fantastic husband and father who is totally in love with me and Scarlett. {we are so lucky! he is amazing!} while he has incredible talents, being hip is not one of them. sometimes he can play the part of the cool dad, like when i buy him expensive sunglasses, 

but he's not kidding me, i know what the future holds...



why do men think socks and sandals are allowed? totally illegal! the girl jumping out of the minivan is killing me. that's totes daddy dave and Scarlett in a few years.

thanks to david's dad for sending this video along. classic. my dad completely fits this bill too, espesh about the bbq and the gas station sunglasses. oh jeez. i can't even get started. 

what about your dad? spouse? boyfriend? partner? current or future father of your children? what other cool dads are out there?

fyi

based on feedback from readers, i've changed the comments settings so you no longer have to be a registered user to leave a comment.

and you don't have to type in those nonsensical letter combos either. which i can never even tell what they are anyway, all smushed together and drooping like a dali painting. so i guess. and then, of course, get frustrated when i ultimately guess wrong. and end up not leaving a comment or buying those concert tickets because of it. argh!

well, i don't want you to have that sort of frustration in your life because of my blog. but i do want your comments, feedback, commiserations and exclamations! so comment away my friends.

Scarlett will be watching you.

thanksgiving feast 2

while Scarlett was enjoying her first meal of rice cereal, auntie k, margy and i made and enjoyed this:

happy to report that i am still eating leftovers of auntie k's sweet potatoes. yes, i know it's almost a week later, but they are still sooooo goooood.

along with cooking, i tried to be a little crafty this thanksgiving and was so excited for myself when i thought of making our chalkboard into a "thankfulness" board. in my imagination, it would have perfectly cute fall themed cutouts in an array of autumn colors and everyone would be so jealous at how adorable and martha-stewart-y it was. you know, the "ugh! i wish i was that creative and crafty" type jealousy. {don't try to tell me i'm the only one who's ever felt that!} well, no need to have that feeling here!

mamma's crafty thanksgiving project equals totally lame. at least aesthetically. it was fun to do, and, c'mon, you have to be oohing and ahhing at the tiny little Scarlett hand cutout. next up, christmas decorations! or maybe i'll just stick with that i know is a definite crowd pleaser for the upcoming holiday - mashed potatoes!