Not a Typical Tuesday

I'm working a bit different of schedule this week which is not fun as far as getting up early. But it is nice that I will be off work on Friday. And then I've already taken next Monday off to recover from the busy birthday weekend and enjoy a whole day with just little Elly (Evie is going to stay Sunday night with her grandparents) to sorta celebrate her day.

Cannot believe that in just 7 days my baby will be one!

I just cannot believe it. I wonder at times if she were really walking if that would make her feel older? Evie by this age was pretty much running everywhere. She was starting to climb already and chasing the dog around the yard. She FELT like a toddler. Watching her wasn't watching a baby anymore. But Elly still chooses to crawl. I swear I think she CAN walk. I just haven't found the right motivator for her yet. Maybe cheese puffs...hmm, need to investigate that further.

The whole new puppy thing is going so well.

The puppy pad form of potty training is SO much easier than all the puppy house training that I have ever done before. I don't know why I have never been taught this. Plus, it's so much healthier for the dog. Since puppies are so susceptible to Parvo and Distemper and even when they have been vaccinated they have the chance of being exposed to a strain that they weren't vaccinated against. Parvo is much like the flu in that there are several different versions out there. Also Parvo can live in the ground for about 5 years. So there is always a chance that a sick dog has been on your property even if your dogs have always been healthy. So not taking Maiko outside means no chance for her to get sick.

I know they say that parents always think their children are smart or pretty or funny or what have you. And I know that a lot of people have the same feelings for their dog. But I don't think I have ever thought that Mushu or Emily (our beagle which resides outdoors) was that smart. Mushu isn't a moron...not all the time. But I would certainly never accuse him of being overly smart. I mean, the dog attacks trash cans. And freaks out over doorbells ringing on TV. And cries when he hears the Darth Vader music. Seriously. CRIES. And Emily...well, she's a hound dog. You have to really lower your expectations.

But Maiko seems to be pretty smart. She grasps that to get out of her play pen she needs to go potty. And she only pottys on the puppy pad in her play pen so far. She has had a few accidents on the floor when I wasn't paying close attention. But I consider that more my fault than hers. I mean, she's a baby. She is also already learning the way our schedule works. And knows that when I turn on her heating pad in her box that it is bed time. And I just cannot believe that she prefers to pee on the pad rather than anywhere else. She won't mess in her crate even! Just cries to get out. It's amazing. So I'm totally sold on puppy pads.

Another thing that makes this easier I think is the fact that I have now potty trained a person. And really, a puppy just doesn't compare. Once you have changed diapers for two years and taught a 2 year-old to go pee-pee and poop in the toilet...teaching a dog to pee on a pad in the floor is child's play. Pun not intended. I remember how frustrating it was in the past to try an house break a dog, but I'm just not experiencing any of that this time. And I know part of it is the different method, but part of it is definitely that I'm a much different person that I was the last time I had a puppy.

Speaking of which, Happy Birthday Mushu. I think this past weekend was his birthday. He is now three! Officially mature and no longer an adolescent! Go him. hehe. And he got a puppy for his birthday! What a lucky boy he is.

This is especially funny because Mushu is TERRIFIED of the puppy. He has spent the last four days skulking around the house with his tail tucked...trembling with terror. Yes that is right. My full grown dog is terrified of the puppy that doesn't even weight 2 lbs soaking wet. It is quite sad. Sooner or later I'm sure he'll get over it. Just a matter of him adjusting and getting used to the new dog.

It's going to be a busy week. Need to get taxes done. Need to get everything ready for Elly's party.

Blogs coming up this week: Update on my New Year's resolution and a couple of recipes!

My High Hopes for Maiko the Puppy

Although I was a bit older than my girls are now, when I was little we acquired a throw away puppy who was named Otis. He was a lab, boxer, something sort of mix. Just a mutt. He was, like all puppies, precious. Floppy brown ears, a brown spot over one eye, ever-wagging tail. If you've never had a throw away dog you cannot understand how appreciative such a dog is. People may think dogs simple, even stupid, but they aren't. They KNOW that you saved their life. And they'll thank you for it every day. 

Otis grew into a good sized dog, with a big ole pit bull looking mouth, but was always the sweetest dog with the best smile ever. He lived to be old enough to vote. Saw both Ethan and I through middle school and high school. Was still there after I graduated from college. He even got to meet one of my babies before he passed away. This was dog that brought strays home for us. Hungry, thirsty, lame, injured...Otis would bring them to us to tend and mend and possibly to take up residence. From stray cats, to an injured part-coyote mix. He loved all domesticated creatures, be they cats, dogs, horses or goats. He might get out and run a deer from time to time. Or dig up a ground hog's den. But you couldn't really expect any different from a dog. Once he even killed a momma skunk, orphaning her babies, but he didn't touch the babies. We ended up raising one of them and releasing it back into the wild. He brought baby rabbits home in the spring, wanting us to tend them. Let any number of animals share his food bowl or his house. He protected his family though. I remember him jumping a Rottweiler once (that was much bigger than him!) because the Rottweiler threatened me and my brother at a horse show once. He had the Rottweiler pinned in about half a minute.

Otis was one of the best dogs. A good yard dog. A great porch dog. A phenomenal companion.

It is what I hope my kids will get out of Maiko. I mean, obviously she isn't going to serve as a pillow while laying in the yard day dreaming and watching clouds float by. She'll be a bit small for that. And she won't be able to take out Rottweilers. But she'll be a companion for them for the next 10 to 15 years at least, barring any problems. She'll be there through elementary school and high school. They'll dress her up for Halloween and drag her to show and tell. She'll be privy to sleepovers, pillow fights, misadventures and unshared secrets. She'll share snacks and meals, laughs and tears with Evie and Elly. Their friends will all be on a first name basis with her and will reminisce about times spent and funny things done. They'll teach her tricks (Hopefully) to show off. When they're grown they'll be able to laugh, and maybe cry a little, about the memories made and the good times had with their very first dog. 

I want her to be their Otis. I suppose. If my mom reads this I'm sure she'll scoff at how impossible of task that is. This teeny dog has HUGE shoes to fill for sure. But my little girls don't know Otis. And I'm not going to tell Maiko how daunting my expectations for her are. I think it'd be setting her up for failure if I did!

And regardless of how the lil thing does when compared with my own childhood dog, she will be everything she's supposed to be for my children. They will fall in love with puppy breath and the wagging of a tiny tail. They'll learn the heart flutter of happiness you feel when something that you love, loves you back. They'll feel bad about having to leave her home when she wants to accompany them somewhere and the shared joy of being reunited. She will teach them responsibility. What it means to feed and water and clean up after another creature. She will teach them kindness and humility, through her own kindness and humility (which all dogs have as a rule). They will learn how to be kind to her and earn those sweet kisses and tail wags. They will learn what discipline really means and how to reward good behavior. That all actions have consequences because they will see that in their dog. Both good and bad.

All these things I foresee in a 1.8 lb dog.

If nothing else, I hope she brings us all some enjoyment. That she'll play with both the kids and Mushu, both of which desperately want play companions for fetch and tug-of-war but for some reason Mushu refuses to play with the girls. I hope she isn't miserably difficult to housebreak. And doesn't destroy too many of the kids' toys.

So, I'm off to pick up the lil orphan. Wish us luck! It might be an interesting weekend!

We are SO ready for this...

So I have made lists and double-checked them and I do believe that we are ready for our new lil lady coming home this weekend. I feel like I'm nesting all over again. haha. Only this time it's a furry baby...for my babies!

 Maiko is supposed to come home tomorrow night. She had her vet visit today for her first round of shots and was in good health. They said she weighed 1.8 lbs. Teensy! We've got her crate all set up, her puppy pads, some toys and chewys, blankets and a heating pad, small ceramic bowl, tiny collar and matching leash. We even found a medium sized play pen online that is made for critters, so we have something to put her in quickly if we need to leave the room to keep her safe from toddlers that don't know any better.

And I talked the husband into this whole litter box for the dog idea. We will see how long it takes her to get the puppy pad thing and move forward from there. I've done a lot of reading online about how to's and tips on litter box training and feel like I'm fairly prepared.

Here's the game plan: step one, assign a couple of pee pad locations for the puppy. One will be in the play pen. One will be somewhere else in the living room/kitchen area. (lol haven't decided yet!) The next step will just be getting the puppy to USE the pad consistently. These initial pee pad spots aren't where the litter box will end up ultimately. I'd like for the box to be somewhere out of the way, but obviously I can't put puppy pads out of the way or she will NEVER use them. So after she gets decent about using the puppy pads, then I will try moving them into a more out of the way area of the house. I may just add extra pads, one in the usual place and one in what will be the litter box place. Get her used to seeing one there. Get her to use it some. Then eliminate the one in the living area. After a couple of weeks of using the new puppy pad then I will put the litter box out with a puppy pad in it next to the puppy pad. And over the course of a week, gradually work the litter box ONTO the puppy pad, with a puppy pad in the box. Then remove the puppy pad from under the litter box. Once she seems really comfortable about using the litter box with the puppy pad I will start gradually adding litter (probably the paper stuff that they use for Guinea pigs or rabbits, since I don't want to risk puppy or toddlers eating it and getting sick!).

Eventually it will just be a litter box full of litter getting cleaned out daily or every other day. Depending on usage and odor and what not. Dog pee is not nearly as odorous as cat pee. And poop is poop. I have baby poop hanging out in my house already. haha. Dirty diapers certainly don't go out daily. So we'll just see how the odor situation goes! Either way, I will probably invest in another Glade plug in for the litter box room. Which humorously, may be the girls' play room...since it has spare space. Is that weird?

This whole plan is assuming that the puppy cooperates. Which I'm sure she won't. But I'm really excited about not spending 30 minutes every night standing out in the February chill waiting for a puppy to pee so we can all go to bed!

There will be plenty of pictures and I am going to document this whole litter box training thing. Let everyone know how it goes! And I'm hoping it will be a good and easy transition from litter box to outside once she's grown and trained and everything. We shall see!

I'm afraid I'm losing my mind

It probably happened about 20 months ago when I found out I was pregnant the second time. But what little sanity I still had left I'm afraid is rapidly fleeing. Why for, you ask?

Well, this weekend, we will be bringing Evie and Elly's new puppy home. Little Maiko, as we're naming her, is 6 weeks old this Thursday. She'll be going to get her shots then and Friday night she'll be coming home with us. So this will be a busy weekend I'm sure.

I'm also strongly considering litter box training this puppy. No. Really.

This is going to be a small dog. Right now she weighs less than 2 lbs. I'm hoping she grows minimally and stays tiny. But she'll probably max at around 10 lbs. Maybe 12 if she gets big.

So, you're probably thinking "what the...?" right. I know. It seems more than a little perverse to litter box train a dog. I mean, that's a cat thing after all. And it's kinda icky. I mean, it is an animal pooping and peeing in your house. Even if it is in a dedicated, odor-eliminating sort of area.

But there are a lot of great reasons to litter box train a puppy. And apparently it can be done.

Here are some sites detailing it:

http://kturby.com/litter/litter.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Litter-Train-a-Dog

http://isabellasnow.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Litter-Box-Train-Your-Puppy

http://tracy-rose.suite101.com/litter-train-your-puppy-a16448

This will not mean our puppy will not be going outside. I hope that she is well behaved and will go outside with us and hang around and play in the yard. I'd like for her to learn to go outside and use the potty once she's bigger. But this just seems like a brilliant notion!

First off, as a tiny dog, taking them outside to potty when they are a puppy seems a bit ridiculous. I mean, this dog isn't even tall enough to see through the grass! She's teensy. How overwhelming is it going to be to drop this lil thing out in the grass? Then I expect her to relax and go potty? I have house broken NUMEROUS dogs. This is an exercise in frustrating. You take the puppy outside and you stand around waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And nothing happens. So you finally go inside and the moment you set them down they pee in the floor. Outside it was big and scary. But inside is warm and familiar and cozy. I certainly don't like to pop a squat out in the middle of a big field where who knows what might be. So I don't know why I expect the dog to be different. Heck, we coddle and cozen to our children when potty training them. But expect a house dog to be so much different!

Next, as a small dog she will have a small bladder. Like, needs to pee every couple of hours (once she's grown and able to hold it!) kinda bladder. So, trips to Walmart, car rides, etc all have to be catered to this need. It's a constant problem with Mushu. He can hold it only so long. So if we're gone too long and he's left inside then we risk him having an accident. And if we leave him outside we risk something happening to him. I mean, the lil man weighs 9 lbs. A hawk could scoop him up if it was determined. So litter box training would mean if we wanted to go out to supper or a movie or something we could without worrying about the dog messing in the floor.

Also, having a dog with two toddlers is going to be a challenge. One that I fully understood and was prepared for when I committed to take this poor homeless mongrel into our home. (haha! Like my arm was twisted!) But doing litter training would make the whole thing much simpler. I wouldn't have to worry about leaving my girls to take the puppy out. It might help reduce some of our accidents. And from some of the blogs and what not I have read, it seems like it will be pretty easy to do. Easier than house breaking one to go potty outside. So maybe it will make the whole process less stressful.

Am I crazy? Yeah. Probably. Now that I've been convinced I need to talk my husband into it. Then I need to fix something up to use as a puppy litter box. But I've already got some ideas.

I think I might actually be more excited about the girls' new puppy than they are! haha.

Happy Monday every one!

Announcing: A New Addition

No. I am not pregnant.

Thank goodness.

We're getting a new puppy!

Well, specifically Evie and Elly are getting a puppy but in all honestly, I will be getting a puppy. Because I know who will be house training the puppy and keeping the puppy from the destroying the house and probably doing most of the care taking of the puppy.

So, now we are waiting for the puppy to get big enough to take home. They are currently being hand fed by my mom because their mom's milk dried up and the girl who had them wasn't able to take care of them. They are 3/4 Chinese Crested and 1/4 Longhair Chihuahua. But the two my mom has just look like chihuahuas. They'll probably be around 10-12 lbs full-grown. I'm hoping they're smaller than that, but I'm okay with a bit bigger. I just don't want a medium or big dog. I just don't like them in the house. They're messy. They chew things up. When they have an accident it is MESSY. I have two children and a full-time job, I really have plenty to do without adding a really destructive four-legged baby to the mix. But Mushu's size is perfect and he's about 10 lbs.

So, you're probably thinking that I just said I had enough on my plate. Why on earth are we getting a dog?

Well, several reasons, none of which are very good though they sound good. Everyone loves a puppy. The puppy needs a home. Evie has asked for a puppy.

Mostly, I want to get the girls a dog to grow up with. A dog for them. That'll be their buddy. Play with them, chew on their shoes, pee on their toys and sleep in their room. One that will be as much a sibling to them as their sister is. A sibling that will teach them the real meaning of love and adoration and responsibility and eventually loss. And please don't think I'm horrible thinking about a poor little puppy's death 15 years from now. But it's life and everything that lives has to die. And it's an important lesson for a kid to learn. Everyone gets old and everyone goes home.

A dog can teach a lot of lessons.

So we're taking in a little homeless puppy that conveniently showed up after Josh and I had discussed getting the girls a puppy for Evie's third birthday. And I figure now's as good a time as any to get a dog. Evie's potty trained. And the puppy will be house trained before I start potty training Elly. Then I will get Elly potty trained and next spring we will use our tax refund to replace the carpet in the living room. Because I'm sure after two babies and two puppies (Mushu was house broken since we put that carpet in) that carpet will be seriously overdue for replacing! Honestly, it could use replacing now but I'm not even going to bother when I have another girl to potty train.

Also, I want a dog that will actually PLAY with the girls. Evie wants so badly to have a game of fetch with Mushu and that boy will NOT play. He will guard her, kiss her face and occasionally snuggle her but he doesn't want to play with her. He's not really big on interacting with her honestly. So I'm thinking if we get a puppy that grows up with little people instead of being grown and suddenly having two little people added in a short period of time, maybe the puppy will play. Mushu's problem isn't that he doesn't want to play. He drives me crazy trying to get me to play fetch long after I'm bored with playing fetch. Just not Evie.

So, next week the puppy's are five weeks old. The week after they'll go get their shots. Then after that it'll just be up to my mom for when she lets us take the puppy home.

I'm excited but apprehensive. I know it'll be a busy and difficult first couple of months getting her trained and adjusting our lives to a two-dog-household. But I look forward to getting past the bad days of puppydom and into Evie, Elly and puppy being best buds.

Now, we need to figure out puppy's name...Mushu is named in part after the dragon on Mulan and the Chinese dish. And I have looked around for cute Chinese names and cannot find one. However, there are several Japanese names that I like and Evie says she likes. So we'll see.

Wish us luck! There will be numerous puppy updates!

Why I Clean

People are always complaining that I do too much. Well, maybe complaining is too strong of word. But you know what I mean. So many wonder why on Earth I spend so much time cleaning and cooking and tidying. I'm not OCD. At least not in the clinical sense, but I do consider cleanliness to be very important. And I'm not a germaphobe. Though after one of the girls is sick I do a more in-depth cleaning of the house to make sure that we aren't all passing it around. I do realize that being exposed to a certain amount of dirt and germs will make you healthier in the long-run.

I know that 15 years from now my children won't remember having a clean house the first five years of their lives. Or the fact that their sheets were changed every Thursday. Nor would I want them to. If they remember anything from their first five years of life I would like it to be our wild games of tag in the evenings after bath time. Or sharing a pop tart on the couch while snuggled under a blanket on Sunday mornings. Or staying up late on Fridays, stuffing our faces with popcorn and watching movies.

One reason I clean is because I just love cleaning. And I love the way a clean house makes me feel. 

I clean because the world is a dirty, ugly place. No, it's true. There is a lot of chaos and disorder. A lot of instability and a lot of unknowns.

When my children are home, I don't want them to feel disorganized. I want everything to have a place and be in it. I want their world to feel clean and comfy and right, at least within our own walls. And I want them to feel like they get a part in that. Like they have control over something. So they (well, right now only Evie) help clean. Just as my brother and I helped our mom clean when we were little.

Yes, I clean house every Thursday morning. I manage to get a whole lot of cleaning done in the three hours that I have before I get ready for work. From changing sheets, to dusting, to polishing the wood furniture and wiping down all the toys with a Clorox wipe, to seriously cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming the living room and running the Roomba and then Febreezing all the fabrics. And most Saturdays I mop the whole house.

I love the way clean floors feel under bare feet in the mornings. And I love the way the house smells when I come home. I like being able to sit in the living room floor without getting pop tart crumbs stuck to me. And walking down the hall without sticking to the floor is nice. I always look forward to the night I get to sleep on fresh sheets because I sleep SO good that night. Having everything orderly and clean makes it a joy to come home. Means I can just relax and savor some time with my children.

So that is why I clean.

Me vs. SOPA

Oh my gosh I haven't blogged in 5 days. lol.

Sorry, I am getting to be so slack on the blog front. In my defense, I have been impressively busy.

And by busy I mean losing countless hours to Pinterest.

And when not on Pinterest...I am reading political propoganda.

And seriously considering relocating. To another country. Or maybe another planet.

People are impressively close-minded and I am repeatedly impressed by how many times someone can believe a flat out lie that the read off Facebook. I mean really. It's Facebook. Not CNN. Or NBC. Or even, God help us, Fox news. Heck, ESPN is a more respectable news source than Facebook. If that is the only place you go for your news then you might as well just be reading the funny pages and burning the rest of newspaper.

And I guess if this SOPA crap passes I'll be looking at some jail time for blogs like this. But really people. You complain about taxes, you don't vote but you complain about the president, and you get your news from the closet homo-phobe that lives in his mom's basement's Facebook status and you are SURPRISED that someone is trying to take away our First Amendment Rights?

Ugh.

But in all seriousness, I think my great grandparents and their parents would be ashamed by what our country has become. I'm ashamed. A lot of people have worked hard for this country. A lot have fought and died for this country and I feel like our political system these days is like spitting in their faces. The economy is bust and instead of everyone wanting to work harder and make sacrifices and fix it, everyone is standing around with their hands out waiting for the government to give them a check. Welfare, food stamps, unemployment...everyone is just working the system. There are some who legitimately need help and are doing the best they can. But there are so many people who just know how to work the system so they can sit on their ass and play video games while the rest of us break our backs supporting them. And then the politicians, who get elected not because they want to better their community or their state or their country, but because of the fat paycheck that comes with a lifetime membership to the moneybags club. Taxes are paying for far more than they ever should have. And the people who make our laws and manage our country are too busy lining their own pockets to give a damn about our empty stomachs or the future of our children.

It's a damn shame.

We're better than this. We were supposed to be better than this. And while everyone is happy to write a pissed off status message, or pound out a hateful blog, none of us individually really have the power to do anything and it doesn't feel like there will ever be enough people to care for us to change it.

And of course, if the SOPA bill makes it, that's the beginning of the end for all of us ever changing it. The First Amendment will be well on its way out the door and Big Brother will be live and in the flesh. And then I think I really will pack up my family and move to a foreign country. How much worse could Canada really be?

So, that it for my soap box for the day.

I take nearly a week break and I come back and blog this nonsense. Right? I know.

How Dissimiliar Two Daughters Can Be

When I found out I was pregnant the second time, once I recovered from the shock, I KNEW I was pregnant with a boy. Just knew it. My symptoms were all different. Cravings. Feelings. Etc. At my doctor's appointments when my OB listened to the baby's heartbeat he thought that the heart rate was a bit lower and joked with me that it would be a boy. That if he were a betting man, he'd bet money on it. After a near miscarriage, I got a lot of ultrasounds to check the baby and the placenta and all that and the OB continued to say he thought that my little Noodle had a noodle. So by the time I had a gender ultrasound at about 20 weeks, I was pretty convinced.

Of course you know how that turned out. There were no dangly bits on my baby-to-be. He was a she. But she was healthy and growing and all was well.

At first, I was disappointed. I had always thought that I would have boys. I just pictured myself doing football and camping trips and you know, boy things. I feel like I only barely get by as a girl. I wasn't into make up and hair and nails and all that junk. Still only do it about sub-par. How could I teach someone else all this stuff that I don't really think I know? But God knew what He was doing and here I am with two girls. And happy as can be about it. So, as I got used to the idea of having two girls and all the fun we would have together, I imagined that my two daughters would be nearly identical. I mean, they're just a year and some change apart. They've got the same genetics. Why wouldn't they be?

I could never have imagined how dissimilar two girls could be! What one did the other doesn't. What one likes the other refuses. What one wants the other hates. It's complicated!

At 11 months Evie was already a toddler.

In some ways, I feel like she was born a toddler. From the beginning she knew what she wanted. She asserted her wants. And from the get-go she was intent on walking. No surprise that she took her first steps at 10 months old and by 11 months was running around all over the place.

She wasn't much of a talker. But she was a yeller. She would scream, point, throw things, whatever it took to get her point across. I spent so much time with her that I pretty much understood what she wanted without needing too many details. So she got by without talking until she was nearly 18 months old.

Evie has always needed a schedule. And if you mess up her schedule, then God help you. She slept through the night from about a month old and has never had any sleep problems. She was a very late teether. She refused to learn to use a spoon until she was nearly two. She has always loved the water. 

As far as gross motor skills went she has always been advanced. She could drink from a cup, throw a ball, catch, jump, climb, etc. way earlier than milestones said. She is so physically active now and it kills her to have to sit still. She loves to tear stuff apart and figure it out. Builds stuff just to tear it down. Is picky and changes her mind quickly. She still doesn't get into reciting nursery rhymes or playing patty cake. Instead she wants to play tag and ball.

Elly on the other hand is much more of a baby than Evie ever was. She claps and she does goofy baby things. She loves playing patty cake. She likes to sit and figure things out. Elly loves to put things together and put little toys into bigger toys and shake them around. She likes to just sit quietly and page through a book. She started playing peekaboo all by herself really early.

Elly is big on the fine motor skills. She can already feed herself with a spoon. She got the pincher grip early. She is pretty laid back about learning to walk. Just like she was not really worried about learning to crawl. One day she just started doing it. She went from not crawling at all to 5 days later being ALL over the place. I was convinced she was going to just never crawl. Then she just did it! Then she went from being afraid to pull up on stuff to pulling up, cruising, and walking all over with push toys. She could take her first steps tomorrow. Or it might be a few months from now.

I was afraid Elly would never start sleeping through the night and would never get on a schedule. She still wakes up a lot at night when she's cutting teeth or had a weird day or doesn't feel well. Some days she naps great. Sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she's awake at 7:30 a.m. Some days she sleeps til 9 a.m. It's pretty hit and miss with her.

Evie and Elly have such different personalities. Evie is high strung and loud and bossy. Elly is laid-back, quiet, calm. Evie gets bent out of shape if the least thing goes wrong. Elly just takes it in stride and tries again. Evie has a terrible temper while Elly pretty much only gets mad at Evie. Elly is big on sharing. Evie not.

I look at pictures of Evie and Elly and they look so much alike. It's mind-boggling how different they already are! It definitely keeps things interesting. Makes watching Elly grow and change so interesting. To see how much differently things continue to be.

Still cannot believe she's already 11 months old. One thing that doesn't seem to change: Time still flies!

Puzzles

If you're like most adults you probably haven't worked a puzzle in YEARS. But you really should.

No seriously. I am doing a blog on puzzles. And the fact that you should do them.

People are all crazy about sudoku and crosswords and all that. But puzzles work your brain in similar ways and no one ever mentions working jigsaw puzzles!

I just finished up a jigsaw puzzle earlier tonight. A 750 piece one that I have been working on sporadically for a few days and I feel so accomplished. And I feel like more people should really do puzzles. Certainly beats video games. haha.

Mean while, I'm praying for snow. Looking forward to seeing some maybe in the morning.

Hope everyone has had a great week. I will try to do a real post tomorrow!

Bittersweet Birthdays

There is something so sad and exciting about first birthdays. Subsequent birthdays are pretty happy affairs. But the first birthday is so bittersweet.

And in less than a month I will be celebrating Elly's first birthday. Probably my last first birthday. 

Firsts are one of the biggest I think. But they are definitely more for the parents and family than the kid. A 12 month-old doesn't really care about the cake or the presents. Not really. It's more of a "we made it!" party than anything else. A chance for the proud parents to show off their bitty bundle that is now possibly a walking and talking toddler. A pretty dramatic difference from the teensy, mewling bundle that they brought home from the hospital just one year ago.

I've already announced to everyone that may care that I am going to cry on Elly's birthday. Just thinking about all of us singing her happy birthday and watching her tear up her smash cake, with all my family and friends around, makes me get a little choked up. I'm not sad about her birthday. Not really. But I acknowledge that this year has gone by far too quickly. And this first birthday, the first of many, is the beginning of the end. This marks the end of her babydom. And this birthday is the first of many. Marking off of one year which went by far too quickly and it will seem like no time and we'll be celebrating her second, third, thirteenth...you see what I mean?

I am not so much sad to see the end of diapers, bottles, bibs, burp clothes, diaper bags, sleep sacks, formula, baby food, etc. I am actually pretty jubilant about that. We're already working our way down to one bottle per day. And I plan on weaning Elly from that by about 14 or 15 months old. Then she will be giving up her pacifier at 18 months. Then we'll be potty training at 20 months (hopefully) and then 12 months from now we'll hopefully be done with all things baby. Maybe forever. But definitely done for the next several years. I haven't completely committed to no more babies. But I cleaned out my basement of all the baby stuff. I cannot imagine putting myself through another pregnancy or going through the last year of trying to readjust our family dynamic again. But after a couple of years have passed between us and our baby bunching experience (and the nightmare it has been at times) and my babies are going off to school and I suddenly have free time and a quiet house, I may feel differently. But for now, I'm done. And happy about it.

But at the same time, it's sad to see my last baby not be a baby anymore. Like one morning I got choked up and cried right after Elly got her first teeth. Because it meant that I would never again see that big gummy smile first thing in the morning. The sweet, precious things of her babyhood are passing. Soon her funny, three-legged crawl will be replaced with a toddle, then a run. Her cute little "Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" while chasing me around the kitchen at night asking for her bottle will be traded in for demanding milk in a sippy cup like her big sis does. Then a big tantrum when I tell her that she can't have any more milk because it's bed time. It won't be long before she no longer climbs up into my lap and giggles and blows raspberries while babbling non-sense. And she'll stop doing goofy baby stuff, like putting diapers on her head and chewing on socks.

So, see, it's a little sad.

I am excited about her party though. We're having a Super Bowl party to celebrate her birthday. I know it seems kinda strange. I mean, she is a girl after all. But there are several reasons for it.

One, Super Bowl Sunday was the last day I was sitting around pregnant with Elly last year and I tried and tried and tried to make her come on Super Bowl Sunday because I thought that would have been neat. The next morning I went to Hugh Chatham to have a baby.

Another reason is that first birthdays are definitely more about the adults than the baby. And a Super Bowl party will be a LOT of fun (I hope!) for all of us. Elly won't really care I'm sure. And my family and I love football. Evie even loves football!

Plus with two girls, I'm sure I will be doing plenty of pink, girly birthday parties. Might as well have one that isn't a big taffeta explosion of pink and confetti, right? Well I think so. And my husband wholeheartedly agreed.

So, we'll be wearing football jerseys. There will be football decorations. We're going to do face painting. And we're going to have Super Bowl food! Pizza, hot wings, cocktail weenies, chips and dip, salsa and tortillas. Etc. So I am looking forward to that part. Especially the food. Yummy.

The planning is coming along well. Ordered invitations and got everything pretty much planned out. So now just gotta get everything actually in place. You know, get everything ordered and in place. A lot of the stuff we have left is just going to be day of type stuff. Like decorating. Obviously cannot do that until that Sunday.

I'm trying to just focus on the exciting parts. But any time I get off on a spiel about how much Elly has changed in the last year or all the cute baby things I am so dreading losing...well, I can't help but be sad. My baby girl is growing up! Again!

Hard to believe in less than a month I will have a one year-old and two year-old.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

These ingredients and about 6 hours are all you need to have scrumptious, delicious chicken and dumplings. They are a staple in Southern cuisine. Or at least in my opinion they are! My great grandmother used to cook a chicken all day, take it out and pull the meat off the bones, put it back in the pot, make dumplings from scratch...etc. It was an all-day, labor intensive sort of meal. It was delicious. But I simply am not going to do that. Sorry. I guess she just loved her family more than I do! haha.

So I found a lazy dumpling recipe online and modified it quite a bit. This recipe is one I look forward to every month. Although it has been a long fight for my husband he has finally got me to eat leftovers and this recipe makes a TON of food. So we end up eating dumplings for about a week honestly. But they are just as good warmed over as they are fresh. Honest!

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

*4 chicken breasts
*1 large can of Cream of Chicken condensed soup
*2 cans of jumbo buttermilk biscuits
*1 medium white onion
*2-3 Tbsp of butter/margarine
*Water
*2 Tbsp corn starch
*Salt & pepper

If the chicken is frozen (which mine always is) start it thawing. I pop 4-5 breasts in a bowl and microwave them about 5-6 minutes. That usually thaws them out. While they're cooking I put the cream of chicken soup in the pot and turn it onto high. Take the now empty soup can and fill it with hot water, add that to the pot. Then fill it up about 1/4 again, add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch and stir it to mix well. Cornstarch mixes easier in small amounts of water. Then add the cornstarch mix to the crockpot.

Next dice up the onion and add it to the pot. The chicken should be done so it is time to get it out of the bowl (EWW!), cut it into chunks (more EWW!) and add it to the pot. Then thoroughly wash your hands and all surfaces. Icky chicken.

Okay, next you'll want to add your butter. And salt and pepper to taste. I usually just cover the top of the mix with pepper and then the same with the salt and add more in as it cooks. Of course you can always add more in later but its really hard to take it out if you add too much! I don't typically measure spices unless I'm baking and it needs to be precise. When I'm cooking it is more about the smell of the dish and the taste. So I don't really know how much I add of those things!

Once everything is in the pot, turn it on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8. Now, the biscuits do NOT go in until later. They need to just chill out in the fridge all day.

Either before you add the biscuits in or while the chicken is cooking, you can break the chicken up some more if you want. You can also leave the chicken breasts whole and use two forks to shred the chicken. Or you can just leave it in chunks. Either way you prefer.

If you're cooking it on high, then after 4 hours (after about 6 on low) you can add the biscuits. Just tear the biscuits up and plop them in. After 30 minutes, or when the top layer of biscuits looks less mushy, stir the biscuit layer so the ones on top are on the bottom. This will get them all good and moist without overcooking any. But they won't be doughy in the middle. Another 30 minutes after that the dumplings should be done. I usually let mine simmer probably another hour or so on low until all the dumplings are mushy-bread looking.

Everyone in my family will actually eat these bad boys. And my husband and I take them to work for a couple of days. And I usually take some to my parents to enjoy. There is definitely PLENTY to go around from this recipe. If you aren't a fan of leftovers, I recommend halving what I have listed. Hope you enjoy!

Rock Star Birthday Invitation

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Italian Chicken Stew

In my house, we don't eat a lot of red meat. There are several reasons but the main one is that white meat is just so much better for you. Every once in a blue moon I get a hankering for a cheeseburger, but other than that...we pretty much just use turkey in all our recipes and chicken as our stand alone meat.

I love making soups and stews because they have a lot of healthy ingredients and they're so filling while typically being pretty low calorie. I like trying new, different types of recipes and this one definitely fit the bill. It's an Italian chicken stew that simmers in a red wine sauce. This is such a hearty, wholesome dish. Very filling! Plus it is just so pretty. No really. It's a nice colorful dish.

Italian Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

*4-5 chicken breast
*1 can sliced carrots
*1 can dark red kidney beans
*1 can Northern beans
*1 can diced tomatoes
*1 bunch of celery

*1 small can tomato paste
* Italian seasoning
*Garlic powder 
* 3/4 cup dry red wine
*1 cup water
* Salt and Pepper
*1 Tbsp sugar

To start with you need to make sure your chicken is thawed. I typically just buy the big bags of frozen chicken at the store. So I get out four or five chicken breasts and either leave them in the fridge for a day or microwave them for about 4 minutes. Then slice the chicken into bite size bits and place in the crock pot. Then add the carrots (drained), kidney beans (drained) and Northern beans (drained).

I get the can of diced tomatoes that has Italian seasoning in it already. Don't drain it, dump that can in, juice and all. Then chop up the celery (you'll want at least 1 cup chopped...I use probably twice that but I like celery) and add that in. Add in a LARGE amount of garlic powder, some salt and a healthy dose of pepper. I'm sorry that I never measure those things. I just shake it in until I have the smell I want.

In a separate bowl, mix the cup of water, 1/2 can of tomato paste, 3/4 cup of dry red wine, 1 Tbsp and a couple of tablespoons of Italian seasoning. Either whisk the ingredients or stir briskly with a fork, either way, just make sure they're good and blended. Then pour that mixture over the ingredients in the pot and mix well.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.

I have tried letting this recipe marinate over night in the refrigerator and couldn't tell much difference in the end result.

The thing I DON'T like about this recipe is that it takes about a half hour to prepare. All the can opening, chopping and mixing are time consuming. However, it works pretty well to make it the night before and leave the pot in the fridge over night (I have a crock pot that the ceramic "pot" part comes out for cleaning etc) so you can just put the pot in the cooker and let it cook all day while you're at work.

One variation would be to use chopped garlic cloves instead of garlic powder. It does enhance the flavor a bit but I almost never have garlic cloves in the house and never remember to get them so I just use powder. It works and it is one less thing to chop. But you should try it both ways if you're motivated.

This stew goes really well with some Jiffy sweet corn muffins. It's such a delicious and filling stew that it doesn't really need any sides or anything. It's good all by itself!

Hope you enjoy!

Let me know what you think.

Buffalo Slow-Cooker Chicken

Okay, I know I keep doing crock pot recipes. And then I talk about delicious they are and people message me on wanting the recipes. But I never can remember to message them back! So, I am going to try to write out some of my favorite recipes on here this week.

Coming up: Crock pot lasagna, Chicken and Dumplings, and Italian Chicken Stew.

TODAY you are in for a special treat though. Because this is some of the best buffalo chicken I have had in a long time. To give credit where due, I found the recipe originally on Pinterest. But I tweaked it a bit and so would like to share my version with you. Tweaking was minimum, but feel free to change it up to YOUR tastes.

Buffalo Slow-Cooker Chicken

This chicken was VERY juicy and oozy and oh-so-deliciously messy. If you don't want it this juicy, use less hot sauce and butter. Yes, that is corn on the cob and deviled eggs served alongside. I thought they went really well together. Would also go well with some mustard greens or mashed potatoes or maybe even some Texas fries. It has a spicy, buffalo taste but it's not a heartburn-inducing, fire-breathing type spicy. If you want it spicier you might experiment with different sauces or maybe try adding a couple of sliced jalapenos when you cook it. That would definitely up the intensity!

Ingredients:

*3 lb frozen chicken breast
*1 jar of buffalo sauce
*1 packet ranch mix
*butter (or margarine)
*salt and pepper

For mine, I used Texas Pete Buffalo Sauce and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix. Both are found in the salad dressing aisle of my local grocery store. Which also sells frozen chicken breast in a 3 lb bag! How convenient. My favorite part of this recipe? You put the chicken in frozen. No nasty thawing and cutting up cold, icky chicken. I HATE that. Yuck. And I am so paranoid about salmonella in uncooked chicken so I have to clean furiously before, during and after dealing with raw chicken. So it's a relief to just dump the chicken in the pot without having to touch it.

I did remember to put my frozen chicken in the fridge the night before. So it was a little defrosted. But the recipe assured me it didn't matter.

So, take your chicken, your buffalo sauce and your ranch mix and put all three into the crock pot. That's right. The whole bottle of buffalo sauce and the seemingly random ranch mix. Trust me, you want the ranch. It adds a lil spunk to the flavor. You'll love it!

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. My crock pot is overzealous with the heat and my chicken only needed 5 hours. You can cook it longer without fear of burning or overcooking so if you're putting it in and heading off to an 8 hour work day, don't stress it. If you work 12 hour shifts though, somebody is going to need to come tend your chicken. 12 hours would leave your chicken a blackened mess I'm sure!

So, after that time, take the chicken breasts out (leave the sauce!) and shred them. Just use two forks and pull the breasts apart. I thought this was going to be a pain but once I got the hang of it, shredding the chicken wasn't bad. Took me about 10 minutes but I am pretty handicapped when it comes to cutting, slicing or shredding. So, I figure it would take the average person about 5 minutes.

After the chicken is thoroughly shredded, return it to the pot and add margarine/butter. I used 4 Tbsp of butter. Not margarine. The recipe calls for 2 Tbsp margarine but I am a fan of the butter. It made the end result chicken much juicier (review the above picture!). The next time I cook this I think I will use just 2 Tbsp to see how it turns out. But I will continue to use butter instead of margarine. It is just so much tastier! So, add that in. Also add in salt and pepper. I thoroughly salted and peppered. Then cover it back up and let it cook another hour or two. You want the chicken to absorb as much of the sauce as it can so the longer the better really. Mine simmered about 2 hours on low.

My house smelled delicious all day. And after taking a sample of the chicken when I shredded it, it was hard to resist dipping back into the pot the rest of the evening and continuing to sample it. It was so good!

This is definitely the easiest recipe I have done in the crock pot. And I will definitely be doing it again! I hope you all enjoy! Let me know how it goes! And if you make any alterations then make a comment and tell me how it turns out! I would love to try your version too!