New Blog

So I knew this was going to happen at some point...I've run out of space! Years of blogging have taken their toll. So I'm going to be blogging at a new place...just one blog (I'll be combining all my different entries), not private, not connected to our last name so it is ok if you drop the kids names. Feel free to use the new blog on your side bars. Crys

www.mommidiary.blogspot.com

Law of Nature

There is law in Nature that says that children's happiness is directly related to how messy a house is. The irony of course is that parent's happiness is inversely related to how messy it is.

My Dope Ride

I'll admit I totally stole this from my friend Melissa. It made me laugh so hard...but mainly because I love my Sienna. It fits all the kids, is comfy, a smooth drive, love the dual doors, especially the automatic one, the fold down seats, the fact that I can buy whatever I want at a garage sale and cart it home, the fact that it is paid off. I LOVE THIS CAR! I was driving with Dr. J a couple of days ago and said, "You know honey, even if you were graduated and we had tons of money rolling in (all relative right ;)) this is the car I would want to own. This is my dream car." I ask you folks, what does that say about me?

Co Sleeper

Co sleeping is never something that has been comfortable for me. Oh I enjoy the occasional nap with my children but when it comes to having my kids sleep in my bed for a full night I'm not interested. When they are newborns it is hard for me to sleep with them next to me. I can't shake the feeling I'm going to fall deeply asleep and crush the poor child. As my kids get older they become more of a physical annoyance. My son Big E was a hot sleeper. As soon as he would actual fall asleep his body temperature would raise five degrees. Sweaty sleep is just not for me. G bear on the other hand was restless sleeper. She would toss and turn, pushing her way into a perpendicular position. She'd put her feet on us and squirm her head into our sides. At 3 she'd wake and hit us or pull on our noses. Her restless sleep became our restless sleep. For the most part it hasn't been a problem. From a young age our kids were champion sleepers. We'd put them in their cribs at seven and they would be out. They took good naps in the middle of the day. When we moved them out of their cribs into big kid beds they'd stay in bed and go to sleep. Some mornings we'd cuddle with them for fun, but it wasn't a necessity. I didn't understand people who had problems with their kids going to bed. Then we had Peach. Peach started out a good sleeper and at two months was sleeping through the night. The last few months though her sleeping has become erratic. She does not like to nap. She doesn't self comfort. She doesn't even want to sleep at night. Her nighttime nurse at seven she does a nurse nap and then finishes wide awake wanting hours of play. She giggles and slaps. She plays and cries. She jumps on the couch and balances on the arm. She climbs the steps and crawls back down. She is tired but won't sleep. When I got to nurse her at nine she resists. When I nurse her at ten she still doesn't want to sleep. Finally Jason and I will give in and bring her in our bed to sleep. Even then she will shake her legs every time she starts to doze, but when finally she realizes she is not going anywhere she will settle down...well that is as long as she is next to me. So here we are...co sleeping. I guess you should never say never as a parent. When it comes to getting your zzz you never know what you will be willing to do.

Better Than Average

Did you know the average marriage last 7.2 years? As of today Dr. J and I are better than average.! Eight years ago today I married the love of my life and started the family better than I could have imagined. We are thick and thin :)...Jack Sprat and Wife. I love my hubby. He is my best friend, the love of my life. To commemorate the date we are going to be up to business as usual. Dr. J had to be up early, early to drive an hour away where he will be doing the last four weeks of his 12 week internal medicine rotation. I took kids to school and am now playing beauty parlor with the under four crowd. Later tonight I think we might meet at a Turkish restaurant in town after Tae Kwon Do...for busy parents with three young kids I think we are pretty romantic :) Gifts have been bought and hopefully dinner will be good! Here is to better than average!!! Honey I love you!

My Gym Membership

A year and half ago I got a gym membership. It was wonderful at the time. My hubby was leaving the country and with two small children and winter quickly approaching I didn't know how I'd find the time to exercise. There was free babysitting and classes and for many months I enjoyed it. Today I'm contemplating cancelling it for eight months. It is grossly underutilized and the coffin was nailed down by a glorious temperate day. Because of the time I have to drop my son off I miss my favorite classes, so I'm mainly just running on the tread mill and doing weights. Today I was all ready to go and couldn't find my ipod. The thought of running on the hamster wheel without it was more then I could bare. I looked at the good weather and decided what the heck. Twenty minutes later I had the girls in the double jogger and we were on our way to a park, one we normal would drive to. It was awesome. I did squat jumps and arm presses in the park while daughter 1 played. Daughter 2 was amused to be out. I think I'm hooked. Summer is coming, the pool will be open. Son number 1 will be out of school. Soon the bike trailer will be back together and attached to the bike. For these good months I'm going to take advantage of the natural family time exercise and activity. It will probably make me appreciate the gym more when I return next November!

Pictures to die for...literally!

In high school I had to best friends Leslie and Pamela Jane. We did everything together, school, church dances, slumber parties almost every weekend. They were my favorite part about going to church. When we were older we started taking trips. We went camping in Southern and Northern Arizona. We went to California. We took trips to Utah. One time we decided to go to Sedona, this great little town sort of in central Arizona known worldwide for it's red rock formations. This particular time we decided to get out of the car and wade into the water. The river was fairly shallow and cold but fast moving the way most snow run off rivers are. At one point Leslie found this fairly large rock toward the middle of the river that you could rock hop over to. Her and Pamela scaled it. I stayed off to side always one to avoid heights. Leslie figured out that she could stand at one place over this little waterfall and it looked like she was hanging off of a massive cliff. She asked Pamela to take a picture. I think she got one shot off and then Leslie slipped and went into the river, under the waterfall. Pamela and I were screaming. I came running from the side where I'd been looking at rocks, Pamela got down off rock and we both started frantically running up and down the river trying to see her. Then suddenly she popped up, coughing and chocking. Though the river wasn't particularly deep it was deep enough and the force of the waterfall and slipper rocks had kept her trapped under. Somehow she got to the side and we grabbed her and hurried her off to the car. If I remember correctly she ended up wearing flip flops, gym pants and a ratty shirt for the rest of the day. Yes we stayed in Sedona even after that...not wanting to waste any fun time together. Later when she got her film printed that one shot was amazing! I don't know that it was necessarily worth it though. People die in that river all the time. I'm just glad she made it out alive. I'm pretty sure that would have been the most tramatic thing to happen in my life ever had she not...and I realize this is totally selfish but I would have missed out on tons of great memories in the years to follow.

Leslie, Me, Pam

Me and Pam right before the actual event. I don't have the picture of Leslie but I sure wished I had a copy! I'll post more pictures of these girls if I continue to feel reminiscent which I might...I've been listening to a lot of Sarah McLaughlin :)

Office Baby

Did anyone watch the office last night? Celia Maria was almost Peach's name. I mean like two minutes until we walked out of the hospital it was still on the block...and it now would have been immortalized on Office Trivia....oh well :)

Dear Meijer

Dear Meijer,

When I read the word fresh, new is the first word that comes to mind. When I see it on hoggie rolls or french bread I assume that means they were baked today, the day I'm standing here in your bakery squeezing them. Imagine my dismay when I realize that they were FROZEN! All 15 bags sitting there. You secret is out my friend and I am not happy. From Wal-mart I would not be surprised, but you, I always thought you were a cut above. Apparently that was incorrect.

Sincerely,

Soggy Bunned Mommi :)

How to Get Some Cheap Diapers

If you are a new costumer at diapers.com they will give you 10 off 49. If you spend 49 they will also give you free shipping. Along with that deal they will give you a free issues of Parenting Magazine. Let's say you don't want an issue to Parenting...well then you can click here, send this form in and get a refund of 14.97. My friend Susan did this and then made all her friends do it for her as well. She wanted to stock up on bumgenius 3.0 diapers. Here is how it worked. The diapers cost 17.95 a piece. Three cost 53.85. In order to get the ten dollars to count you have to call or e-mail in, some glitch in their system doesn't register the bumgenius diapers as diapers. If you call in or email their customer service with a referral code they will take it off. Use CESL8294 and get your money off and I get something in my account. So 53.85-10 = 43.85. Send in for the rebate instead of the magazine and you end up with 43.85-14.97 = 28.88/3= 9.62 a diaper. For a cloth diaper that is a GREAT DEAL! Make your family or friends in town buy more for you doing the same deal, use your own referral code and build up a little stock for yourself. Amazing.

Or if you think cloth is so gross and would never do it try this instead.
5 packages of Huggies supreme at 9.99 a pack = 49.95. Free shipping because you are over 49. Subtract the new member discount using my referral code CESL8294 (or someone in your family). 49.95-10=39.95. Go here and send the parenting magazine thing in for rebate. 39.95-14.97 = 24.98. That is under five dollars a pack for diapers. Then make your mom and mother-in-law do it for you using your referral code and build up cash or points in your own account. Then if you have any manufactures coupons you can send them in here

Diapers.com
P.O. Box 1564
Montclair, NJ 07042

and they will credit your account! This is a stinking good deal. If you've never ordered with them I think it is worth it to at least try it out!

Valentine's Day

We have a tradition in our family of having a nice dinner altogether. It is usually fancy and often something I don't make other times of the year. This year though we had late church and didn't get home until after 4:30...so our dinner was a little adjusted. We still ate fairly well.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Salad
Whole Wheat Homemade Rolls
Roast
Red Garlic Potatoes
And a butter yellow cake with chocolate frosting covered in strawberries

It was just enough variety that all my children ate without complaint...well except Peach who was a nightmare. 1 o'clock church does not agree with her. I mentioned to Dr. J how lucky we were that we'd never had a kid so whinny about church and he pointed out this is the first time we've had 1 o'clock church with kids....oh yeah. Anyway besides that the night was well. I gave my kid books for Valentine's Day. They were happy. Dr. J watched the kids Saturday so I could go to the Salon. I got there and the girl had called in sick. So it was a nice thought even if it didn't work out. I gave Dr. J a paid off car, money in the emergency fund, and a budget for myself. The man actually teared up. Financial responsibility. The perfect gift for ones spouse.

Jealous

I love my hubby but that doesn't mean I wouldn't mind trading places with my little sister in this picture! Shesh!

Children's Place

The Children's Place is having their annual winter clearance. Price are deep this week as they try to open up space for spring clothes. 1.99, 2.99, 3.99 for shirts, jeans, dresses, and pants. 9.99 for coats, snow boots, and snow pants. If you like to buy for the next year, this is the time to do it.

Chapstick on the Couch

Just when you thought you had it all under control...

All the Single Ladies

Have you seen the SNL clip with Beyonce and Justin Timberlake dancing to this song? Seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Of course if you didn't see if the first time you may never. There used to be a day of "free information". Do you remember Napster when people downloaded tons of music for free? Do you remember when youtube actually used to have clips and even pieces of shows on it? Now nadda. Copy written stuff if pulled immediately. I get it people, you don't want you struff "stolen" but hello American Idol, you don't post the previous weeks stuff on your show, so if I miss it, I miss it and how can connect with your stupid singers. All I can say is, you are only hurting yourself. Anyway I digress...what I actually wanted to talk about was this single lady.

Dr. J started his OB rotation this week...an hour from home. So we have the two hour daily commute and the fact that OB/Gyn doctors actually do keep oncall hours...you know the hours lots of babies are born. Not my kids of course, they like to be born in afternoon, but all the naughty kids are in it for the midnight hours :) Anyway it is a busy rotation, with lots of night on call. I had to mentally prepare myself this week when I saw his schedule. I said, "Ok lady. You are now a single lady again, and your boyfriend is going to be gone a whole heck of a lot." I had a good friend whose husband was an oral maxillary surgeon once tell me, "Expect nothing and then you will be happy with whatever you get." That is the life of a doctor's spouse. It doesn't mean that what I get isn't great. It just means that I have to readjust my expectations, because sadness is expectations unmet. So once again it is time to expect nothing. Hubby home for dinner...don't expect it. Hubby there with you at church...don't expect it. Dates...don't expect them. Hubby there when you sleep at night...don't expect it. Hubby home when you wake up...don't expect it. Hubby able to relieve you of the kids...don't expect it. It is why I have a gym that has babysitting. It is why me being a stay at home mom is an absolute must. It is why every year I consider getting a dog :) Also I've gotten quite good at texting. Because you don't want your phone going off while the doctor is letting you stitch up some woman who is getting a hysterectomy.

Food, Inc.

Well that's it. I'm off a certain food product again, but because of "veggie libel laws" I'm not going to mention what it is. A few years ago I read "Fast Food Nation". It was eye opening and sickening all at once. For a few months I was vigilant, but then I got a little lax. Today I watched Food, Inc. Wow. I came down and told Jason we are off a certain food product. Amazing what our current system of food production does to the farmers, the workers, the animals and to us. Like the movie says though, we vote on what we want three times a day. That was the take home message. Every time we reach for products we tell stores, companies, and the government what we are willing to accepted. I certainly am planning on being a little more proactive but if you want to know what I'm cutting your going to have to call :)

Goals

At one point in my life I had goals, really I did. Then motherhood struck. There is so much minutia but it fills up the days. Goals are important though. Without them you can drowned in the details without really getting anything done. Dr. J and I have decided that we need to get back in the habit of setting goals. Each Sunday we are going to sit down and set a new weekly goal. We hope that accountability will keep us a little more motivated. There are loads of things to do. Educationally we still have 25 articles to transcribe. Physically I have loads of baby weight I want to work on. Plus I'd like to start running again. Household wise, keeping a budget has always been beyond me. It hasn't really mattered while we didn't have any money. I just pay everything I can pay when we do and the rest just has to last until we get paid again. Someday we might actually have some money. It would be nice to know we could manage it when that day comes. I'd also like to find a way to manage my house more effectively. Spiritually I could definitely do better. I remember when I used to try and read two chapters of scripture a night. Recently I told Dr. J my new goal is just to read ten versus a night. He laughed a bit but I think it is perfect. No matter how tired you are, ten versus is doable, and if you aren't tired well then you can read a few more :) Here is to 2010! I'm hoping to get a little more done this year, even if it is just in bits and pieces. Plus I figure what better way to teach your kids about goals them to let them see you set them.

Coat vs. Car Seat

Coat versus car seat, every mom's dilemma. You wrangle them into coats just to get out to the car and have to wrangle them out again so that they will fit in their car seat. Sure you can put them in with their coats, but be prepared for the riot act on how you are not being safe. It is such a dilemma. I heard you can make little ponchos for the car seats. Sounds fun, I guess. Until then I've just been using Peach's coat as leg warmers. Isn't she a cutie!

How to Throw an Awesome Tea Party

After five years of pirate parties I was ready for a girl party. This year I decided to throw my darling three year old a tea party. Forget the fact that we were leaving for a 24 hour drive the next day, a party with seven little girls was just what I wanted. I spent weeks trying to find hats and gloves for the little girls that weren't going to break the bank. I found these little white gloves on ebay for a little less then a dollar a pair. The hats were harder. I'd looked everywhere and finally resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to shell out three bucks a hat plus shipping, the shipping of course was the worst part. I was kicking myself. At Easter I'd seen hats and gloves at the dollar store. Why hadn't I realized I'd want to throw a party months later...why hadn't I bought them then just knowing I was going to want them later :) Well I decided to check the store one time before I ordered them online. Eureka! On the top shelf I saw them. They had about twenty hats left over from Easter! I got the hats for a dollar a piece! When the girls showed up we gave them the option to put on a dress up dress. Then each girl came to her hat and gloves. We had candy necklaces I'd gotten from Walmart to put together. To help with little fingers we used pipe cleaners, easier for little fingers to string.

For lunch we had cucumber sandwiches. I grated the cucumber with my cheese grater so the slices were nice and thin and used a dash of salt and pepper. To stay authentic I sliced the crust off and cut the sandwiches into fours. I did peanut butter and jelly for the kids but the moms and even some of the kids stuck to cucumbers. They were DELICIOUS! I bought Pepridge Farm Cookies and left them on their paper holders on the plates. The girls loved them. Loved being able to choose any cookie they wanted. To make the table setting special we used glass plates a novelty for a three year old. The best part was the tea. Hubby picked lemonade because he thought it was least likely to stain. The girls loved pouring their own tea. The cups were so small they got lots of practice.

The crowning glory was the "cake". I decided I wanted to do petit fours. I looked online and found out the best type of cake to use was a sponge cake. Sponge cake gets it's lift from beaten eggs. Everything I read said this would be difficult. In comes my Bosch...have I mentioned before that I love it! Whipping eggs with 700+ watts, no problem! My cake didn't even think about falling. After you make your sponge cake you cut the cake into squares. Each square is cut in half and the halves are brushed with a water/sugar syrup. You then put a layer of pudding or cream in the middle. I did a pasty pudding, it was the first time I'd ever made one from scratch. Each cake is then covered with a light layer of buttercream frosting, so the fondant will stick. That is right, I made fondant! Once again I'm totally thankful for the Bosch. I put the ingredients in, started the mixer, no fuss, a few minutes later perfect fondant. I rolled the fondant out on the table and cut it into squares. Each piece of cake got it's own fondant, turning it into a perfect white pillow. The flowers were made with colored tootsie rolls. Each tootsie roll was split into four or five pieces. We softened them up with our fingers and then Dr. J helped me roll them into flowers. Then we rolled out green tootsie rolls, cut leaves, and pressed patterns in with tooth pics. The result was a delicious looking decoration. I put each cake on an extra large cupcake holder. I put three candles on top, and all together they made the perfect little tea party cake. It was a lot of work but it was totally worth it!

Christmas Let Down

Well the holidays are over. Am I the only one feeling a little let down? Perhaps it is the toll the illness that is finally leaving our house took. Maybe it is the lack of room for the five new dolls my daughters got and the six new games the family got. Maybe it is the fact that my wallet is gone, and I'm now thinking there is a good chance it was stolen. Perhaps I'm just sick of the Wii games Dr. J and Little E want to play non stop. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I never got it together to get Christmas cards out. Could it be the fact that my house is just not quite clean. Is it the extra weight the Christmas binges led to. What about the 13 degree weather we have in the Midwest. I can't say for sure but I'm definitely feeling down.