The grass is always greener ...

The grass is always greener at my parents' house. Actually, it is. My dad has a beautiful lawn. Us, on the other hand, have a pothole for a yard. A pothole with a couple dandelions and a few tufts of crab grass here and there. I kid you not. This extreme summer was hard on our landscaping. Well that and an adamant refusal to water our grass to keep it verdant looking. Lance is going to scold me for calling our yard a pothole.

But I digress.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. When I worked full-time, I envied my friends that got to be a stay-at-home mom. When I went to part-time all I wanted was my full-time salary back or to just be at home all the time. And now that I'm a pretend stay-at-home mom, I miss working. Well, maybe not exactly the act of working, but the ability to have time where I'm not "mommy." So either the grass is always greener or I'm the most flippant person ever. It could be a little of both :)

Both statuses are tough, but in entirely different ways. When I was full-time, I spent a fair amount of my day wondering what Lucan was up to and whether or not he was being good. I worried about all the other stuff I had to get done when I got off of work. I tried not to focus on all the germs Lu's immune system was being exposed to. Now that I'm at home with Lucan, I worry about his social development and if he's tired of hanging out with me or misses playing with lots of other kids. I suddenly have all that time I thought that I would have being a stay-at-home mom, but yet, none of the time to get anything done. I feel like I spend most of my time in the kitchen either making food, feeding Lu food, cleaning food off the floor that Lu thought would be fun to watch splat or cleaning up the mess I made preparing food for Lu to eat. Hit the repeat button in two hours and it's lunchtime! I find that at lunch Lu would prefer whatever food I've made for myself than eat what I've made for him. (Do you ever feel like God created the same behaviors in your child that you yourself exhibited as a wee one? Um, YES. I distinctly remember always thinking that my mom's food always tasted better than whatever was on my own plate. And then stealing her food. Lance asked my mom the other day what my favorite food was and she sort of hemmed and hawed and didn't have an answer. Because I was a HORRIBLE eater as a kid. So when Lu throws his peeled apple slice on the floor and pulls the kind of stuff I pulled as a child, I smile and sigh because God knew EXACTLY what He was doing when He made my child.)

Oh. I digress. Again.

But I miss adults and being able to logically reason with someone (besides myself). I miss not living in fear of waking Lucan up from his nap if I'm not quiet enough. I miss my grown-up clothes (on the flip side, I DO NOT miss all the ironing that comes from having to wear grown-up clothes). Getting out of the house is important. It allows me to turn a blind eye to the bathroom that could really use a going-over. I love watching Lucan do his little happy dances and being able to tickle and make him giggle madly. I love being there to see the progress he makes every day in walking just a bit further. I love my little conversations that I have with Lu after his naps like how his pillow ended up on the floor or why there are extra stuffed animals in his crib. He just looks wide-eyed and innocent as if he had nothing to do with any of it.

Everyone loves a naked baby. Especially a baby who is undressing his favorite MLB mascot.

Not working has granted me the opportunity to see if the grass is really greener on the other side of the fence. From where I'm standing presently, both sides look a little dry and crusty and in need of a good watering.

Lucan: 15 months

This past month has a big month for Lucan!

• Walking has been long in coming. It isn't Lucan's favorite method of transportation as he still prefers crawling, but he will take four or five steps at a time and move from item to item. But I'm happy to be able to say when asked: "yes, Lucan is walking now."
• Sippy cup. One piece of advice for new moms: introduce a sippy cup early. After having several conversations with my mom friends, we cut the bottle cold turkey. Lu has never been a thirsty kid, so we have to offer his milk to him because he won't take it on his own accord.
• Teething. Lucan currently has a total of 10 teeth, but is getting 4 more on the top. No wonder he is so drooly.
• Talking. Lucan's favorite words include "no" and "bye." Perhaps I should take this as a sign that Lucan wants me to go "bye" so he can quit hearing "no" from me all the time. I really think that Lucan understands the concept of bye because he will wait until he can't see you and then he will wave bye and say bye!
• Food. I'm pleased to sasy that Lucan is branching out in the foods he will eat . He really likes vegetables and meat. He's not so big of a fan of fruit or lots of bread. For breakfast Lu enjoys homemade banana bread or zucchini bread (he's already a food snob) and a banana. He also will eat oatmeal - which his father will not. Lu is good at eating leftovers for lunch, I just have to make sure they are appropriate leftovers like stir-fry veggies and chicken or beans. Weirdly, he eats things like water chestnuts and mushrooms but turns his nose up at apples.
• I often find myself scolding Lance for spoon feeding Lucan. I know that Lance doesn't like wiping food up off the floor the mess, but I'm not about to undo all the hard work I do at breakfast and lunch of getting Lu to feed himself. Lucan will let you know he's finished not with the "all done" sign, but by promptly throwing food on the floor and spitting it out. I went through the effort of really doing a good job of cleaning and mopping the floors on a Thurs night and by the weekend you couldn't tell any more.
• Napping. Unless he's tired, he will fuss when he's put down for his naps. But usually after about 10 or 15 minutes, he will settle down. Lu has to have his favorite blanket otherwise all bets are off. I try and stop him from dragging his white blanket all over, but it's usually a vain wish.
• Bedtime is at 8 pm. Lance has taken over bedtime duty which includes a couple sips of milk, a story or two and prayers.
• Lu is a dancing machine. If he hears a song that has a good beat, he bops right along to it. He's got my dancing genes!
• Lu still enjoys a good outing in his stroller or the bike trailer. With the weather getting nicer and less like a firey inferno, we've been trying to get out more.
• Something that Lucan isn't enjoying as much is outings in a shopping cart. I guess neither of us enjoy it when Lu tries to escape and stand up.
• Lu is graduating onto more interactive books. He has a jungle book in which you move different pieces of the pages up and down. Lu thinks that's pretty darn cool. He also likes books that have different things for him to touch and feel.
• Annoying things: turning light switches on and off, trying to hang on the baby gate, touching the tv, splashing in Fire's water dish, wailing uncontrollably when I won't let him play IN the fridge.
• I guess being a stay at home mom hasn't made me any more organized as I didn't call soon enough to get Lucan in for his 15 month appointment until he will be 16 months old. Opps. We'll have his stats next month.

Lucan likes M&Ms. I've caught him feeding himself M&Ms out of the people feeder and then one day Lu knocked the people feeder off the shelf and spilled 500 M&Ms all over the floor. Fantastic


 

Lance volunteers through work at the State Fair to help with the Little Hands on the Farm display. Next year Lu will finally be old enough to actually interact. This year he just got a Pioneer hat. Lu's uncle who works for the competitor, Monsanto, I'm sure isn't pleased.



 



Classic family photo - Lance has his eyes closed.





I attempted to take Lu's 15 month photo on my own. I don't have a single picture of him actually looking at the camera.





Lu's Grandma K picked up a John Deere visor for him at the State Fair.

Santa Fe Summer BBQ Pizza

One side benefit from not having a job is being able to spend more time cooking and using our garden produce. Yes, it's a very small benefit, but we're looking on the bright side here folks. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't be able to start pizza dough in my bread machine on a weeknight. Now, with a little planning and foresight, I can do this fairly easy. I need to look into making pizza dough ahead of time and then freezing it. Does anyone know anything about doing that?

The main reason I made this particular pizza was because we happened to have all of the ingredients on hand and fresh. Fresh cherry tomatoes, cilantro and sweet corn. I even happened to have some black beans in the fridge begging to get used. I've taken to buying dried beans, soaking them overnight and the cooking them on low in the crockpot during the day. It's the cheaper option and I throw them in the freezer (never to be seen again) and pull them out as needed. This was also a good supper option because it includes no meat. Meat is pricey. Our stockpile of beef has dwindled and there isn't any magic money lying about to buy another side of beef. So, meatless Tuesdays it is. Lance has even stopped complaining about the meatless meals we have because it typically uses up a healthy pile of garden tomatoes.

Enough tangent. This pizza wasn't bad. Most people would probably be like this pizza as long as you like subbing bbq sauce for your typical tomato sauce. I'm not sure if I'm part of that group. But again, we had every single ingredient on hand, so it was hard to argue against making this pizza. I'd probably make it again too, but not terribly often.

Without further adieu, the recipe.

Santa Fe Summer BBQ Pizza

Topping ingredients
 
1/3 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Pizza crust ingredients

3/4 cup water, 80 degrees
1 T oil
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1 T dry milk
2 1/4 cups bread flour
3/4 t Red Star Quick Rise Yeast

With my bread machine you add all the ingredients in the order they are stated and then hit the program for dough. It takes an hour and 20 minutes. Then you pull out your dough, flour it lightly and then press into a pizza pan, top with desired ingredients and then bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Another great meatless Tuesday!

New Kitten

No, we did not get a new kitten. Lance has put the ki-bosh on adding any pets to this household until I turn 32. Just wait, I'll be opening my animal farm then! But my childhood kitty died earlier this spring and my parents brought home a tiny bundle of joy named Annie. I was the one that came up with her name. They got a ragdoll kitten - Raggedy Annie - hence, Annie. My mom has decided that this kitten is a spitfire - Annie Oakley - or one pistol of a kitty! We were home the weekend they got her and Lucan wanted to be her friend. Annie hid. The friendship is not reciprocal :)

"Be my friend Annie! Quit hiding and running away!"



"I cannot reach you to pull, er, I mean, 'pet' you"



Hiding under a table. Smart move kitty.

What a sweet little precious face. There's nothing cuter than a kitten.

Lucan: 14 months old

My friend Katie confirmed what I had been suspecting for several months now: little boys are destructive. She has two little girls and has a little boy who is 4 months younger than Lucan. Katie is convinced that her son is going to break every single drawer in her house by trying to climb them like stairs. She says that her girls were never this bad. Boys are like a bull in a china shop. Lu is constantly pulling things down, toppling things over, throwing things over the back of the couch and down the stairs. Just this week he has destroyed two night lights, pulled the piece of trim off his beadboard that Lance assured me Lu wouldn't be able to pull off again, dumped over the cat's water bowl twice, shredded countless pieces of paper and unrolled the better half of a roll of toilet paper. Goodness it's no wonder I'm exhausted. I'm constantly trying to keep Lu out of mortal peril.

The theme of 14 months is fearlessness. Lucan is AWESOME at climbing. Up the stairs. Down the stairs. Climbing onto the couch. Climbing his high chair. Climbing the kitchen chairs. Lu even tries to climb up my legs. Fantastic Lu. Now if you could just master walking ... And quit throwing your blanket over the side of the crib during naptime and then proceeding to cry hysterically. 

 I don't want my picture taken.

Clap, clap, clap your hands.

Did I mention that I'm DONE with pictures?

Tiny Table Terrorist

We will not negotiate with terrorists.

When it comes to meal times, I find those words coming to mind several times a day. My son is a tiny table terrorist. I just finished reading Jenny Rosentstratch's Dinner: A Love Story where she cataloged her family's meals from when she and her husband were newlyweds to being a working mother with two small children to transitioning to being a work at home mom with two slightly older kids. I totally dug her book as it was a combo cookbook/life story. But I'm the sort of person who finds that sort of thing awesome. But she coined the phrase "tiny table terrorist" when trying to find foods to feed her youngest. I empathized with the chapter she titled "How to Triumph over a Tiny Table Terrorist (or, How Not to Love Your Mind When Cooking for a Picky Eater). I think most parents (okay, not you Jessica), have a moment in their life that fits this phrase.

Today I tried to feed Lucan a slice of toast with butter. He refused and threw the bits on the floor. I tried to give him some banana chunks. He threw those on the floor too. (note: later Lucan got out of his high chair and proceeded to kick his legs wildly through this bread crumbs and then sit on the banana chunks. What a mess. But it's one of Lu's favorite ways to scatter food. He does this on a regular basis with cheerios too.)

Lu is high maintenance eater. He happily ate a piece of zucchini bread and when I fed him the banana chunks with the butter knife I was using to slice up the banana, he ate those too. Lu doesn't like fruit unless it comes in a puree or I've skewered and grilled it. Can we say diva? Regardless of what sippy cup I use or what is inside the sippy cup, Lucan has to have a bib on because he will take a drink, swish and spit it all out all over him.

While Lucan is not as bad as some eaters at this age, it's still annoying. I think his plan is to just eat half of whatever I'm eating. The other night he ate almost all of my zucchini and broccoli out of my pasta. I was annoyed. He tries to eat all of my fries. I was also annoyed. I acknowledge that my child is stealing bites of zucchini and broccoli, which is not typical. Last night he happily ate eggplant Parmesan. It just goes to show that we all have our food battles with our children.

This is a picture of Lucan and his girlfriend, Bridget, sharing a snack of yogurt covered raisins. And when I say "sharing" I mean, Lucan was stealing Bridget's, so Mandy had to give Lu his own box before Bridget got too upset!



Poop stain eliminator

I don't think that I'm a gushy person. There are things that I love and I get passionate about, but I don't think that I'm that overly excitable. Yes, I use my fair share of exclamation points, but I try not to be overly exuberant. My revelation today, it's worth gushing about. And it's worth about 11 exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The enemy of all new mothers are the unavoidable baby blow outs and brown poop stains. If you are a pintrest-er, you might have seen various pins about getting stains out of clothes. I've been stockpiling clothes that needed to be spot cleaned due to runny, nasty diapers (apparently corn and edamame pass right through Lucan). Just today I got poop on two separate white shirts because of Lu poo (look I'm a poet and I didn't know it). I figured it was time to suck it up and deal with various garments that needed my attention (just like I need to do more ironing - yes, Jessie, more ironing. I know you find it unbelievable). I had pinned the spot cleaner pin, so I brought it up to see what all it entailed. It's fairly rudimentary in it's ingredient list, in fact you should be able to pick up everything you would need at DG (for those of you not in the hood - Dollar General) if you don't already have it at home.

Spot cleaner: hydrogen peroxide, Dawn dishing washing soap (based on a couple of comments, using Dawn is important) and baking soda. Easy enough, right? I used a small Gladware bowl and three parts hydrogen to one part Dawn and baking soda. In my particular case, 3 teaspoons of hydrogen to 1 teaspoon of Dawn and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Using an old toothbrush, I poured a little on and scrubbed at it for a minute or two. Then I let it sit for about an hour and came back, scrubbed a bit more and rinsed it out. Voila! Brown poop stain, be gone.

I did have a particularly stubborn spot, so I applied, scrubbed and rinsed twice. Then it was gone. This was a spot that I didn't catch and it went through the washer and dryer. It came out. I was amazed.

I did this on a colored jcrew tank top too and it worked as well. I am sold. I actually went through a bunch of Lance's shirts so I could find things to spot clean. This might just make me nuts. Because no sane person digs through their husband's shirts so they can see if this spot cleaner is as good as it seems.

Lucan 13 and 14 months old

I feel bad about not doing a post for Lucan at 13 months. Oh well. Too bad, so sad.
Here are things from the best of my recollection.

• At my last report, I stated that if you told Lucan "NO" he burst into tears. That's certainly changed. Not only, does he not cry, he doesn't stop and he will turn and smile at you. Touching the flat-screen TV, yes, please. Trying to push over the glass lamp, why yes, I'll do that too. Shredding momma's magazines, sure why not? Ah, the joys. Even swatting his hands seem to have no effect. I bought Dobson's Strong Willed Child at a garage sale. Maybe I need to start reading it now.
• Lucan is not walking yet. There's a part of me that feels bad, but a bit annoyed with that continual question of if he's walking. Lu didn't crawl until about 10 months, so I'm guessing he won't walk until like 15 months. There, I'm putting my stake in the ground.
• That being said, he pulls up on everything and is constantly climbing. Steps are a delight. We discovered that Lucan could climb stairs just after his birthday. We were at our friend's parents lake house where they have carpeted stairs and Lance thought it would be "fun" to see how far Lucan could get. As a result, Lucan feels entitled to try and climb all staircases and gets upset when you pull him off of them.
• Speaking of good tricks Lance taught Lucan, we are also going to have a potential problem with Lucan trying to climb over the back of the couch to peer over who is coming up the stairs. That's another one Lance taught Lucan.  
• After Lu gets up from his nap, his eyes travel upwards to the shelf where TC (Twin Cities) Bear sits. Lu insists on being able to visit TC on a regular basis. 
• I still feel so blessed that Lucan is a good sleeper. He goes to bed around 8 pm every night, sleeps through the night consistently and takes two naps during the day, averaging about 3 hours total between the two. Yes, we are blessed indeed.
•  Lucan is in size four diapers. Much needed size four diapers. Lu's only pooping about once a day and they are GINORMOUS. And disgusting. Maybe enchiladas or chicken lo mein doesn't agree with his digestive system ...
• We finally moved him into a bigger car seat. After much hemming and hawing, we shelled out the big dollars and got a Britax Marathon 70 G3. Gads. I suppose car seats are one of those things you really shouldn't skimp on.
• We are still having difficulties with sippy cups. Lucan's favorite trick is what I refer to as "swish and rinse." He'll take a sip of water and then spit it out. Usually all over himself or me. Yay.
• Food. Lucan likes either really crunchy things or purees. I have this innate fear that I will be pureeing Lucan's food until he's 8 years-old. Sometimes he'll surprise me and feed himself, but it's infrequent.
• Everyone dressed like a cow for Chik-Fil-A's "dress like a cow" day. It was there that I discovered that Lucan likes chicken nuggets and french fries. A lot. He ate a quarter of my meal and I was not happy. But it appears that anything that is breaded, Lu is a fan. Chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, fish sticks.
• Lucan likes to carry things around in his mouth, particularly his little puppy named Bandit. Poor Bandit, he's disgusting. The puppy's ears spend so much time in Lucan's mouth, they are completely crusty. It's gross.
• Lu's favorite book is his Baby Barnyard Animals book that makes animal noises. It's a somewhat obnoxious book, but Lu loves it. 
• We still have some issues with separation anxiety. I'm sure it's only going to get worse now that I'm home with Lu full-time. If I try to go to the bathroom or grab something downstairs, Lucan starts crying hysterically. Even if I still keep talking to him as I walk away. I guess my days of peeing in peace are officially over.
• Speaking of things that are over, we have tabled Lu's baby bathtub. It's pretty entertaining to watch Lu swim around in the bathtub. It's definitely more dangerous, especially since Lucan insists on periodically standing and walking ...
• UGH. Lucan has determined that his high chair was intended for him to stand up in. It's so freaking dangerous and I can't leave him by himself for a second.
• I weaned Lucan about mid-June. Because I was a crazy lady who pumped almost 3 extra times a day, we have lots of frozen breastmilk for Lu. 
• His favorite toy is his Cozy Coupe car. Lucan loves to climb in and out and open and shut the door. We do this on a regular basis. We also zoom around the house, in and out of bedrooms and around the kitchen. Lucan loves his car.
• He equally loves his firetruck ride-on-toy. Lu's favorite feature are the noise buttons - they make firetruck noises and have little songs. 
• Ha! Lucan's favorite song is the "Wheels on the Bus" and the theme song to the "Big Bang Theory." Lucan loves the theme song and always bounces along to it. For him, it's 25 seconds of delight.
• I know this isn't a new thing, but everything that Lucan encounters goes into his mouth. Water bottle nozzles, starburst candy, bottles, etc. Why do babies do this?
• Ugh, Lucan has also started pulling hair. My friend's daughter, Cora, got the brunt on this one day where Lucan pulled out an entire fistful of her blond strands. Poor Cora, she took it pretty well, but she was still afraid the next day of a repeat performance. 
•  Haha. I attempted for the first time ever, to cut Lucan's hair. Diaster. It didn't help that Lucan was all squirmy and Lance was yelling at me and I was sweating profusely from the pressure. As a result, Lucan didn't end up with the best hair cut. I berated Lance later and told him that he couldn't yell at me. A week or so later I worked up the courage to try again and this time was much more successful. I've learned that haircuts are not to be done too close to bedtime.
• Lucan does like swimming but does not like the sprinklers. I think that it must be too cold and too startling. He just started crying when one stray sprinkler hit him.
• Fire still does not want to be friends with Lucan. Something about loud shrieks and fur pulling is off-putting to Fire.
• Ohhh... we had our first pavement rash too. Lu was riding a ride-on-toy at daycare and fell off. My poor baby. He was rubbing his head in some pillows and rubbed his scabs right off. They came off too early because the area, almost 3 weeks later, is still red looking.
  
  

One of my favorite things now that I'm getting my incizors in is to suck on this waterbottle nozzle. That and riding in my car.

 

 Nigel Lithgoe is cool. No momma, I'm not tourching the TV ... now.

I'm plotting to take over the world. In my cozy coupe :)

See my scabbies? I hurt my face by falling. It was sad.

I'm so mad. Why can't I push over the fan? Mean mommy.

I'm 13 months old and I know it (sung to I'm Sexy and I Know it)

Meet my favorite puppy Bandit. He's my bestie and so tasty!

I'm sunshine and smiles :)

Heartbroken

I've been trying to get around to doing Lucan's 13 month post, or any post, for that matter for a couple of weeks. But I've found myself struggling in my own little world. You see at the end of June we found out our beloved daycare provider would no longer be able to take care of Lucan. After weeks of struggling to find a good fit for our family, we came up empty handed. Then in the midst of all of that, I lost my job. The job with the company that I planned on being with for a long time. All of these things shook me and I didn't know what to do with them. I find that a common trap I fall  into is placing my trust in the wrong things - people, jobs, stuff. The only thing in this world that has any guarantees is God. Sometimes God has to put me flat on my face so I can realize this. Looking back, I realize that God had prepped all of these things. Earlier in the year we started cutting way back on our expenses. If we had found a new daycare situation for Lucan, we wouldn't have been able to afford to keep him there. As for the job, I'm still working on that one. My good friend Erika told me this, "Kara, don't get discouraged if an interview doesn't go well or you don't get the job you wanted. Clearly it means that it wasn't where God wanted you."
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

So here I am folks, trying to find my feet. I'll be back soon, but this is the explanation for my silence.

I'm such a dork.

I just got an email today from Prairie Meadows announcing that Wilson Phillips will be playing a concert there. I really want to go. Can I be anymore of a dork? They just really strike a chord with my 15 year-old self who was obsessed with 90's pop music. (I'm so totally aging myself. I'm going to have a min-meltdown next year when I turn 30. Ugh, I shudder even typing that)

Hold on for one more day ...



I used to be cool and go to a lot of concerts. Concerts and music are one of my "things." I love going to them and being part of this collective group that has a shared musical moment that can never be replicated. It's like having this bonding moment with hundreds of other people. My favorite concert was Michael Buble, but I've been to ridiculous concerts like 98 Degrees and N'Sync and things that range all the way from Creed to the Dixie Chicks. But having Lu and committing to becoming debt free, has greatly diminished my concert going. Now I'm reduced to listening to pandora in my cubicle at work. Insert sad face.

Man, I should really delete this post. Re-reading it makes me realize just how big of a dork I really am.