free!

After taking my morning stroll with baby-man I came home and realized I had worn a nursing bra and not my sports bra - no biggie, right?

Wrong!

ALL of my nursing bras were in the wash, not waiting to be washed, but in.the.wash. Actually, they had been sitting, wet, in the washer for three days. Yick. And the bra I'd walked in? Soaked in sweat (it's hot and humid - and I am one mean walker).

So I went bra-less. I'll give you a minute for that visual to sink in.

*

*

I promise I did not go out in public that way, not even to the mailbox. And now that I have a drawer full of clean bras I'll be properly secured tomorrow.

I can hear you all sighing in relief.

diabetes

Scotch-a-roos
1 c. sugar
1 c. light karo syrup

heat to a boil over med-high heat. stir in 1 c. peanut butter.
add 6 c. rice krispies. press into buttered 9x13 pan.

melt together 6 oz. chocolate chips and 6 oz. butterscotch chips.
spread on top of rice krispies. refrigerate to set chocolate, cut at room temp.

*I like to make a half batch (in a 9x9 pan), otherwise there are too many for two people (not that we couldn't eat them all)

Oat 'n Chip Cookies
2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
2 c. packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
5 c. oatmeal (4 lightly ground)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 lb. chocolate chips
3 c. chopped walnuts

cream butter and sugars until fluffy. mix in eggs and vanilla.

grind 4 c. oatmeal in a food processor.

in a separate bowl stir together flour, ground oatmeal (4 c.), whole oatmeal (1 c.), salt, baking powder and baking soda. gradually mix into sugar mixture. fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

drop by tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets, bake 12 - 14 min at 350. let cool slightly on pan before moving to cooling rack.

*all time favorite cookie - this makes a huge amount of cookies, in fact my kitchen aid can't hold all of the dough if I make a full recipe. i suggest just making half a recipe, you will still have a ton of delicious cookies.

New Favorite Banana Bread
3 mashed bananas
1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg - beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1 1/2 c. flour

mix melted butter into bananas. mix in sugar, egg and vanilla.
sprinkle salt and baking soda over mixture, mix in flour.
pour into buttered loaf pan.
cook for one hour at 350

*I always freeze my bananas when they start to get too brown, then I just slip them out of their frozen jackets and they are perfect for baking.

ummmm

I had so many ideas for blog topics, but now that it is nap time I can't seem to think of any.

Quick (super boring) update: G is good, I am good, J is good. J got a Wii for his birthday, well, actually he got a shirt with a note pinned to it that said "This is a Wii. Really." The next day he called me to let me know they we in stock at BB. I find it funny that when he was going to buy it for me for my birthday (still not sure what I want - maybe tickets to Wicked?) he could never get around to calling to see if it was available; when it became his gift he got serious. So there's been a lot of bowling at our house after G goes to bed.

hahaha

psa

Working out and watching what you eat will help you lose weight and feel good about yourself. Two weeks of vacation may add a few pounds back on.

Eating a pan of scotch-a-roos will completely annihilate your weight loss.

I'm cutting up carrot sticks.

quickie

* diaper rash is almost completely gone. Original Desitin and Maalox - who knew? (it is almost impossible to mix up though, I suggest mixing it in a plastic cup with a plastic spoon and then applying it with the spoon, less to clean up)

* someone likes to shriek for fun.

* I got peed on three times this morning, I decided that qualified me for a delicious iced latte.

* I have about 3.2 million things to do before Gerald has his shots at 2:15 this afternoon. Time to get cracking!

oh, crap

Gerald came home from the UP with a raging case of diarrhea. I have changed his diaper 4 times in one "change." The Pampers people should be ecstatic.

He's been really happy throughout the EAS experience, so the nurse said to just let it run its' course. But now he has diaper rash - a first I was hoping to avoid completely. Kathy suggested mixing Maalox and Desitin and using that - I think I'm going to try it, any other suggestions?

I can hear him in his bed right now - he's pooping.

rolling over

G rolled from his back to his tummy on July 4th, and then on the 5th, again on the 6th, and now he is a rolling machine. He rolls onto his stomach and then onto his back again, but always only to the left. So as long as he wants to go to the left - he can get there!

He also likes to lay on his tummy and push with is legs and inch around like an inch worm. He can't get very far at our house because his play mats slide around on the hard floor - but if you put him on carpet he can really move.

I think I'm going to have my hands full for a few years :)

random weekend

* We drove to Toledo yesterday to do some shopping. Sam's Club and BRU - super exciting. Now we have lots of diapers and an umbrella stroller.

* I got Starbucks on the way there! But I burnt my tongue on it :*(

* We took Gerald swimming at the Y today, he was generally unimpressed. We bought him Spider Man swim diapers, they are huge on him.

* You can buy a paternity test kit at Meijer, they are conveniently located next to the condoms.

* My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are coming tomorrow!

* We leave for the UP on Wed!

drool

Pretty much consumed my day.

G went through 3 outfits, 4 bibs, and 6 burp cloths.

i did it!

I accomplished my scary task o' the day - mostly because I knew you were all cheering me on (and waiting for an update). Thanks!

Some of you may know that I never finished my degree - I spent 4.5 years at Tech and then I just left, in fact I don't even know what my final grades were. This has been weighing pretty heavily on me, and last night (in the middle of the night) I decided TODAY was the day to get the ball rolling; after all, we'll be in Houghton next week and I can maybe set up an appt with an advisor then. So I called admissions, and they transferred me to records - I'm now active for the fall term, and can switch to track B if needed - and then onto the humanities dept, and finally to the current HU advisor. She sounded really nice and I have an appt with her next Thurs at 9AM - she even has the old "transition" audit I filled out with good ole Bill Sewell (I'm bringing my copy, too).

This was really hard for me to do - in my head I kept envisioning profs yelling at me for being an awful student (I was), but so far everyone has been so very nice.

happy thoughts

If you could send out some happy vibes for me today I'd really appreciate it. I'm going to do something today that I'm a little (ok, a lot) chicken sh*t about.

It's something totally positive and happy, so do not worry. I just don't want to go into too much detail and jinx myself - I'll write more when I know more :)

finally

Finally found a decent stylist:)

educating jack

Two weeks ago we went to Kalamazoo and spent the night at my cousins' - they have a nine year old (Emma) and a five year old (Jack). Emma is my mini-me. Jack is adorable, and precocious. This is the conversation we had about feeding babies.

me - "Gerald is hungry - time to eat!" I get him "hooked up" and he's happy, happy.
Jack - "What are you doing?" Gives me suspicious eyes.
me - "Feeding the baby."
Jack - "I don't believe you."
me - "It's true! This is how your momma fed you. That's how G gets milk."
Jack - Sits next to me on the couch, places one finger on my chest and says with a slightly sinister smile "I'm helping push the milk out."

Emma, Gerald and Jack

o.m.g.

pilates class

ouch.

3 months

J was hoping for an engineer

*favorite song = American Pie, he especially likes it when I sing the LP version :)

*prefers gnawing on right hand

*loves to grab for the toys on his toy bar

*likes to face out in the Bjorn

i got served

Just had cardio -fusion class at the Y.
OK, half of class because we had a tornado warning and were ushered into the locker rooms.

It kicked my ass.

melting

It is hotter than hell outside.

We were going to meet up with another couple and their baby girl for dinner at Boogie! tonight (Main St. is closed, there are bands, and sno-cones), but not when it is this hot.

I'm sad about the sno-cones.

so much to blog, so little time

We've been busy!
The highpoint of my week so far - new glasses!

You can't see it in the picture - but on each side there is a rhinestone "G" - I love sparkles!

More later - we're off to register for summer classes at the Y.
:)

edit: please excuse my huge eyebrows - guess I'll be making an appt at the salon, too!

to wii or not to wii

Last Tuesday was my birthday, J did great - he left a present (a picture frame) and card on the chair I nurse Gerald in (so I wouldn't miss it). Then he took me out to dinner and asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I really had no clue. So we brainstormed all week and we've kind of decided on a Wii; but I'm really torn.

I've played a few times, and it is really fun, but I really didn't want to have a game system in the house while our kids are young. I really want "outside" kids. We're lucky because most of the kids on our street would rather play outside than do most anything else. I just figure it will be easier to encourage them to play outside if there isn't anything more enticing inside. But I can also see where it would be really fun to play the Wii as a family, especially during the terribly cold and yucky winter months.

The other item I would really like is a Le Cruset dutch oven from Williams-Sonoma. But I'm not exactly cooing up a storm these days, and I could probably save my pennies and buy one for myself without too much effort. Blahhh!!!! I just hate making decisions.