Mama Monday Q's

1.What piece of motherly advice did your own mom give you, that you put to use now on a daily basis?


2. When you get time to yourself, what are YOUR hobbies and interests?3. What is your fail safe family meal?


1. I'm trying to think of something, some specific piece of advice that sticks out in my mind that my mom gave me but theres nothing in particular that I can think of right now.  Maybe when Addison is older I can put to use her never buy candy in the check out lane at the grocery store that she always gives as advice.  For now I can only hope to raise my daughter to be as close with her mom as I was with mine growing up.  I never had one of those phases where I didn't like my mom like a lot of other girls did.  My mom was always my best friend.  I hope to have that with my daughter.  
2. I obviously enjoy doing crafts and taking photos.  I really enjoy taking photos!  I like to go to sporting events, concerts every so often.  In the warmer weather I love going for long walks outside and plant things flowers, garden...but in the winter forget that! :)
3. Currently Addison will eat anything mashed and I can't say that I have a go to fail safe meal.  I have a lot of meals that I make frequently that we enjoy.  Steak, Mashed Potatoes & a Veggie are always a favorite, as is Beef Stroganoff, Chicken and Rice, Spaghetti, Tri-Tip, etc.  yum now I'm ready for dinner! 

Baby, Baby, Baby, everyone's having Babies!

My past two weekends have been filled with baby showers.  Everyone is having babies!  At least thats how it has seemed for the past year or so, someone is always sharing the newly found news of their pregnancy or we are buying gifts for another baby shower.  For some reason an over abundance of babies and baby showers is far less annoying to me than the overload of weddings you get some years.  I swear I went to a wedding every weekend last fall.  (I don't love you people who got married last fall any less for it but gees did you all have to pick the same year and the same fall? Some of you the same damn day?!? :)  )  

Back to the baby showers, Addison went with me to both parties, where she recieved many compliments on how she was such a good baby.  Don't we know it!  She did great at both no crying fits and was happy for the whole thing both times.  I think shes going to be a show off attention hog anyway, she just eats up attention from anyone all the time!

all dressed up and ready to party.

Last weekends shower was for a friend of mine from high school, her and her husband got married in July of 2006 (same year as us).  This is going to be their first baby and baby 'G Unit' (as they are referring to her as their last name starts with a G) is due at the end of March.  

I couldn't decide what to buy her as I feel like now that I am a mom I should have some wonderful idea of what people really need at these things instead of buying clothes which are so cute and hard to pass up!  But I don't all you really need is a box of diapers, wipes and some boobs in the beginning anyway.  So instead I went the route of a personal gift and decided to make a no-sew baby blanket.  I love the one that I got at my shower from one of my friends and you can never have too many blankets!  Addison's hand made blankets are my favorites.

I went to Jo-Ann's and found some adorable, girly, 'I love mommy, I love daddy' fleece:

And a coordinating purple color to go with it for the backing.  From looking at her registry's I assumed that she was a purple kind of girl momma rather than a pink one.

After I got it all cut and tied i placed it in a cute basket that I found at Michael's.  The liner say's Baby all over it in different colors, who can't use an extra basket with a baby around?  I also made her a headband with an obnoxiously large flower (see leftovers flowers from Addison's 6 month photos which I bought a small bouquet for)  

And because all babies need to be read to I threw in a good book:

Addison says enough with the pictures what is this THING on my head?!  I can't help but giggle when I see this picture

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

I didn't get to spend the time I wanted to on these this week, I had a week where I felt rushed constantly with no time to do the things I 'wanted' to do.   But here we go:

1. Capture the sky

We had a nasty winter storm Sunday night into Monday making my Monday morning commute pretty crappy!  But Tuesday afternoon the sun was shining and the trees were glistening with all the ice cover.  

2. Everyday

not even an attempt at a good shot but LOOK the Geese are back!!!  They were out in the field across from our house on Thursday picking through the snow for left over pieces of corn.  They had with them their two friends the sand hill cranes but they wouldn't get as close as these two did the best shot I got of them through my wondows they looked like sticks standing in the field.  It's the everyday little things like this that make me happy.  

3. Furry

My beloved first "baby" Bandit.  Best pooch EVER! And boy is she ever furry!

4. Life

Addison is figuring out how amazing avocado is, this is what my life consist of right now, work, cleaning and feeding this wee one.

5. Blurred

I wanted to take some time to get a neat-o shot for this one but I didn't get a chance to, instead I bring you Addison's snazzy new shoes, the blur reminds me of a disco ball.  

Suck it! The REAL Way to Prep for Breastfeeding - Parenting.com

I just came across this article while reading random things on Parenting.com:

Suck it! The REAL Way to Prep for Breastfeeding - Parenting.com

If you have ever breast fed, you can enjoy a chuckle of two out of it! If not you can gasp in horror :)

ABC's of Me

Because teething babies don't allow for enough time for a real blog post, heres a survey instead.


A: Age: 28

B: Bed size: King

C. Chore you hate: Dishes (I don't have a dishwasher)

D. Dogs: 2 Bosco & Bandit

Me -very pregnant with Bandit and Bosco

E. Essential start to your day: Bathroom, Coffee, currently breast pump

F. Favorite color: Pink

G. Gold or silver: Silver or white gold, I'm to pale for yellow gold!

H: Height: 5'6"

I: Instruments that you can play: does the recorder count from elementary school

I think I can still play Hot Cross Buns.  How about drums on Rock Band? no?

J: Job title: Research Animal Husbandry Technician, Mom & Wife

K: Kids: 1 (almost 7 month) 6 month old Addison, and one man child husband Anthony

L: Live: Parma, Michigan.  Small town living = love.

M: Mom's name: Sharon

N: Nicknames: from the husband- Petey.  Everyone else, Am, Ambs,  mom always called me Amberina Christina....

O: Overnight hospital stays: When I was born, and when I gave birth. 

P: Pet peeve: Driving slow in the passing lane, Pacing with another car when you are in the passing lane, People who don't have anything to say unless they are trying to one up you, Negative pissy people, not refilling the water cooler when you empty it, not replacing the lid on the toothpaste.., People who park THISCLOSE, People who are rude for no reason.  (I could go on for days I swear!)

Q: Quote from a movie: 

"Well, that's what we do. We fight. You tell me when I'm being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you're being a pain in the ass. Which you are 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. They have like a two second rebound rate and you're back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing. So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. And we're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that, because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day."

Sigh, I love this movie, it passed Sweet Home Alabama which I LOVE.  I could watch either of them 100 times and never be sick of them and cry every time at the ending.  The Notebook is by far my favorite book gone movie that I have watched.  Normally I hate the movie version.

R: Righty or lefty: Righty

T: Time you wake up: 4:00am....it sucks just as much as it sounds like it would.

U: Underwear: change em' everyday.

V: Vegetables you dislike: none that I have found yet.  I am a lover all all things veggies.

W: What makes you run late: my desire to take a  chill break for a few minutes at the computer instead of being on the go constantly.  otherwise I'm usually early for everything.

X: X-rays: my mouth, and random hand x-rays at the vet clinic.

Y: Yummy food you make: Everything I make is yummy, well most of the time.

Z: Zoo favorite animal: Leopards

Wordless Wednesday

Its been warm around here to say the least...or not. It's been horribly cold, rainy, snowy and the driving has been less than fun. Rumor has it we are due for more again this week. Just when it had finally all disappeared and teased us with some warm weather last week!

Wordless Wednesday, abeautifulmess, gograhamgo

 

The things we get excited about as adults.

We have had the issue of tiny fridge since we moved into this house, it came with the house so we have dealt with it as an inconvenience.

Its literally so small that it is shorter than I am it comes up to about my cheekbone.  You can't fit much in the freezer at all (thankfully we have a deep freezer) and grocery shopping was always a Tetris game upon returning home.  Add a breast fed baby to the mix and the freezer is quickly over taken by frozen milk storage and the fridge by the daily milk stash...ugh.  Top it off with wire shelving so that everything you touch falls over and doors with shelfing that pops off when the door shuts too hard so you have a fridge full of everything that was in the door.

Here it is packed to the gills and we barely bought anything grocery shopping the other day.  Needless to say adding Addison to the mix means that that crappy
wonderful tax return was going to a nice new fridge of larger than 11cubic feet!

I dreamed of wonderful side by sides (none which would have fit into our kitchen where it needed to go)  and I dreamed about getting one with the bottom freezer but for the extra money that it cost to get that option I just couldn't justify needing a fridge like that when we do have a deep freezer for the big stuff.  

So we got a new 18 cubic foot standard old school white fridge.  But none the less I am in love with it. 

Look at all that space!!  This is everything that was in the top picture of the little fridge minus the casserole dish leftovers that I tossed.  (don't mind that the kickplate was not clicked on the bottom yet here, I was excited to load it back up)  Why do we have 4 jars of pickles in the fridge?  I have no clue. Addison even gets her own space.

and the freezer space, amazing.  I hadn't reloaded the freezer yet when I took these but, I love the little pull out basket for veggies that don't stack up well. (that plastic thing is for milk storage if you were questioning that)  The shelves on the freezer door have the capacity of almost as much as the entire freezer of the old fridge!  and theres a light in there..fun!  Oh and don't worry while the fridge was pulled out I cleaned the floor under there! :)  What you can't see in the dirty floor picture because I had swept already was the pile of 6 hair ties that the cats had played with and knocked under there and the toy mouse that my husband thought was a real dead mouse as we were pulling the fridge out!  Oh the treasures we find!

Momma Monday Survey

1. How did you come to have a 'mommy blog'?I wanted to start a blog back when I was pregnant to keep a record of everything, how I felt, how life was changing, what I loved what I hated etc.  But I am a huge procrastinator and didn't get started until after she was born and almost 5 months old!  UGH I hate that I didn't start it when I wanted to!
2. What do you do?  Do you WAH or homeschool etc?I work full time as an Animal Technician at a large University.  I pretty much take care of and clean up after animals all day. (It's like being at home a little)  I wish everyday that I could stay home with Addison rather than leave her for 10+ hours every day!
3. Have you read any parenting books or do you 'go it alone'?I have read things from time to time but I tend to do things my way.  I will read about something that I am not familiar with just to kind of know what I am getting into but ultimately I form my own way about doing things. I'm an easy going take things how they come kind of person.  I am not super strict on following the way things are "supposed" to be done to a T.  

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1. Chocolate: 

 Tell me you didn't eat a whole bag of Dove Valentine hearts this past week too?  Just me?

2. Numbers:

I am all too familiar with this number dial 

3. Canned Food:

 This would be this past summers first adventure in canning, homemade tomato sauce & homemade applesauce.  Excited to try more things this next garden harvesting season!

4. Music:

Our little ipod dock on the RCA stereo that Tony got for his birthday is wonderful!  

Even better that I stole it and keep it in the kitchen!

5. Stack:

I am in love with these little Cuties.  

As in, I have eaten an entire 5lb box and am tempted to go back and get more while they are still 'in season'.  YUM!

She's got lots to say these days

Addison babbles DaDa from time to time, BaBa all the time and most recently its been MaMa, but only when shes being whiny and wants picked up...I'll take what I can get! :)

PB&J Cookies, Yum Yum!

I came across a recipe from Martha Stewart for these Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies, and they were fitting for the Valentine's holiday!  This was the first time trying them and they turned out fabulous!  

 I  made these on a whim one night and didn't have raspberry jam, so I used what I had which was a small remainder of Strawberry Jam, some Blueberry Jam and Peach Preserves.  They tasted wonderful (all but the peach, they were a bit too sweet, I actually tossed the whole jar after I tasted these just too sweet!)  So be creative if you try them, use whatever your favorite jam is!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1/3 cup raspberry jam, stirred to loosen

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in peanut butter, then egg. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture until dough forms. If dough is sticky, refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls (about 2 tablespoons each). Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Press into 1 3/4-inch rounds. Press hearts into centers using your fingertips. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and reshape hearts using your fingertips or the handle of a wooden spoon. Fill indentation of each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon jam to form a heart. Bake until cookies are firm, 6 to 7 minutes more.  (warning: They won't look done, they are though!)

deliciousness.

Give me some sunshine!

Thinking warm spring/summer thoughts today, I feel like winter is getting the best of me.  Yesterday was 48 degrees, let it stick around!  I'm sure it was just a spring tease but I am beyond ready to get out of this house!!  I feel like I am stressed to the max this week, for what reason, I don't know but man its drivin' me insane!  Maybe I just need a good dose of fresh air and Vitamin D!  So bright colors, sunshine, flowers, and warmth are the things on my mind today!