Conversations with Kadyn...

Mama: Kadyn, can you please get Graysen's soother off the floor for me?

Kadyn: Here you go!

*Clumsy toss at me*

Mama: Kadyn, you know you are not supposed to throw things. Graysen's soother rolled all over the carpet and now it's covered in junk. Can you go wash it now, please?

*Off he goes to wash the soother*

Kadyn: All clean! Sorry I threw Graysen's soother at you.

Mama: Next time hand it to me, ok?

Kadyn: Ok

Mama: Thank you for washing it for me.

Kadyn: It was my pleasure!

Wordless Wednesday

I Had Kids Because Child Labor is Cheap

I thought Kadyn would have outgrown the desire to help clean by now but he's still an eager cleaning beaver.

So I'm taking full advantage.

Graysen supervises.

I don't know about you but I've never seen a more handsome supervisor.

That's one badass vacuuming dude.

Conversations with Kadyn...

During bath time one night, I started asking Kadyn random questions.

Mama: Kadyn, what's your favorite color?

Kadyn: Ummmmm, blue!

Mama: What's your favorite animal?

Kadyn: Elephants!

Mama: And what's your favorite food?

Kadyn: Peanuts and peanut butter!

I told Ryan about Kadyn's favorites the next day and Ryan asked Kadyn the same questions again.

Ryan: Kadyn!

Kadyn: WHAT!?

Ryan: What's your favorite color?

Kadyn: Pink!

Ryan: And what's your favorite animal?

Kadyn: Pigs!

Ryan: What's your favorite food?

Kadyn: Cereal!

So I decided to ask Kadyn these 3 questions on random days to see how his answers changed. Here are few of his answers:

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Animal: Giraffe

Favorite Food: Cereal. Pancakes and cereal

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Animal: Zebra

Favorite Food: Cereal

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Animal: Giraffe

Favorite Food: Pancakes

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Animal: Dinosaurs

Favorite Food: Fruit salad

I've also been asking Kadyn what he wants to be when he grows up. So far he's said he wants to be a fire fighter and a doctor - a heart doctor, to be specific - and an animal.

Pretty sure the last one is what he is now.

Spring Cleaning

I love spring.

Mostly.

I don't love all the dirt, gravel and garbage left after the snow melts. I don't love the sloppy, sloshy mess. I don't love the wicked wind that seems to blow through my city every April and May.

But.

I do love the sunshine. And the green patches sprouting through the scraggly brown dead stuff. And the end of winter. Goodness I LOVE the end of winter.

And I love spring cleaning.

I know. Crazy, right?

But every year around this time I get an INSANE urge to purge.

I tear through closets, cupboards and drawers LOOKING for things to throw out.

The more I find, the higher I feel.

(Cue Purple Haze)

And then I clean.

Windows, walls, baseboards.

Inside cupboards and closets.

Under and behind furniture.

No dust bunny or dirt smudge is safe in this house.

And open windows....

Oh, how I love open windows in the spring and summer.

So long stale, musty air!

And now that my house has been spring cleaned from top to bottom, it is now time to spring clean my soul.

Tomorrow I, and 4 lovely ladies, leave for our annual spring weekend.

We will hit up a grocery store (and liquor store. Obviously) and hit to road!

And then 3 glorious days at the cabin on the lake, relaxing, napping, lounging in the sun, dancing in our underwear......

No. We don't really dance in our underwear. But I am sure there will be fist pumpin' and maybe a Jersey Turnpike if you're lucky.

I am SO beyond excited!

These ladies are the absolute best ladies to spend a girl's weekend with.

ZERO drama. 100% great, great times.

I am counting the hours!

See ya'll Monday!

Wordless Wednesday

No Bunny Here

Easter is this weekend.

Kids everywhere will be gussied up in their finest pastel colored outfits and then stuffed full of egg shaped candy and chocolates. Houses will be littered with Easter grass, foil wrappers and bunny stuffies that weren't nearly as appealing as the sugary treats that accompanied them.

Moms, Grandmas, Sisters, Aunts will slave away in the kitchen making baked ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, hot crossed buns, lemon pie....

For some families, Easter will be like a spring Christmas.

Not us.

I'll be partying it up relaxing at the lake with a few girlfriends, leaving the boys at home to, well, be boys.

Kadyn doesn't know what Easter is beyond the Easter Bunny and Graysen couldn't care less.

Ryan and I have decided we are not going to celebrate Easter.

*GASP*

We are not religious so we don't really feel right celebrating.

We talked about celebrating Easter as 'the coming of spring' but that's a hard sell when, more often than not, there is still snow on the ground.

Plus any way we sell Easter just means toys, candy and junk our boys don't need and I have to find some way of sneakily disposing of.

I've had some second thoughts but I feel right in our decision. Yes, our boys will be missing out on something so many other children will be celebrating. But our kids also miss out on Hanukkah, Chinese New Year and Diwali.

Since, you know, we're not Jewish, Chinese or Hindu.

And so, Mr. Easter Bunny, you can hop right past our house this year.

What the Crock!?!? - Meaty Balls

And yet another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. Great site that is!

Apple, Cheddar Turkey Meatballs.

I was totally intrigued by the possibility of bright white balls (as they cooked) so I HAD to make these.

Plus the innuendo goin' on in this house all day yesterday was so very amusing.

My verdict: The balls were a little bland.

But still pretty yummy.

And way easy.

Pretty sure prep time on this (not including sides) was less 15 minutes. And that's including working around my annoying husband who has been hanging around A LOT more than I'm used to.

There's nothing I like more than easy balls.

I would definitely make these again. But I will also definitely spice them up a bit, too.

I like my balls spicy. And easy. Easy and spicy balls.

Mmmmmmm......

(Yes, I am a grown woman. Yes, I am a mother. Of two boys. If you can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.)

Conversations with Kadyn...

Sunday mornings are Daddy and Kadyn time.

They go to Kadyn's swimming lessons and then hit the grocery store.

We've been going to the same grocery store since we moved here a year ago and all the Sunday staff know Ryan and Kadyn (and Graysen and me.) Kadyn gets a space ship cart, a snack at the deli, a snack at the bakery and usually some sort of something from the checkout ladies on the way out - most of whom Kadyn knows by name.

The deli at our grocery store serves rotisserie chicken, wings and potato wedges and, when the chicken is cooked and ready to be served, the deli staff call out, "HOT CHICKEN!!!"

Lately the store has had a "HOT CHICKEN!!!" echo in the form of an overgrown man-child and a ridiculously cute little man.

When Ryan came home and told me - and I got a demonstration - I cracked up!

Cutest thing ever!

The other day the 4 of us stopped at another grocery store to grab a few things and saw hot chicken in the deli. So, obviously, Kadyn and I wandered around the store picking up our groceries and calling out "HOT CHICKEN!"

Good times, good times!

Hey Mama! Look What I Can Do!!

When you come into my room to get me after my naps......

I will stand up and smile at you. Laying down was so yesterday.

When I see a toy up on a shelf......

I'll just pull myself up and get it. Waiting for you was tiresome. And so frustrating!

And when I want to go somewhere.....

I. Will. Get. There!

Wordless Wednesday

Sigh.....

Today my little man went to preschool for the first time.

Sigh.

It went exactly how I thought it would. Almost.

He didn't notice me leave. In fact, he was too busy to even say good bye. And he had a GREAT time. Didn't want to leave.

I got completely sentimental and weepy - but I didn't cry! I held it together. Goodness knows how.

But what I didn't expect was how much those first 2 hours of preschool would forever change my little man.

As I watched him run out of the classroom with his backpack on and the day's craft in hand I lost my breath.

I can't really explain it.

He looked different. Grown up. Mature and independent - in an almost-four-year-old way.

His so-far short little life flashed before my eyes.

(So cliche, I know.)

The moment I first laid eyes on him the day he was born. The day Ryan and I sat on our living room floor cheering him on to crawl. The day he stood up on his Scoop ride-on and took his first steps....

And now he's in preschool.

Preschool.

Sigh.

What the Crock!?! - Pasta Fagioli

We tried another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking this week.

I realized - as I was tossing ingredients into the slow cooker - that this recipe would be MUCH better suited during autumn months.

It's not like Stephanie posted the recipe in October or talked about how it's "a great warm-me-up on a chilly evening" meal.

Whatever.

Anyhow.

Here's the rundown:

1 lbs ground beef, browned

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

1 large can tomatoes

2 large-ish carrots, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

4 cups beef broth

1 can tomato sauce

Oregano

S & P

Hot sauce

Uncooked pasta

(Those last 4 ingredients? I didn't measure.)

Toss everything in the pot - except for the pasta - and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours, high for 3 - 5 hours. Add the uncooked pasta to the pot about half an hour before before serving.

If you have some grated cheese laying around, now would be the time to use it.

We had some delicious asiago. Yum!

Conversations with Kadyn....

I was on the phone with Ryan discussing Kadyn's birthday cake while Kadyn was in the bath.

Mama: I'd like to get him the pirate ship cake but because it's a carved cake it would be pretty expensive. I don't think I want to spend that much on a cake.

Kadyn: I want a pirate ship cake!! I want a pirate ship cake!

Mama: Do you have that kind of money in your piggy bank, bud?

Kadyn: No. *sad face*

He thinks for a minute

Kadyn: I need to tell Daddy something.

I put Ryan on speaker and hold the phone out for Kadyn.

Kadyn: Daddy I don't have any money in my bum so I can't pay for a pirate ship cake.

Daddy: You don't have money in your bum?

Kadyn: NO! There is NO money in my bum. I don't have money for a pirate ship cake.

Daddy: Aw, that's probably a good thing, buddy.

Kadyn: Yeah....

A Moment

Around 1:00 am last Saturday night, Graysen woke up screaming for love and comfort (and possibly gas pains.) We'd had a few rough nights in a row so, without hesitation, I scooped him up from his crib and brought him to bed with me.

We found our comfy spot and were nicely dozing when I felt a pull on the blanket.

It was Kadyn.

He was "scared of somping" and wanted to crawl into bed.

I gave Kadyn a hug, he whimpered a bit and settled in under the covers.

Graysen started pushing and shimmying himself towards Kadyn so I laid him down between Kadyn and I. Kadyn whimpered quietly again. Graysen turned his head toward Kadyn and started stroking his hair - in his jerky, awkward, adorable baby way.

I completely lost my breath.

It was the sweetest, most touching thing I've ever seen.

Wordless Wednesday

The Baby, The Boob & The Bottomless Pit

For the past few months I've had suspicions Graysen wasn't getting enough food.

My suspicions were confirmed a few weeks ago when Graysen downed an 8 oz bottle of formula like a college kid at a keg party - and immediately passed out like said drunk college kid.

As he started getting the hang of solid food, it became glaringly obvious he had not been getting enough food.

Between 6 pm Friday night and 7 am Saturday morning, Graysen ate about 35 oz of formula/breast milk.

Yes. You read that right. Thirty five ounces. In thirteen hours.

At 8 am, he ate an entire apple's worth of applesauce.

An hour later, half a banana and a 4 oz bottle.

For lunch he ate 4 cubes of sweet potato followed by a 4 oz bottle about an hour after that.

Dinner was 2 cubes of mashed potatoes and 2 oz of broccoli.

Graysen finished his day with an 8 oz bottle at bedtime. (And a 'midnight snack' 8 oz bottle (split in 2) at 10 and 11:30.)

That's a freaking lot of food!

Saturday was the first day Graysen had 2 solid 90 minute naps.

Clearly I was not giving him enough food. Clearly.

I thought I would continue nursing and supplement with formula. But my boobs had other ideas. Within a few days my inefficient milk factory closed up shop for good.

So that's that.

We were also co-sleeping part time (mostly for ease of feeding and my sanity) but there's no reason to keep on with that.

And so all at once (and very abruptly) we stopped nursing and co-sleeping.

Just like that.

I was not at all prepared for this.

I had a vision in my head of our last feeding, our last night co-sleeping.

My vision didn't happen.

And I'm kinda sad about it.

What the Crock!?!? Lazy Sammiches

I cheated again this week.

Ryan was out of town Sunday to Sunday and by yesterday I was way too exhausted to put together anything that required, well, anything.

So I threw an inside round roast in the slow cooker, sprinkled it with cumin and salt, poured over a can of beef stock, Worcestershire and liquid smoke and tossed in about 4 or 5 cloves of garlic.

After 6 hours on low, I shredded the meat and placed it back in the juices to simmer while I sauteed some onion, bell pepper and mushrooms. The meat and veggies got piled onto toasted long rolls with melty, gooey cheese.

Done.

I've already found recipes for the next 3 Sundays - and bought pretty much all the ingredients. Some good, good stuff!

Conversations with Kadyn....

Kadyn: Mama, come play with me!

Mama: In a bit, buddy. I'm sick and I don't feel very good.

Kadyn: Did you eat a dirty piece of ham?

Mama: No, I did not eat a dirty piece of ham.

Kadyn: Oh. Do you have a germ?

Mama: Yes, I have a germ.

Kadyn: Where did you get it?

Mama: From you, silly!

Kadyn: Oh. What kind of germ you got? Purple one or orange one?

Mama: Um......Purple.

Kadyn: Oh, no! That one makes you very, very sick. Let me check your heart.

*Checks my heart*

Kadyn: Now let me check you ear.

*Checks my ear*

Kadyn: Now say "AH."

Mama: Aaaaaaahhhhhhh.

Kadyn: Yes, you have a very bad germ. You're gonna be sick. No more dirty ham!