April 24, 2013

Today I…

Took a Long Nap

This may seem counterintuitive to the very purpose of this blog, but hear me out…

I was tired.

Mother-of-a-six-month-old-tired. Post-op-still-can’t-go-to-the-gym-to-work-up-my-energy-and-stamina-tired. The-house-is-such-a-mess-it-is-exhausting-to-look-at-tired. You feeling me?

I wouldn’t consider this the activity du jour except that I had to W’ORK for this nap. Here’s an overview of the day:

6:00 Got up and got myself dressed while Luke fed Max

7:30 (AM!!!) Max’s PT appointment and trip to pharmacy

8:30 - 9:30 Play time. Listened to baby happily screeching nonstop for an hour

9:30 Breakfast for Max and Mom

10:00 – 11:00 Another hour of screeching. (Did I mention that this is at the top of his lungs?)

11:00 – 11:30 Walked through the park to meet friends for lunch

11:30 – 12:30 Lunch with friends which included first public screeching occurrence. (And so it begins…)

12:45 Bottle. Mom thinks, “This is it! Nap time! Now I can get some stuff done.”

1:00 Max finishes bottle and passes out. Is sniffed, passes inspection, then is ever so gently placed in crib.

1:04 WHAAAAAAA! WHAAAAAA!!! “Really Max?! Did you really just poop in the last four minutes so that you wouldn’t have to take a nap?” Diaper change.

1:05 – 1:30 A lot of backrubbing and “shhhing.”

1:30  Out of crib and onto bed with Mom. Eyes closed and out in five minutes. Mom shortly follows.

2:30 Shuffling. “No! No! Please don’t let this end yet.” Thankfully, back to sleep.

3:30 Wake up refreshed.

After that, it was a mad rush to check email (and *ahem* Pinterest), speed clean, feed Max dinner, and start dinner for the adults.

Tomorrow, I promise to be more traditionally productive.

April 23, 2013

Today I…

Made Baby Food

I never thought I’d be one to make baby food. Let’s face it, I’d rather not cook for the adults in the house most of the time. But it turns out, it is incredibly easy to make food for Max.

It goes like this: Buy a sweet potato. Bake a sweet potato. Stick said sweet potato in blender.

I haven’t really done it to save money (though it does and I should) or to make sure “only the purest of pure foods touch my sweet baby’s lips” and blah blah blah. I do it because it is easy, tastes good, and forces me and my husband to eat our veggies as well.

To date, we’ve tried the aforementioned sweet potato, avocado, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, blueberries, apples, and bananas. He didn’t seem to care for avocado or carrots so we’ll reintroduce them later. But for now, I’m having fun experimenting with new foods. Until last month, I had no idea what a spaghetti squash was. Last night, it was the main course for me and the hubs.

Today consisted of making the following: peas, spinach, sweet potato, apples, and blueberries. The sweet potato went in the oven, the peas and spinach (both frozen) went in the microwave, and the apples and blueberries were cooked on the stove. I pureed all but the sweet potato (to try out a thicker texture) and put them in ice cube trays to harden for a while before storing them in freezer bags. The whole process took about an hour and a half and would have been greatly reduced had I bought larger apples. Peeling four tiny apples was ridiculous. Lesson learned.

Fortunately, only my very first attempt was a kitchen catastrophe when I quickly found out that the blender was not screwed in completely. I was finding pureed sweet potato for days! (See below) Since then, clean up has been relatively simple.    

Yes. Those are my clothes on the floor. I had to strip down before I could walk on the carpet. 

 

April 22, 2013

Today I…

Made Party

Invitation #2

For my second act, I’d like to perform…

I had to have at least one more French theme option so I decided to go with “Picnic in Paris.” I’m thinking baguettes, brie, picnic baskets, etc.

This invitation can go in many different directions, but I had fun playing with various colors and patterns. Again, this is just a draft that will almost certainly change before actual invitations go out. What do you think?

Life is made of little pleasures.

April 21, 2013

Today I…

Made Party

Invitation #1

Moulin Rouge.

My sister speaks French and hopes to go to Paris after graduation so, of course, I have to plan at least one French themed party. I thought Moulin Rouge would be a really great one – lots of fun ideas for decorations, food, entertainment, and obviously, invitations.

Here’s my draft idea which is bound to change before actual invitations go out (if this is the theme chosen). What do you think?

 

The windmill spins!

April 20, 2013

Today I…

Started Planning

a Graduation Party

Well, four really.

As my sister hates surprises, I knew it would be impossible to surprise her with an incredible graduation party. So we have an agreement… I come up with three or four themes, she picks her two favorites, then I choose one of those. Quite frankly, I’m shocked she agreed to this. Maybe she’s matured in college.

I could just tell her the themes, but that doesn’t work for me. Instead I’ll be making four different invitations for her. 

Unfortunately, I have multiple ideas for each theme so this is going to be tough.

I’ll post the invitations as I finish them.