Tuesday, August 28, 2012

#Recipes - Meatballs


I admit that even Instagram couldn't make these meatballs look very good.  But it's not about the look.  It's about the taste.  And I thought these were pretty tastey, though I'd add garlic next time.

Sunday night I was planning on making whole wheat pasta with meatballs.  My plan was to pick some frozen turkey meatballs up at the grocery store, but clean eating and frozen meatballs do not mix, as I learned reading all the ingredients in the frozen meatballs.  So I decided to make my own.  They tasted better on day 2 and 3.

1 lb organic ground beef
1 cup or so carrots
4-5 stalks of celery
1/2 onion
1 tbs ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbs water (OR 1 egg - I bet you didn't know flaxseed was an egg substitute now did you?)
Spices - I used 1-2 tbs each parsley, Italian and Basil and some salt & pepper
2 Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas (my secret ingredient instead of breadcrumbs)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a food processor mix together carrots, celery, onion, and tortillas until crumbly.  Mix in spices and flaxseed/water mixture.  Add ground beef and mix until, well, mixed.  Form into balls (I made bigger balls so I only got 16 out of the mixture).  Put meatballs on cookie sheet (I lined mine with tin foil for easy clean up) and cook in oven for about 25 minutes.  Enjoy!

TTT: Toddler Hair Cutting

Yesterday the little man's hair looked like this:

BEFORE:



He was in serious need of a haircut.  As in, his last  (and only) hair cut was on April 28.  APRIL people.  If my math skills are correct, that is four months ago!

So yes, he was overdue.  But we've been busyMommy's been crazy.  Haircuts were not top on our priority list.  (Here is where I will not actually admit that I haven't had my hair cut since March 23.  Oh wait....)  But Lukas and I are off to visit a good friend of mine who I haven't seen in a long time.  The last time we were together was for my wedding. Four years ago this week.  FOUR years!  Which is actually longer than the amount of time I lived in Massachusetts where I met her. There are now three little boys between us.  I was not going to allow my little man's first impression to be one of wild unkemptness.  (I figure I can keep up that charade for the 2.5 days we're in Bean Town.)

So last night I decided to take things in my own hands and play the role of hairdresser.  Mr. Cob thought I was crazy but he reluctantly allowed me to go for it.  We saved $17 and a whole bunch of tears (the last haircutting experience didn't go over so well from the little man's viewpoint if you'll remember...



I don't think Lukas missed the space ship seat or the whole "salon experience."

So if you want to play hairdresser too, here's what you need to do:

1.  Check out this blog post over at Young House Love and watch the video of Sherry cutting her husband's hair.  I watched it in May when she first posted it and should've watched again last night for a refresher before embarking on my own DIY haircut but I'm not practical like that. 
2. Get your supplies ready.  A decent pair of hair cutting scissors.  Snacks.  Multiple drink choices (for your kiddo - save the wine until after the cut! Safety first folks, safety first). Toys.  Your computer/Ipad with kid-friendly shows or songs ready to PLAY.

3.  Go outside and plop your kiddo on a stool.  It helps to have another person with you to entertain the kiddo or steady them on the stool or keep their hands at their sides.

4.  Use Sherry's technique (I would describe it here, but she really does a great job in her video!) and don't be scared about messing up or going to short.  I started cutting wrong (i.e. vertically) in the back, but quickly realized my mistake before we had a full on hair disaster. Just remember: cut the hair dry, pull hair through fingers, and snip.  Keep it longer on top.  It worked!


5.  Hope for the best!  And reward yourself with a big glass of wine after.  (My current favorite is Apothic Red - a lovely California red blend!)

AFTER:


Side by side comparison:

AFTER: TODDLER TRENDY CHIC
BEOFRE: UNRULY


I don't think it turned out too shabby!  I could use some help around the ears and in the back, but for a first try I'll take it!  Maybe I'll eventually get some clippers for the finishing touch.  Maybe not.

So the next time your little guy or gal needs a haircut, save your cash and give him or her a new do yourself!  


Monday, August 27, 2012

Clean Eating Recipes: Kale Salad

I'm starting week 3 of Clean Eating and I must admit it is easier than I thought.  So in an effort to help anyone else who is interested in improving their eating habits, I'm going to share some of my clean eating recipes with you.  My first recipe is a kale salad.  I can't take credit for the idea - it's a my attempt at replicating the kale salad I often buy at Arden's Garden and I love it.  It is delicious, healthy and EASY to make. 


Kale Salad:

2-3 cups organic kale
1/2 avocado
lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
olive oil (1 tsp or so)
pinch of salt
tomatoes

Mix together avocado, lemmon juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl until the mixture is smooth(ish).  Throw in the kale and tomatoes.  Toss.  Enjoy.


Also, Go Slide with Your Kids

Sunday evening we went to the park.

We went sliding.

All of us.

It was really fun.

Just look at the little man's face in this one.

And then we may have gone to get ice cream.

And Lukas may or may not need a hair cut.

For Nana & Pop Pop

Lukas talks nonstop these days.  In the car he likes to sing songs and hunt for ambulances.  On our recent trip to Michigan his grandparents taught him a song about motorboats.  He doesn't quite have all the words down, but it's still cute!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Happy Friday!


My little man's attempt at smiling - this makes me laugh!  Hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!

Cali Strikes Again

After my last trip to California I went vegetarian for about a month.  I don't know if it's the healthy vibe of California or if it's my brother.  I think it's probably my brother.

Let's talk about Brother B for a minute.  B has always been a "healthy" person.  He played soccer in college and once ran a half marathon with me without even training.  I thought I was going to die at the end but I'm pretty sure he could've gone another 13.1 miles without breaking a sweat.  He's naturally athletic.  But he also lives and breathes a healthy life.  Aside from his son, obtaining and maintaining optimal health is his number one priority in life, followed by his desire to spread health to others.

B is a physical therapist.  He is a Reiki master, certified massage therapist, certified Ayurvedic perfect Health Instructor and soon to be certified yoga instructor.  The man knows health. 

And he owns a Vitamix and is not afraid to use it.  We had green smoothies chocked full of fruits and vegetables every morning before breakfast.  I feel vibrantly healthy after drinking one of his smoothies.  My body pracitally sighs and says "thank you" for not starting my day off with a load of crap food!  And I've found that by starting my day with a green smoothie, I'm more likely to make healthy decisions as the day continues.
Vitamix in action

Before even leaving Cali, I made the decision to keep up the green sludge smoothie morning routine once I was back in Atlanta.  So far I'm 9 for 11 (and the 2 days I missed I was out of town).  And I swear my skin looks better in just two short weeks of drinking these drinks.  But there's more.

The day I got back form California I stumbled upon a blog that was new to me called 100 Days of Real Food.  It's about eating, you guessed it, REAL food.  So I've jumped on that band wagon in addition to my green smoothies.  It's not a diet.  It's a way of living and eating.  The rules are simple - only eat real food.  This translates into not eating much processed foods.  My rule of thumb is to not buy/eat anything that has more than 5-6 ingredients and avoid anything that has an ingredient that I cannot pronounce or do not know what it is.  Check out the 100 Days blog, it has some amazing information and was very eye opening.

My body has been what I can only describe as detoxing the past two weeks.  Now that I'm eating only real food my body is purging all the toxins from the fake food I've been eating.  At least that is what the world wide web has told me is going on. 

Eating clean does take some effort.  It takes planning because I'm realizing that there are very few restaurants that have "real" food in their ingredients.  At least not many fast food places.


Box of Mangos from the Dekalb Farmer's Market = $5.00 (Much cheaper to buy, peel, chop and freeze mangos and make homemade smoothies than to buy a smoothie every day!)

So what have I been eating?  I kept a food journal the first few days:

Monday 8.13


Smoothie - pineapple juice, spinach, kale, red bell pepper, avocado, mango (frozen), strawberry
Coffee (black)
Cashews & almonds
Willy's burrito bowl - rice, black beans, steak, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, cilantro (I hadn't read the 100 Days blog yet, or I wouldn't have eaten Willy's....)
Pork tenderloin with roasted broccoli (olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese)

Tuesday 8.14

Smoothie - pineapple juice, spinach, kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, peaches (frozen)
Coffee (black) (2)
Cashews & Almonds
Pork tenderloin with roasted broccoli (olive oil, lemon juice)
6oz 0% fat Greek yogurt with a dash of cinnamon
Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; turkey meatballs (3)
1/3 banana


Wednesday 8.15


Banana
Smoothie: kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, peaches (frozen), pineapple chunks & water + Moringa, Maca & Hemp Powder
Cashews & almonds
Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; lemon juice
Apple
Edamame
Green tea
Hangar Steak
Brussel sprouts cooked with olive oil, bacon, balsamic vinegar
Banana

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; lemon juice



Thursday 8.16

2 eggs scrambled with a dash of feta cheese and pesto
Smoothie: kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, pineapple chunks & water + Moringa, Maca & Hemp Powder
Cashews & almonds
Arugula with Quinoa, lemon juice, tomatoes, hangar steak, pork & parmesean
2 brownrice cakes with avocado
Brussel sprouts wtih bacon, olive oil & balsamic vinegar
Chicken burger (TJ) with avocado


Friday 8.17 (this was a strange day of food, I admit)
Smoothie: pineapple juice, spinach & frozen mango with Hemp Protein
2 bananas
Beef jerkey
0% Greek yogurt
Lara Bar
Banana
Blackened grouper with green beans and plain baked potato (no butter, etc.)

My post Cali-purchases: probotics, Kids Superfood (makes chocolate milk with hidden veggies and superfood and tastes delcious); Hemp Protein, Moringa & Maca Powder (B says they're the new Acai superfoods)

Today 8.23

Smoothie: spinach, kale, swiss chard, carrot, frozen mango, pineapple, cucumber, celery, water, Moringa, Hemp Protein, Maca Powder
Quinoa with zucchini, black beans, corn, cotija cheese
Banana
Almond butter (2 Tbls - from a spoon.  Don't judge)
2 homemade pork tacos - slowcooker pork, tomatillo salsa, avocado, lime, cilantro on Ezekiel tortillas

It's really not that hard to eat clean, real food if you plan and have the ingredients at home.  Last night we at out and I had the blackened fish with jasmine rice and snap peas.  One night I made a knock off Chik-fil-A sandwich that I baked in the oven - it was amazing.

Organic "REAL" knock-off Chik-fil-A sandwich - ready to be BAKED!
I am cooking more and trying a variety of new foods.  I plan on keeping this health kick going.  I'll keep you posted!

And at some point we'll talk about the Insanity workouts I'm doing.  But not now.  I'm too exhausted from my workout.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Under Construction

Mom, I know, I know.  I missed another Toddler Tips Tuesday post.  Forgive me.  I'll aim to get back on track next week.  But for now, I'm knee deep in a construction zone, which just happens to be my house.

Remember the water leak zoloft day?  Well that little air conditioner hiccup has turned into a serious repair job.  The A/C was fixed, only to have the engine go out the very next weekend. (Money, money, MO-NEY!)  The water damage from the A/C leak is covered by our homeowners insurance so we forked over our $500 deductible and then then USAA took over.  (Sidenote: USAA is the BEST insurance company in the world.  If you're eligible to join, do it.  NOW.)

So, the USAA selected contractor came out to the house to assess the damage.  The next thing you know, we're having the following done:

1. New dry-wall in the walls and ceiling of the living room.
2. Leading to a new coat of  paint in the living room (I went with the same yellow, since I love it)
3. Followed by some new dry wall in the guest room.
5. Leading to a new coat of paint in the guest room (Went with blue this time!  I'd actually bought the blue paint last November and never got around to painting it, so there's a plus).
6. Followed by new paint in the laundry room (because I wasn't prepared to answer the question of what color paint I wanted, I told them to just use the same blue as the guest room).
7. Topped off with replacing the floor (laminate tiles) in the laundry room (we spent hours last night going over samples - who knew there were so many laminate tile options?  Here are our top 5 - which do you like?  We already selected the color, so hope you don't hate it!)

You can also see the blue paint - it's very pale blue - I love it!
8. With the cherry on top of repairing the water damaged warped hardwood floors and refinishing the hardwoods in all four adjoining rooms so that all the hardwood matches.  (We are going with a darker stain - check out the minwax colors - can you guess what we selected)?

This all means that our house looks like this right now.




So we'll be moving into my parents house for a few days while the sanding and fun continues!  And oh what fun it has been.  There may or may not have been an incident involving the POD delivery guy hitting our gutters/house.  

Stay tuned for an update...

UPDATE:

The floor guy just showed me what he's done so far and I've now change direction completely!  No dark stain for this girl.  We're going natural all the way!


Living room
Look at the difference of our current stain against the natural wood.  And I was thinking about going a lot darker!?!

Oh, and the tile we picked is out of stock, so we're going with a different tile too.  Changes all around!

Update #2.  So.... turns out the fabulous folks who flipped our house did yet another silly thing.  They put red oak NEXT to white oak.  In the SAME room.  So, my new love affair with light natural hardwood floors has come to an end.  This does not look good, right?



So back to dark stain it is!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Quick Poll

You see this picture of a smiling, happy, clothed little boy?


Don't let that smile fool you. 

This child HATES getting dressed in the morning.  He screams at me.  He cries big, real tears. He squirms and says to me "no shirt momma" followed by more screams and then "no shorts, no SHORTS, NOOOOOO SHORTS".  All this between sobs that rival someone being tortured.  What is the deal with this?

Please tell me I am not the only one who has a child who hates to wear clothes?!?

Oddly enough, he loves putting on shoes and socks. It's just a matter of getting to that part of the dressing process...

Also, my child loves cucumbers.  I add that fact for free.  And it's true, he does get all the chicks...

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

TTT - Flying Solo

I missed last week's installment of Toddler Tips Tuesday.  I figured no one would notice, but sure enough, I was called out on the missing post.  Apparently I do have a few readers, who knew?  Sorry for the missing tip, I just couldn't get it together last week.  But I had heartburn about it and almost threw some dribble together at 11:55pm Tuesday night so I wouldn't miss this weekly post.  In the end I just couldn't come up with a tip.  It's hard to offer tips to others when you're needing tips yourself, you know?

But I'm back with tips galore this week.  I fully realize I already gave y'all some tips for traveling with a toddler and  flying with a toddler back in March.  But this week, my tips are about flying ALONE with a toddler.  A rambunctious toddler to be exact.

Lukas and I flew out to California last week to visit my big brother and his son.  Mr. Cob, being the big time litigator that he is, was unable to join us. My fear of being stuck on a plane for five hours with a rowdy 21 month old boy almost overpowered my desire to go West, but in the end I decided that it was worth the potential disaster to spend time with my family.  We survived the flight there and back, with minimal tears (from either one of us) and after buying out half of Target the night before our flight, I'm back with some new tips for flying with a toddler.

Flying Solo Tip #1 - Shell out the Cash.  If you can spare the money, buy your little guy or gal their own seat.  Even though kids under 2 fly free, it is safer and better for everyone if you each have your own seat.  Two seats = more room = happier kid and parent = happy plane ride for all.

Flying Solo Tip #1A - Shell out a Little Bit of Cash.  If you are don't want to shell out an extra $350 (the going price for a ticket to Cali) for a seat that your toddler may or may not even sit in, then they can sit on your lap for free.  I must admit that this is my chosen course for all flights we've taken with Lukas thus far.  (We once lucked out on a flight on Southwest and ended up with all three seats in a row even though we only paid for 2 - one of the benefits of flying Southwest is choosing your own seats and no one will choose to sit next to a small child if the flight isn't full!) 

Ok, so here's my tip if you are flying with an infant on your lap and you are flying DELTA - upgrade to "Economy Comfort" where you'll enjoy three to four inches of additional legroom and priority boarding. The Economy Comfort seats are located in the first few rows of the economy class cabin, behind first class.  And if you can, choose the row directly behind first class and you'll have even more room.  The price for Economy Comfort varies depending on the length of your flight - to California it was an extra $59 each way and for my upcoming flight to Boston it was an extra $29 each way.  So while Lukas didn't have his own seat, we had more room than a regular seat in coach and he was able to stand up and move around at our seat.  I am telling you, it is well worth the money!

Flying Solo Tip #2 - Leash Um.  Ditch the stroller (which can be cumbersome when traveling alone with a child if said child doesn't want to actually sit in said stroller) and put a harness on your kid.  Yes, leash him or her (if they can walk, of course).  The ongoing joke in my husband's family is that Mr. Cob's grandparents put a leash on his father when he was little.  I've always laughed at the joke, but those days are over.  I now fully support keeping a child on a leash harness. 

If you have ever been to the Atlanta airport, you know it is the busiest airport in the world.  And by busiest airport in the world, I mean a parental nightmare. A sea of people in a hurry to get from point A to point B and a feisty little one who finds it hilarious when you tell him no and continues to run away faster when you tell him to "come here" do not mix.  This is where the harness comes in.

Eddie Bauer Backpack Harness
For $14.99 at Target (on sale online now for only $12.74) you can buy yourself the peace of mind you deserve when traveling alone with a toddler.  Lukas happily wore his little backpack (which matched mommy's black backpack - a fact he pointed out often) and I held the strap that attached to his backpack preventing him from running away from me.  This was a lifesaver.  My biggest fear was losing him in the airport, but he could no longer escape once I put this little backpack on him.  He had the freedom he wanted while I was able to maintain ;physical contact with him at all times. 

(Sidenote: Along the lines of toddler loss prevention, I saw these temporary tattoos on pinterest last night and will be purchasing some for my little guy for future trips, park visits, etc. 

picture courtsey of tottoos.org
What a brilliant idea!  Check out tottoos.org to purchase some for yourself.)

Flying Sol Tip #3 - Passing the Time.  In my prior post I mentioned the two toddler in-flight necessities: food and entertainment.  So remember to pack plenty of snacks and books.  This trip I also brought along a sticker book which I was told could provide hours of fun.  Well, Lukas loved the Thomas the Train sticker book, but he's not able to peel the stickers off himself.  So while he played with the stickers for an hour, I was also involved for an hour tending to his request to "help please" every 20 seconds. (At least he was polite, right?)  So, just a fair warning on the sticker front: parental involvement is required.

I loaded up my Ipad with some Thomas the Train, Sesame Street and Dinosaur Train episodes and even purchased child-sized headphones, but Lukas refused to wear the headphones and quickly lost interest in the programs since he couldn't hear them.  He was, luckily, entertained with various toddler apps for quite some time though. 

Flying Solo Tip #4 - Relax.  Kids are kids.  Kids are loud.  Saying shhh just adds more noise to the mix and doesn't help my kid quiet down.  So after only about 10 minutes on the plane, I just decided to let Lukas talk as much as he wanted and even encouraged him by engaging in conversation with him (as much as one can engage with a toddler).  Everyone around us knew of his love for "jumbo jets" before we even took flight.  He animatedly (read: loudly) pointed out all the cars, trucks, jumbo jets and people on the tarmac.  And he yelled at the TV screen as we watched the Olympics in flight ("running", "momma, home run!", "soccer!" - all said at a full on scream accompanied with lots of clapping).  The people around us may have been annoyed, but I figure it's better to have a happy, loud toddler, than a crying, inconsolable one.  So, just relax and don't worry about anyone else around you.  Flying is a big adventure for your little one, so let them enjoy it!

What are your tips for flying alone with a toddler?

Monday, August 13, 2012

My Mental Health Update

Because I just can't help but overshare, I'm back to talk about my mental health.

I feel like me again.  Actually, I started feeling like me again within a few days of starting on Zoloft.  I suspect this was the medication working.  My anxiety lessened.  My constant fear of failing at everything in my life lifted.  And most important, the immediate screaming voice inside my head urging me to make a sudden major life change finally shut up.  I no longer need to change everything in my life at that very moment.  And that was how I was feeling before I started on the antidepressant.

I do think the medicine is to thank for the quick fix and lifting the dark veil that I was swimming under.  But I also think the therapist helped me sort out things in my head.  And things were quite muddled in my head.  I yet again felt like I was doing my child a disservice by working.  I had convinced myself (again) that he was better off with me than in school all day long.  Finally after talking to my therapist, I realized the root of my problem: I had somehow developed the notion that the only way to be a good mom was to ONLY be a mom.  I was telling myself that I was already failing because I was not devoting all of my time and energy into being a mom.  I wasn't taking this mom thing seriously because it wasn't all I was doing.  I really thought that I wasn't a good mom since I had another title other than "mom".

My therapist helped me see the flaw in this reasoning (if you can even call it that).  Being a good mom is not dependent on being "just" a mom.  I can be a good mom AND also be a lawyer.  And perhaps, some of the things that make me a good mom are because I'm more than "just mom". 

We talked about the reasons I thought I'd be happier staying at home with Lukas.  And we talked about what the reality of that change would look like day to day.  We talked about the difficulties my SAHM friends tell me they have and my fears that I'd have those same difficulties, plus some.  We talked about how happy Lukas really is at school and how he's developing socially and why I think I need to change his environment when he really is thriving.  We talked about the fact that I'm jealous of my stay at home mom friends, but at the same time I'm thrilled to go to work and be an "adult" most days of the week.  We talked about how I love the people I work with and how my boss is amazing.  We talked about how I'm lucky to have female mentors at my firm who are mothers and are paving the way for more mom-partners at the firm.  We talked about what all I've done to get to this point in my career and whether or not I could really leave it behind to "just" be a mom.  We talked about what is really important to me and she helped me discover that I really do want more kids sooner rather than later even though that might slow my career a little.  We talked about my friendships and how friendships change when one friend becomes a mom and jumps into that new life when the other friend is still childless and unattached.  We talked about effectively communicating with your spouse. 

We're continuing to talk.

Before getting a therapist for myself, I didn't know the benefits of having one.  But now I think everyone really can benefit from some therapy.  And you might be surprised by the things that come out of your mouth when you're talking to an unbiased third party.  I know I was.

This whole experience has been a big lesson for me.  I realized that I was worried about what people would think about my decision to take an antidepressant and see a therapist.  I didn't want anyone to know.  I was worried about being judged.  I even went so far as to decide to stop writing this blog because I didn't want you all to know what was really going on in my head and my life.  I wanted to keep up the appearance that I have it all together.  That I was "doing it all".  

But instead of being judged, I was embraced and reminded that I'm not alone.  Other moms go through these exact same feelings of insecurity and questioning.  And for those of you that have and continue to reach out and share your own experiences and troubles with being a mom, I thank you. 

Quick Cali Trip

Luke and I were in California the past 4 days visiting my brother and nephew, with my parents thrown in as an added bonus.  Our trip was amazing.  Lukas and Stuart LOVE each other and played great together.  They were two little wild monkeys and played the entire time we were there.  They make quite the pair.

I can't wait for our next visit out West...







Saturday, August 11, 2012

Be Back Soon...

I'm in Cali. I love it.

The only thing missing is my man. We miss him lots.

But these two boys make me so happy.

Cousins.

My heart is happy.

Monday, August 6, 2012

I Knew it Would Happen

It was just a matter of time.  Really, it was inevitable, so I don't know why I'm surprised.  Perhaps because even just a month ago I didn't feel this way.  I felt the exact opposite.

But I can't deny it anymore.

I have baby fever.  It's true.

I'm ready for a new little set of feet to kiss.  I'm ready for those wrinkly little hands.  I'm ready for that sweet baby smell.

I blame my two good friends for these feelings. 

My one friend had a beautiful baby boy three weeks ago today.  Oliver.  He is perfect.  I met him this weekend and was instantly in love. 

And my other friend is at the hospital delivering her baby girl, Charlotte, as we speak.  The anticipation of seeing her first picture and knowing she'll be here any minute is making me heart soar.  I can't wait to meet the little lady.

So you see, it's not my fault.

I'm excited at the thought of Lukas being a big brother.  He was so sweet around Oliver this weekend.  When Oliver cried Lukas looked at me and said "baby" with this concerned look on his face.  It was just so endearing.

While shopping for a baby gift for Oliver at my favorite baby boutique, I couldn't help but look at the little girl clothes.  In my head I'm a mom of boys.  I think I'll have a house full of boys before my baby-bearing days are over.  But seeing those little girl clothes had me wishing (just a tiny bit ) for a girl to dress up.

I know this isn't rational.  I know I've been beyond stressed out these days with only one sweet kiddo to take care of.  I know adding a baby to the mix won't lessen the stress level.  I know the lack of sleep that goes in to being pregnant and caring for a newborn.  I know about the difficulty of juggling work and babies and the husband and home.  I know this doesn't make "sense" to add another swan to our nest.

But having kids isn't about being rational.  It's about love.  And joy.  And the happy moments that make up this life.

My baby isn't a baby anymore.  He's a little boy. 

I'm ready for another baby to cuddle and kiss.

And if our next baby gives me half the joy that Lukas has brought to my life, I'll die a very happy woman.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

All Together Now

At the request of my friend Katie, I bring to you the latest recording of your all-time favorite children's song courtesy of my beloved husband.



Did I forget to mention that Mr. Cob is German????