Get It Together...Get It Together...

Phone is ringing. Oh my God. Get it together see what's happening...

Okay back to the real subject at hand. Just over a year ago, I found myself sitting at 215lbs, wearing roughly a 16/18. Don't get me wrong. I know how to eat well, and I thought I knew how to exercise. The problem was that I wasn't really doing either. I was eating well, I was just eating ridiculous portions. I definitely was not exercising. While sitting at a bridal shower in March I chatted with one of my cousins. She mentioned that she was running a 5K in June. For those of you that don't know a 5K is 3.1 miles. I secretly confessed that I had always, sort of wanted to run a 5K, or more realistically say that I could run a 5K. This is the part of the story where I say she forced me into it. More like coerced. Reluctantly, I signed up. June 2, 2012. Paige's Butterfly Run in Syracuse.

It was as though it was etched in stone. Since I signed up for it, I knew that I had to run it. Commence training...I downloaded a couch to 5K app to my Ipod Touch (I didn't even have an iPhone yet, can you believe it?) and began. The first day was a 5 minute warm up, with alternating 45 second jogging/1min30sec walking intervals. I thought I would die. Just under three months later I went with two goals in mind: finish the run without dying, and preferably under 45 minutes. Long story short, I finished, I didn't die, and my official time was 38:39. I was hooked.

Over a year later, I have lost 30 pounds, 2 dress sizes, completed 7 different 5K races, and gained a lot of something. Confidence, gusto, joy, I'm not sure. Maybe all of them.

I still have a lot of weight to lose. I now have new goals in mind including completing a 5K with no walking, and then completing a 10K. I need a new pair of sneakers desperately, and I just got in the short dress that I ordered for my baby sister's wedding...in a size 12. Did I mention it's short? And tight? So now I need to get it together...

The Lost Draft: Happy New Year!

2009 was a big learning year for me. I'm proud to say that I've spent a few moments reflecting on the top ten lessons that have made the largest impact on me.

1. Even on my worst days, my son will still make me laugh.

2. Being a stay-at-home mom is both rewarding and torment.

3. I sometimes feel bored, when really I still have a lot to do.

4. My living room won't stay clean no matter how hard I try.

5. I am not very good at keeping up on my blog.

6. A part-time job is sometimes a big night out.

7. We really need a babysitter in our area.

8. I really need to learn more about photography.

9. I'm in love with my dutch oven. What's better than one pot meals.

10. I'm easily inspired by movies and books. I recently watched "Julie and Julia", and all I want to do is try to cook my way through an entire cook book.

That being said, I decided to be a bit more realistic and aim to simply cook dinner more than once a week. I am also vowing to try out new recipes, and make use of my dutch oven. We got a whole bunch of snow this weekend, so I decided to aim for something that sticks to the ribs.

My searching lead me to a recipe for chicken and dumplings found on marthastewart.com. I decided to give it a go as it called for my beloved dutch oven.

Cooking with Booze: Buttershots Recipe 2 & 3

Truth time people. I tried two more recipes, but the honest truth is that recipe #2 was not in fact cooking with booze. It was drinking it. It seems that there are few available recipes involving Buttershots that do not involve simply drinking the sweet libation.

Recipe #2- Caramel Apple Martini
Let me tell you, this was YUMMY! So yummy in fact that I considered making a second and decided that my liver might not appreciate it. This is definitely going to be a staple recipe for the holidays, and as a matter of fact it would probably be extremely delicious warmed. As I am not an avid drinker at home, I don't own any normal martini glasses, so please pardon my "Shopaholic" glass.

Recipe #3- Butterscotch Apple Pie Filling
I used a recipe adapted from Pixiwishesforeheadkisses and it turned out awesome! The original recipe I'm sure is far better than mine as Becky uses her own pastry recipe. As many know, homemade pastry is far tastier than store bought but in the interest of time, I bought from the refrigerated section of Shaw's. I ended up using roughly 6 medium red apples (mostly Cortland), and skipped the lemon juice which simply keeps the apples from browning. Overall, it was awesome. I will say though, I would probably use more booze. C didn't taste it at all, and I was more than comfortable feeding it to my children. I intended on taking a photo, but my husband dug into it before I had a chance!

Cooking with Booze: Buttershots Recipe 1

So it turns out that there are not a ton of cooking ideas that involve butterscotch schnapps, but I did manage to find one. Turns out most of the others involve simply drinking the ButterShots. That being said, I'm already changing my game plan. ButterShots recipe means one to eat, one to drink. Last night was my eat one, and I had to improvise a bit to take down the points plus value, as I've been doing Weight Watchers. So here goes:

1 ripe banana (cut in half lengthwise)

2 tbsp brown sugar

.5 tbsp butter

1.5 tbsp ButterShots

Melt butter in a frying pan and mix in sugar and ButterShots- add banana pieces and cook down making sure to baste with the banana with it. Cook down until everything has caramelized and thickened. This probably would have been delicious enough on it's own, but I decided to pour it all over some vanilla ice cream. The end result was amazing. So amazing that I did not bother to take a picture, and that typing this has me salivating like Pavlov's dog. 

Up next, ButterShots Recipe #2- Caramel Apple Martini

Cooking With Booze- Part 1

During one of my never ending quests to clean out my house, I have discovered a part of my past that I cannot get rid of...my liquor cabinet.

Nowadays, if I am going to imbibe, it is usually a relentless attempt to escape the confines of my house...meaning I go out. This has left me with a full liquor cabinet that I cannot bring myself to part with. In an attempt to clear this out (without pouring myself some tall ones every night), I am going to challenge myself to cook with my booze. This means I need to remove it from the hidden cabinet above my fridge and place it back out in the open.

Here goes Step 1: INVENTORY
-ButterShots (3/4 bottle)
-Southern Comfort (2/3 bottle)
-Grand Marnier (3/4 bottle)
-Chambord (2/3 bottle)
-Applejack (2/3 bottle)
-Triple-sec (2/3 bottle)
-Jameson (2/3 bottle)
-99 Apples (2/3 bottle)
-Frangelico (1/2 bottle)
-Tequila (2/3 bottle)
-Spiced Rum (Full bottle)
-Pimm's (Full bottle)
-Bailey's (Full bottle)
-Madeira (1/2 bottle- bought solely for cooking)

Additionally, I have a two bottles of holiday wine, a bottle of port, a specialty bottle of beer, and a bottle of ice wine. I suspect these will all be consumed on their own time.

My game plan is to focus on two recipes per week that involve cooking or baking with any of the above open bottles and stick to one liquor only. I'll do my best to post the recipes and review them...

This week: ButterShots.

What is Nickelodeon Teaching My Children?

My boys are both big fans of Nick Jr's show Team Umizoomi. I allow them to watch it because it is frankly not as annoying as some other shows (ie: Dora). Today both boys were sitting watching as Milli, Geo, and Bot ran around on another of their typical problem solving adventures. The story today was that a little boy named Anthony attempted to mail a card or some other package to his grandma. He seemed to have forgotten to put stamps on the package.

At first glance, I simply thought that the moral was to follow the rules. In this case, remembering to put stamps on the package or the post office wouldn't deliver. Well, that was not the real lesson.

Team Umizoomi (Milli, Geo, and Bot) proceeded to hop through the mail slot at the closed post office, and find the package. Once located, they put stamps on it, then hopped into the mail truck, rode to grandma's house, and rang her door bell.

Today's lesson: don't forget to put stamps on your packages, or they won't be mailed. Or is it, breaking and entering, and tampering with mail is fine, as long as it's in the name of grandma?

52 Weeks Updated

When I first took on the 52 week challenge, I struggled to find 52 areas of my house that needed to be organized. The funniest part is that I definitely don't have an organized home, so this shouldn't have been an issue, As the weeks have gone on, I did exactly what I thought I would- added more. I'm now up to 42 different areas. This week, I tackled kitchen stuff, meaning that it was time to organize the following: utensil drawer, cabinets (2) with small kitchen appliances, pots and pan cabinet, two additional drawers, and a cabinet with all of my spices, flower, baking supplies, and some bowls and platters. Cleaning these out also meant that I had more items to add to my 2012 items in 2012 list. This list contains all of the items that I've gotten rid of in my house over the year. The goal is 2012 items in 2012. That means roughly 5.5 items per day. I picked up this challenge back in early April so I have some catching up to do. I should have roughly 671 items on this. I'm currently sitting at 184 items gone.

I'm over the moon that I no long have things jumping out on my head every time I open a cabinet. Here are my before and after photos:

Cabinet- BEFORE

Cabinet- AFTER

Drawer- BEFORE

Drawer- AFTER

Pretty, right?

The Fine Art of Punishment

I swore that when I became a mother, I wouldn't become a yeller. I grew up in a family where all of the women were yellers. If a child misbehaved, the next step was to yell, to make them listen. I'm not implying that the women in my family were always screeching mothers, but there were a lot of us, and the children don't listen well. Fortunately, there were a lot of hugs and kisses to offset all of the yelling. Growing up as one of those children, I promised myself that I would observe restraint, and punish misbehaving children with patience and logic.

A few years later, I observed the opposite of my upbringing. I was in Brookline, sitting outside of a boutique toy store. The mother had a 3 to 4 year old with her who was clearly angry because she denied him some sort of toy. The child carried on and screamed and stomped. The mother would quietly walk over, crouch down and try to have a logical conversation with him. This simply resulted in him yelling more and him running another 25 feet away. Imagine this scenario repeated 6 times. For me, it was yet another example of how not to reprimand.

Here I am four years and two boys later and I have yet to find the sweet spot. I understand that yelling all of the time doesn't necessarily help. Additionally, I get tired of yelling. I also understand that logic doesn't work with a stomping 20 month old. I can now understand why mama cats swat their kittens, and why others eat their young. My boys have the ability to get me to the last ounce of patience.

Today has been a yelling day. I swear they had a conversation in their bedroom this morning on alternating getting into trouble. If one is behaving, the other is not. I walked upstairs to move a load of laundry, and came down to this.

I think I need another coffee.

Me Love You Long Time...

It's been a while. A long while that is. Frankly, I toyed with the idea of starting a Twitter feed on the ramblings of my now 3 1/2 year old, but decided that this would probably be a good way for me to keep a modern day diary. Either that, or it'll just be one more thing for me to neglect!

We live in the suburbs, in a rental. We have a whole 1300 square feet (approximately) to call ours, as well as a small patio/garden space. Our complex is large, and doesn't come without it's own set of problems, but overall it's not too bad. Problem lies with the fact that it's a rental. We cannot customize much, as each change we make means that we'll just have to pay more once we move out.  Additionally, having a 3 1/2 year old, and 19 month old means that we have a lot of C-R-A-P crap. Tons of it as a matter of fact.

Since I'm limited to the changes that we can make, I am often "re-organizing." I strive to live a simpler life. In researching this quest, I stumbled upon some inspiration...
ORG Junkie's 52 Week Challenge.

The idea behind this is to outline 52 areas of your home that need organization, and tackle one weekly. I have to admit, I do not have 52 on my list, rather, 33. I'm sure as I start tearing apart my house, I'll find new areas to tackle. I also found a message board that others were working on getting rid of 2012 items in 2012. I decided to pair the two together to see what happens...

O- 2 weeks

Quick update. O had his 2 week doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. He is growing steadily. He is now 21 inches (he was 20 at birth) and is up to 9lbs 12oz. He's almost gained a full pound since birth (he was 8lbs 13oz). His head was large like his brother's; although I can't remember exactly how large it was in the 75th percentile.

Almost One Year Gone...

So apparently I shouldn't take on new hobbies. It took for my cousin to start a blog about her kids and life for me to remember I had one (http://lifeslittlerevelations.blogspot.com/). In looking back, the last time I posted was when our sweet little boy turned one. He is now almost two and a wild little man. We have also welcomed a new family member. O was born on September 4th, and N has been adjusting wonderfully. O is a sweet, peacefully baby, and N is in love with him. He checks on him several times a day and often talks about his "baby brudder."

Life with a toddler boy and a newborn has been fun. N had his first ER visit last night. He slid down a kid's slide at a friend's house and almost plowed into a 6 month old baby. C was there to grab him before he could hit the baby, but it also resulted in a strange "popping" sound. Suddenly N was screaming and wouldn't move his left arm. We decided it was best to take him to the ER to make sure nothing was broken. As soon as we walked into the ER, the woman at the reception desk said something about "Nursemaids Elbow." Once we were checked into the triage area, the woman in there also said the same thing. No x-ray done. He saw the doctor who quickly popped his elbow back into it's correct spot. Problem fixed. He's back to normal.

We're adjusting to our new found chaos. Everyday brings new challenges and new joy. How can it not with the two beautiful boys below!

We've made it a year

Our little boy turned 1 on Saturday. He was a perfect birthday boy, and his party was a great time! Lots of thanks to our friends and family for coming out for his birthday. N had a great time, and we did as well. Unfortunately, all of the pictures taken are on my mom's camera, so I'll have to wait to upload some photos when she visits next. Until then hugs and kisses from the whole crew.

You can have your cake...

So thanks to the joys of the Food Network and TLC, I was inspired to start playing with fondant. I did my first cake around Father's Day...a vanilla cake with nutella creme filling. I used a combination of nutella, cool whip, granulated sugar, and cream cheese. The cake turned out pretty good. I cheated on the actual cake, using boxed. The actual decoration of the cake was pretty bad, but it was my first attempt.

Last week I made cake #2. This too was a boxed vanilla cake, and I made a strawberry filling. The decoration came out a little better this time.

N- 9 months

One of the joys of N getting older is that his doctor's appointments are less frequent. When he was first born, it seemed like we were at the doctor every week. Since he hasn't had a doctor's appointment since he was 6 months old, I was looking forward to this visit to find out how much he has changed.

We arrived to the appointment at 11:30am exactly, as I had misplaced my keys just in time to leave for his appointment. His doctor's office is located in part of Newton-Wellesley Hospital (same hospital where he was born), and parking there is often very difficult. I have taken to scheduling appointments there around lunch time, as parking seems to be much easier. I rushed through the door just to be greeted with paperwork. Once I finished that, N and I checked out the tropical fish tank that the office has and waited to be called in. A few short minutes later his name was called and I brought him into one of the rooms, where N was very excited to see a giant tropical fish (made of metal, of course) hanging on the wall.

The nurse weighed him, measured him, and then left us waiting for the doctor. And waiting. And waiting. Now, his doctor is usually pretty timely, but for whatever reason, he was running behind yesterday. I will tell you that keeping a 9 month old occupied in a 5x7 room for a half hour is not easy....especially since I could not put him on the ground.

The doctor came in and ran through the usual questions and exams. He was very pleased with his development thus far. He was also impressed with the amount and variety of food that N eats. N weighed in at 19lbs 9oz which put him in the 35th percentile for his weight. He was 29 inches (75th percentile), and his head measured in the 97th percentile. Once again confirming our son's melon head. N took the examining well, as he tends to shy away from people he doesn't know right now. The nurse came back in, gave him his one shot, and we were on our way. I scheduled his next appointment, which will be his 1 year appointment.

Food, Fireworks, and the 4th

Friends of our throw a big 4th of July party every year...I mean, they go all out. We arrived at the party around 3pm, and ended up staying until almost midnight. There is a keg, a ton of food, and of course fireworks. They live on a pond, and have built a dock that they use as a barge. N survived the fireworks with no problems...the first few scared him a little bit, but he just snuggled in and watched.

I made a sangria the day before that went over really well. It was the combination of several different recipes, but I simply changed them all until I got the result I wanted. The recipe is as follows:

Katie's Killer Sangria
2 bottles of Charles Shaw Shiraz
2 lemons (1 juiced, 1 sliced)
2 limes (1 juiced, 1 sliced)
2 oranges (1 juiced, 1 sliced)
1/2c pineapple chunks (plus a little bit of the juice)
1/2c sliced strawberries
1/2 apple sliced
1/2c Triple Sec
1/2c Apple Jack brandy

Add all items to big jug or pitcher, and let marinade in fridge. Once ready to serve pour over ice making sure each cup gets plenty of fruit. Pour cups to 3/4 of the way full and top remaining 1/4 with club soda. Stir to mix.

I should have taken some pictures, but I know I'll be making this for any other barbeques this summer so I'll be sure to do it then. After passing out several glasses, people requested more and I was all out. Next year I am tripling the recipe!

February 15, 2009

Hello dear friends and family. I decided to start a blog to help keep everyone updated on N's little life. I cannot promise that I will be perfect about blogging, nor can I even promise that this address will get out to you all. I did one trial post back in December, and this is the first time I have revisited it. That being said, I'll give it a shot.

N is 19 weeks old today...that is roughly 4 and half months. He had his 4 month well child visit at the pediatrician last Wednesday. He weighed in 15 pounds even, measuring 25 inches. Both are in the 60th percentile for his age. I had been calling him a melon-head (I know, mean mommy) prior to his doctor's appointment, and I was right! His head measured 17 1/2 inches, which is in the 90th percentile. The doctor assured me that it's fine, is just big to hold his big brain. He also concurred that N is a melon-head. 

The doctor also gave the go ahead to start N on some solids. We started him immediately with some rice cereal mixed with breast milk. He was unsure of it at first, but as soon as he figured out what to do with the spoon in his mouth, he began to enjoy it. I was told we can begin oatmeal, fruits, and veggies as well, but I was to wait at least 3-5 days between introductions in order to watch for any allergic reactions. I started him on oatmeal on Wednesday by mixing it with some rice cereal. He seems to enjoy that as well. He makes a huge mess...I end up with cereal all over my hands, and he has it all over his hands, clothing, and face. I gave him some squash yesterday and he wasn't a huge fan, but I'll keep trying!

He's a very busy boy nowadays. He plays on his own, but loves attention from anyone at all! He rolled over from his back to his front, and again onto his back from there last Friday. He started up again yesterday...as soon as we put him down he rolls over. He still hates to be on his tummy though, so he rolls from his back to his front, and then just yells. He loves to spend time in his jumperoo, and has learned how to make it bounce. He's very funny- making all sorts of noise all of the time. He lets us know when he's happy, and he let's us know when he's not.

I'll post a few pictures to keep you all up to date. He changes so much every day!

N and cousin A

Squash!

December 16, 2008

Well, I decided that since N is in our lives now, it might be helpful to start a blog to update everyone on our family. I'm sure that most of this will be about N, and the happenings of his little life. It'll also give me an opportunity to be better about sharing recent pictures, as he changes so much daily!

N is 10 1/2 weeks old. C and I are absolutely smitten with him. While he's been smiling on and off since about 6 weeks, he smiles all of the time now. If I walk into the room and say hello, he breaks out into a huge grin. It absolutely melts my heart. We're working on getting him to laugh...it seems to be right around the corner, but he just hasn't figured it out yet! He is very busy and plays a lot more. N is also very vocal baby. At his 2 month doctors appointment, his pediatrician commented that he was "extremely vocal for his age." I keep wondering if we'll need ear plugs when he starts talking.

We've been working on tummy time to strengthen his muscles. He still doesn't like it, but he is much stronger now. He's also batting at everything. It makes it harder to relax close to him! As for sleep, well, I'm not sure I want to comment. I may jinx things. N slept for five hours straight two nights ago, and last night, he slept for 7 1/2 hours straight! I'm hoping he'll keep it up, but I'm not sure if he will. It's my understanding that breast fed babies have a harder time sleeping through the night.

We're excited to go to Syracuse for Christmas, as N has a lot of people that he needs to meet. We'll be leaving sometime on Friday, and will be staying until the 28th. I'm glad to have such a long time. We're fortunate that C has enough time off for us to be able to do this. When we come back to Mass, I'll be going back to work part-time at Babies-R-Us. My management has been awesome...I'll be working Tuesday and Thursday nights after C gets home from work. I'll probably be working all day on Saturdays, and on Sunday I'll be working from 9am-noon. I'll miss my little man while I work, but I'm spoiled in that I get to stay home with him during the day.

Well, I guess I'm going to head to bed...N and C are in bed so it'd better get in as much sleep as possible before I get my 3:00am wake up call. Or maybe later...here's to hoping...