Obsessed... maybe a Little

A few days ago I was taking some pictures of Little and this one just made me and the Husband laugh. Everytime we look at it a giggle or chuckle escapes our lips! Little is just the most adorable boy ever. When I start to take pictures of him I cannot stop myself. Alas, we now have over 2500 pictures on our computer of Little and no one else! I don't think there is a picture of me on there since he was 2 months old. I should probably remedy that so he remembers I raised him! ;)

With Halloween coming up I am hoping to throw myself a party. Funny how after you get married and move away there are not that many people to invite to a party, so it is for me! I'm thinking color themes of autumn and a fun donut bar(what is better than an orchestrated mess making), my nieces and nephews will hopefully attend and partake in the festivities that were

pretty much non-existent last year! What was I supposed to dress up as.. a pregnant lady? This year I'm thinking Wonderwoman, what do you think?

BabyMama Out!

I thought the world was broken!

But I was sooooooooo wrong! It's just different than I thought. I have spent the last few weeks keeping track of a Utah original that was in a plane crash in Arizona with her husband. I have never been in tears so many times, so frequently and not just because I am sad for their situation but because I am happy that people are supporting them. I cannot imagine going through such a terrible ordeal and not being able to hold Little or kiss him all over and tell him how much I cherish him. Of course when he is older he will push me away and say things like "Mom don't kiss me! That's gross!!!" but for now I am absorbing all the joy a 6 month old can bestow upon a family.

I pray for Nie everyday that her family will heal, that her and her husband who she loves so much will heal and that their faith will get them through. When I read about them and their love for eachother, their family and their beliefs (my beliefs) I am touched so deeply I cannot push back the tears. I have read that through her blog Nie has made people want to be better parents and that she spreads hope and love. I never knew her before, but I hope that in me somewhere is something that resembles her goodness, happiness and love for everyone! In her absence (the reason I found her blog) I have been shown how a person can live and be truly happy.

To keep up to date on Stephanie and Christian's progress read here.

Back to School for Baby Mama

I am amazed at the panic and stress that is taking up residence in my heart. For some reason back to school time does that to me EVERY TIME! As an adult you would think I was way past that, both emotionally and the fact that I should have been done with my degree by now and not having to return to school. But noooooo, I am now returning to school finish my Associates by the time the husband finishes his Ph.D. and we head off for yet another destination. This is my goal because I need to be able to transfer my Associates degree to another school so that I don't have to take even more ridiculous general education credits before I can specialize.

Alas, I will once again be a student and grace the halls of this institution.

I have braved the bookstore lines and spent unmetionable amounts of money on books that are "special edition" so that I can not buy them anywhere else. I have gotten my university ID card so that I can be admitted to the testing center, I am prepared and now all thats left to do is feel prepared as I step into a whirlwind of madness that I had hoped never to have to witness let alone be a part of ever again. But I do enjoy the challenge!

Wish me luck as I embark on the journey of studenthood as a mother!

Smiles, (maybe grimaces)

Baby Mama

Hungry for Hungry Girl?

UPDATE:

I have yet to get my hands on this cookbook, it is not at my local walmart and my wallet cannot handle anything but walmart... so the quest is still in progress...more later!There is a website I came across today that I have absolutely fallen in love with. It is Hungry-Girl.com a website with food tips and tricks and lots of low point recommendations.

I am headed off to the store to buy her cookbook today and will sit down and write a review of it as soon as I have tried it out. Lisa - The Hungry Girl - is a fun-loving food loving woman who is just trying to keep off that excess flab that accumulates when you enjoy food as much as most of us do.

I would love to work with someone like her, doing what she does. I subscribed to her emails and can't wait to read her witty and fun writings.

I'll update this with a review of the cookbook soon!

Smiles...

Baby Mama

Peter, Peter, Low Point Pumpkin Bread Eater

My family will attest to the fact that our mothers Pumpkin Bread is undoubtedly the best out there! The problem with it is that it has two cups of oil in it... this equals TO MANY POINTS. So in an effort to improve (or change) the recipe to be Weight Watchers friendly I experimented with the oh so loved food - Tofu. Now many people crinkle their nose at this food, or their stomachs churn when they think of it, but I found that what people don't know can't hurt them.

I still have some experimentation to do to get the right texture and lower points by replacing the flour with something... I'm thinking oatmeal as flour.

The points value for this is 2 if you cut 10 pieces out of each loaf. If you cut 12 pieces it is a points value of 1.5.

Pumpkin Bread by Baby Mama

1 large can solid pack pumpkin

3 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1 C. White Flour

1 1/2 tsp. soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

4 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. ground ginger

2 1/2 C. Splenda

1 C. Sugar

3 eggs

1/2 C. egg substitute

18 oz. Tofu (soft)

1 pkg. Chocolate Chips (10 or 12 oz.)

Beat sugar, eggs, tofu and pumpkin together. Add dry ingredients, fold in chips. Spoon batter into 5 medium sprayed loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Freezes well if wrapped in plastic wrap and put into a zipped plastic baggie.

Cheers! Baby Mama :)

New York, New York

Well, I went to New York on the spur of the moment. I packed up Little and left Husband home to work and play on his own and had a "Girls + Dad" weekend in the Big Apple. It was fun and yet I still have not wrapped my head around all the activities that we jammed into a two day whirlwind trip! We took a tour of Central Park, had dinner at Serendipity III, took the circle line out to Ellis Island and viewed the Statue of Liberty. We also went to Sephora and H&M (where we had the worst shopping experience ever!) and purchased much needed ;) makeup and clothing.

I fell in love with Whole Foods while I was there and wish they would bring one nearer to the Utah Valley. But then again, I wish they had a Sephora and H&M too!

Little was an angel! He was bounced around the city in a sling I made and acted heavenly (and got me quite a few seats on the crowded Subway...polite New York men) and was purely exhausted and heatstroked, as we all were by Friday night. It was 95 degrees in the city and in the Subway you could easily add 10 degrees...ICK!

I did decide, in the end, that maybe I am not cut out to be a jetsetter... I need some calm in my life. So in an effort to establish calm (haha) I started some new projects :). I will post pictures and details on Tie-dying t-shirts for Little and other various endeavors soon.

A trip to New York

I am presented this week with the option to live the life of a jetsetter. I could drop my SAHM status for a few days and jet to New York on a whim and spend 3 days touring the city and having exciting metropolitan experiences. That's what I could do... what WILL I do? I don't know yet.

The thought of spontaneously hopping a plane to NYC brings so much joy and excitement to me I can hardly contain it all. But then reality hits - I have a husband and baby to think about. I can take Little with me but the husband is a little harder to tote around. He has plans already, and he is the planning type. I wouldn't want to spoil his time for the weekend, but think of the memories that could be had by jetting to a fun destination on the spur of the moment. The flights with a 4 month old might not be that fun, and yes I do enjoy shopping in NYC probably more than anything else - but we could enjoy meandering the streets (albeit quickly, because of course that is how New Yorkers do it), going to the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, and introducing Little to a world outside of the Midwest. And maybe just toss in a few small stops at the likes of Bloomingdales and H&M. We are in talks this evening of whether I should go alone, with Husband or not at all. We shall what the final verdict on my temporary jetsetting lifestyle will be. I even have the perfect sling I created that would make said lifestyle with a baby even easier, and it happens to be tres chic!

In other news, the unfinished apron is still sitting by my sewing machine because I jumped feet first into making a baby sling. Little has been under the weather the last few days and we had an infamous "blowout" in the car seat - thanks to Little's Nana we had a carseat cover blanket that is easily washable.

Oh! The drama of motherhood! Nothing compares to it.