running errands

Today I ran some errands on my own . . . did I mention I was by myself? It was amazing. A friend came over to babysit Ellie and told me she'd watch Josiah too. I was nearly speechless! I left her w/ some freshly pumped milk and took off. It was amazing. I got to Babies R Us, where I had an exchange to make, turned to grab my purse and realized I brought my diaper bag with me. I laughed and was glad that the diaper bag is the one Jenna, from Sweet Baby Creations, had made. It's stylish and could pass for a big bag, unless you looked inside it and saw the diapers inside (check out a pic of it HERE)! I grabbed my bag and took off toward the store . . . when I realized I left the item I wanted to return in the car. Oops. I think I'm more "on top" of things when I have the kids w/ me . . . I don't really know what to do with myself when they aren't there! After Babies R Us, I went to Trader Joes and was surprised at how quickly I could get through the store! I finished my errands in 45 minutes . . . then came home and started dinner.

Which, by the way, was yummy. I had leftovers for Chris and I but made Ellie "Creamy Potato Soup" from Jessica Seinfelds "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook. Ellie LOVES this soup - and it's one of the only ways I can get her to eat potatoes. It has cauliflower and carrots (or you can put butternut squash) mixed in. I froze it in two batches for the future. It's great to have on an, "I'm not feeling good" kind of day!

The Business of Being Born

Just finished watching The Business of Being Born. Excellent movie. I think that every woman should see this before she has children. I think I cried every time they showed another baby being born. While it is true that not all of our births can go as planned (I have friends who had Plecenta Previa, friends who had a life-threatening illness @ the end of pregnancy, etc) there is much in the way babies are being born in America that is not as it should (could) be.

If you haven't watched it, check it out.

no more naps?

Ever since we took the paci away from Elizabeth (it's been over a week now). She is not consistently taking naps anymore (and she's only 21 months). It was last Sunday (the 19th) that the paci's were taken away and last week she took a nap every other day. Today was the day she should have taken a nap (based on the way things had been going). But no, she refused to take a nap. I could leave her in there for 2 hours and she would probably cry the whole time (no exaggeration). Today I tried a new tactic. When it was evident she was not going to be going to sleep I told her she needed to stay in her room and play quietly by herself. We have a toddler gate - which is the only way this can work. It's kind of working. She's been in there for 10 minutes now . . . but not really happy about it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm not ready for her to give up naps, but perhaps that's not entirely up to me. . . however if she does give up naps how can I encourage "quiet time" w/ one so young? I know I could get some quiet time by sticking her in front of a movie - but I don't want to make that a habit. Help!!

nursing cover

One of my favorite things is my nursing cover. It got me through my nursing days with Ellie and it is working well again with Josiah. My cousin, Danna purchased it for me from “Sweet Baby Creations”. Jenna is a work @ home mom who I met this past August. She does great work while her children are sleeping. She makes nursing covers, diaper bags, “momma” bags, diaper clutches, etc.

The nursing cover allows me to see Josiah while he eats, but covers me completely from any “lookie-loos”. It also doubles as a “mommy-cape” or a dress-up outfit for Ellie!

more calories?

could I not be getting enough calories? I try to eat enough but it seems like 20 minutes after eating a meal I'm still hungry! Josiah is eating every 3-4 hours during the day and his longest stretch at night is only 6 - 7 hours. I think I need to eat more things that "stick to your bones" or perhaps I just need to have more snacks between the meals. Any suggestions?

where I've "been"

You may be wondering where I've been. I've been taking care of two very important little beings, trying to keep my house in order, keeping us fed, making sure bills are paid and trying to get enough sleep to survive.

I've also been updating my children's blogs. You can check them out on our website.

I think I'm going to commit to writing on this blog at least ONCE per month. So don't be disappointed if you don't see much from me over these next couple of months. My children and projects outside of the "virtual" world are more time consuming right now.

I look forward to the day when I'll be able to make this blog (and therefore keeping up w/ your blog) more important!