Carmamma has Moved

You can find me at www.carmamma.com from now on!

Octoween

And so begins my favorite month. October is the month I got engaged, married and best of all Halloween. Oh and it's also the month where anything pumpkin flavored comes out (talking about you, Pumpkin Spice Lattes). I don't hold the title for biggest Halloween fanatic, but I do love it. And with kids, it makes this month even better.

Let's just start with my crafty "Hallowreath" I made a few years back. It's an original. I collect Pez dispensers, especially holiday ones and couldn't figure out what to do with them, but didn't have the heart to throw them out. I found this black wreath at Micheals, added all my dispensers and yep, instant awesomeness.

I solemnly swear

Okay. This is my promise that the blog that I currently keep to myself will be regularly updated by me weekly. Enough of the neglect! Now that B is nearing on 4 months and settling in has been established, it's back to blogging business for me.

My maternity leave has ended and I'm back at work. It would normally be a tragic return, but I am really luck to be able to work from home, so when the clock strikes 5PM, I am home. No driving in heavy traffic and home by 6. I walk down the stairs and there is my A and B, ready for love and dinner.

I was also lucky to have work give me 12 weeks paid leave during the Summer. I had a glimpse of what it would be like to be a stay at home mom with two kids during the summertime. It was awesome. We did lots of zoo time, visited family in Wisconsin and went to Bay Beach (a family amusement park where rides are 25 cents!).

I did  a lot of post pardum nesting. A LOT of it. Enough to drive my husband slightly insane with all the changes and moving that we had to do. More on that later too.

More stuff to share later, but for now, this photo should sum up how much A loves her B.

The New Kid.

Whoah, it's been a while since I've been on here. Time is just passing way to quickly.

Here are the Cliff Notes on my absence;  I was eating for two since last year and finally had a big baby boy, Bennett on June 1st.  We are so thrilled to have had a healthy baby and Abby is being a great big sister. She just wishes Bennett would "wake up" so she can play with him.

Did I mention he was big? A whopping 9 lbs 6oz. Now, he has nothing on that 14 pounder that was born a few months prior, but hey, that totally explains why I felt like I was carrying a hippo sitting on my crotch during the last trimester. He was a c-section; something I hadn't planned on having since everyone told me that the 2nd baby deliveries are easier and just "fall out". BTW, if anyone ever tells you that, they lie. Everyone is different. I know I was!

Before he was even born, people were asking if we plan on having more children. I can't believe people even ask that! The second one is still baking people! Let's cross that bridge at another time, shall we?

My first reaction to having a boy was "What am I going to do with all these cute girl clothes?"--- it's kind of a sad thought really. No more little girl clothes. Boys are just a different story with a different wardrobe. Unless we can pass him off him pink for the next few years??

More to come later. I really thought that being a mom would throw me into boredom and have me keep a blog on a regular basis, but I haven't had the time or ideas to keep this blog going, but I'm going to try my darndest to make this blog happen!

She Better Not Cry, Better Not Pout.

It was a proud day for us when we took A to her first visit to Santa.  I know, it's kind of a petty proud moment, but I don't have much else going on in my life right now, so let me have my proud momma moment. 

It could have all gone very wrong and we could of had a very different photo.  I'm glad we got out of there with this Chillin' With S. Claus photo, instead of the crying and screaming ones that end up on the Ellen Degeneres show and we giggle about them. I'm lucky and grateful that A (for the most part) enjoys this sort of thing, just like I did when I was her age. 

Granted, I only tested this theory out with one child so far,  but I think if you don't make a big deal out of things (bad or good), and you are just calm in your approach, your child will be too. We were very casual with the whole Santa thing. We prepped her good by mentioning his name, singing songs about him, showing pictures and videos, but you never know. We didn't squeal and hype it up. We didn't say "don't worry, it'll be okay" or anything like that. We just let her figure it all out herself and sure enough, she walked right up there and sat on that old man's lap and just stayed chill. 

I guess the other advice I'd give is make sure your kid has been well slept and not fed a bunch of Little Debbie bars before the visit. 

  

Foodies

Blame it on the baby, blame in on the media. We've gotten a lot better about what we eat and drink in our house over the last few years. I don't need to explain why do I? If I do, just watch Food Inc., read Fast Food Nation or take a walk around the grounds at Navy Pier. America, we have a problem.

We're not perfect, I'll put that out there right away. We've made changes in healthy eating that are good for us and don't put us into debt. It's a shame that in order to eat all the stuff that's good for us, you have to pay out the nose for it.

After Abby moved away from purreed fruits and veggies, we had to come up with something to feed the child besides hot dogs. I made a promise to feed her good, healthy foods while I can, before she finds out that Twinkies exist.

Here's what she's eating these days...and loving it.

• Hummus on wheat toast
• Shelled edamame
• Extra firm Tofu
• Hearts of Palm and Artichokes
• Guacamole
• Cucumbers
• Apples and Peanut Butter
• Plain chicken breasts, broccoli
• Peas and pasta with parmesan cheese
• Polenta with tomato sauce
• string cheese, chopped up
• strawberries, apples, blueberries
• Yogurt mixed with oatmeal
• Craisins

I meet a lot of new moms who can't figure out how to get their kids to eat anything or they can't figure out what to make, so their kids have a diet of juice and chicken fingers. But there are a few tips you can use to plan out meals that are healthy and yummy. I'll share some down the line. But in the meantime, here are a few tips to take or leave. 

1. Start each meal with the least appealing item and end with your baby's most favorite. No sense in giving them the good stuff up front- otherwise, they won't eat the rest. 

2. Frozen vegetables and fruits are great- store and make them in 5 minutes or less

3. Make pasta (or anything!) in advance- put it in a container in the fridge and serve it multiple times a week. 

4. That whole rule about try and try again? You should try it! It works. One week Abby loves --- the next week, not so much. The next week, she loves it. Keep it up and try your best not to raise them on fries and hot dogs. Trust me, it's possible (so far anyway!).

Best Baby Crap Worth Buying Part II

Now that Abby has gotten older, I have a few more things to add to the list of great baby crap.

Summer Video Monitor- This should have been on Part I's list, but it was forgotten. Sometimes the most important things are right in front of you and forget to mention them, right? The Summer Video Monitor was hands down the best gift I ever got. It's a monitor with video capabilities. You can hear AND see your child in the crib, so it saves you the time and worry of checking in on them when they are hellin' and hollerin' for you...or if you miss them at 10PM and just want to check in on the little bugger.  For example, you hear your baby crying...HARD. Like their leg is stuck in between crib panels. You reach for the video monitor to check and ....Nope. Just crying hard. It'll pass in 2 minutes.

Just hang the camera in the baby's room and carry the monitor with you. Seriously genius. The only downside is - if your camera is turned off, but your monitor is on, you can see other baby's under the same frequency. Freak. Kee.

Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner- It's a silicone piece that suctions down on the table for your child to eat off of. It washes off easily and is free of all the things parents freak out about these days.

More will be added as I think of them...or have time to write them, whichever comes first.