Three-peat baby!

Say hello to our little gummy bear AKA baby #3!

Cat themed Belly-pic - a don't

Now that I have been through pregnancy twice, I am much more comfortable with the idea. I know the do's and don't's, what to expect, where my resources are etc. But I also know what I like and don't like about being pregnant. Since this will most likely be our last, I want to do it up right. These are my hopes for the next 7 months.

#1 -Enjoy being pregnant. I loved being pregnant with my first two - the kicks, the cravings, and the excuses to get out of stuff. Although I am much busier, I want to make sure I take the time to enjoy growing this little miracle. Luckily I have made some awesome friends who have been helping me out.

#2 - I  do not want to find out the sex. Preparing for a boy and a girl was a lot of fun. But there are few surprises left in life, I want to have this experience.

 #3 - I will not freak out about my weight. I ate super good for my first pregnancy, and super bad for my second. I gained the same amount of weight and lost it twice in a reasonable amount of time. Yes I will be mindful about my diet but I'm not going get upset about it. It is what it is.

#4 - Try every flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream I can. Its easy to get stuck in a chubby-hubby rut.  So far I'm 19 out of 54, I have my work cut out for me. See item #3.

#5 - Get one of those post-birth massages in the hospital. I may have to pay for it in quarters I've found in the laundry/couch/bottom of my purse but I'm going to get my damn massage.

#6 - Do birth announcements. Facebook was all we did for both kids and I'm kinda sad we didn't do official announcements.

#7 - At least once, come up with a witty comeback at strangers who make annoying comments.




FAQ
How are you feeling? - Just OK. Not going to lie, I'm tired and the heat makes me nauseous. But I'm pretty good in the mornings so I try to take advantage of them. When I feel sick, looking at baby animals on pintrest usually makes me feel a little better.

How far along are you? - 8 weeks. Due St. Patrick's day 2012. But since I will have another scheduled c-section, I am gunning for pi-baby on  3/14.

Any cravings yet? - Oh yes... Cheesecake, tortilla soup, ice water and chili cheese fries- not all together!

Any names picked out? Ryan created a spreadsheet to keep track of the ones we like -he is so sweet in his own way

Are you getting a mini-van? - No.

Will the kids share a room? - Yep. We are in the process of getting Catie to sleep in a toddler bed. My mom has already started gathering ideas for their room- think bunk beds :)

Keeping it together

Each season I say to myself, oh finally it's Spring-summer-fall-winter, I will have some time to take of the house. I have reasons ( ahem excuses ), for why each season will be different. For summer it was "oh we'll be outside and there won't be as much laundry"... pause... you can stop laughing now. Just because you wear less clothes in summer, doesn't mean less laundry- thanks for Popsicles, sprinklers and chalk the heap gets bigger and bigger.

So I put on my big girl panties said to myself "Stop whining- you are lucky to stay at home with your kids. Suck it up and clean it up".

So after seeing several posts on pintrest on keeping up on the housework I hatched a plan.

Morning and evening checklists to get into the habit of at least doing the minimum. I put my little lists in my spice cabinet and check it to make sure I don't forget anything.

Morning
Do at least one load of laundry
empty dishwasher before you leave the house
Pack purse/backpack for the entire day.
Decide whats for dinner... and stick to it!

Evening
Set up coffee maker for next morning.
Take out trash no matter how full
Run dishwasher no matter how full (if its pretty empty I throw in some toys that need a good wash)
Sweep

I have been on my little program for  about a month now. I have noticed things have been running more smoothly. No more sippy-cup roulette (please don't be milk from last week), Catie isn't finding high-chair artifacts, and we make it out of the house at a reasonable time.

I'm not sure how long I will stay motivated but I hope its for a while and it becomes a habit rather than a chore.

White Trash Moment

We all have our not so shiny moments. I had one of those yesterday.

Keywords... Walmart, Pizza, Fried Chicken Bucket.

Need I say more? Of course I do. First up, Walmart- the Walmart in our area has just been remodeled and is actually pretty nice now. Target nice? no, but better than it was. I find myself going there when I don't want to end up with $150 tab when all I needed was cough drops.

Walmart with two little kids at lunch time. Mission- Christmas light hooks and butter. Walked by the Deli and saw pizza by the slice... perfect. We ordered a slice and waited, and waited and waited some more... not for a slice but for the box they put them in. Apparently the boxes were seemly in the furthest corner of the walmart universe. Luckily my 2-year old was actually being patient but the lady behind the counter wasn't. She asked if I would mind coming back, in which I replied, yes I would mind walking away after waiting then dealing with an inevitable tantrum. Can we put it in a chicken bucket? Ummm sure... and you know what? it actually worked out pretty well. I tore up the pizza and Jack was happy as a clam with his bucket-o-pizza. Got what I needed and got out without any problems.

Pretty sure that was ghetto-est I've been in quite a while, and I'm ok with it.

Potty Training Part 2

I'm not too proud to admit defeat. Potty 1, Ashley 0.

I blame it on the pull-ups. Those DAMN pull-ups are just too convenient. The "potty-train-in-3-days" method says go everywhere in pants but no diaper or underwear. We decided to use pull ups so we didn't have an accident in public... then we used pull-ups at home... then back to diapers... :::sigh::: - Parenting FAIL

After a double bath with the kiddos, Jack came down stairs naked, me carrying a half dressed, screaming Catie, frantically looking for Mylicon when Jack held his dingle-a-ling and announced he had to go. Luckily the potty was within arms reach and he went like he had never stopped potty training.

Jack knows what to do, we are (more like I AM) too lazy/scared/intimidated of the no diapers thing. Catie is the same size as Jack (she's a whole lotta baby!) its just too easy to put on a diaper. But I have back-up coming in, my mom.

Ok no excuses... potty training part two starts next week!

Easy Chicken Thighs

Oh Cooks Illustrated how I love thee...

This month's issue had a simple, small article called "easy chicken thighs". This little gem could have been completely unacknowledged- I'm so glad I decided to try it. The recipe is all about technique, there are 4 ingredients total- chicken, salt, pepper and cooking spray... that's it! I've made this twice now and it's honestly my favorite chicken dish. The chicken turns out like fried chicken, moist, salty and crispy- but WAY less greasy. You can dress it up with a sauce or compound butter if you want but I like it better plain. Serve with a green salad and a nice wine- a tasty cheese and a baguette to make it amazing or as my friend Kerry would say- super tasty.

Easy Chicken Thighs
8 (6-8oz each) bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
1 1/4 tsp salt
pepper
vegetable oil spray

1. Adjust oven racks to lowest and middle position. Place rimmed baking sheet on lowest rack. Preheat oven (and baking sheet) to 450 degrees
2. While oven is preheating, trim excess skin off chicken and poke the skin 10-12 times with a metal or wooden skewer. Season both sides of thighs with salt and pepper and spray both sides with cooking spray.
3. Place thighs on baking sheet, skin side down, back on bottom rack. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until meat registers 160 degrees.
4. Pull chicken out and flip so skin side is up. Preheat broiler to high. Place baking sheet back in the oven on middle rack and broil until skin is golden brown - 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and place a piece of foil over chicken to rest for 5 minutes. Serve.


Seriously, try this recipe out- it is soooo flipp'n good! Definitely going into the dinner rotation.

To be a kid again

Before I had kids, I remember people telling me about having children lets you be a kid again. How right they are! There are several things that I had completely forgotten about that are now favorites. Honestly a lot of things you just can't get away with as a single adult.

Swings- Nothing like that feeling in your stomach when you first get on a swing after a few years. I may have to be the "pusher" now but I get my fill in too!

Bounce Houses- Those vinyl blow up creations are soooo much better than they were when I was a kid. Jack loves the slides and if you wear the right pants you can go FLYING. Although the sound they make when I jump in them makes me feel obese, they are just so much fun!


Goldfish Crackers- Turmeric tinged, slightly spicy and a good amount of salt. gotta love those little crackers that smile back at ya.

Capri-Sun- We bought the Costco size pack for a party earlier this summer. Needless to say, they didn't last long.

Chalk- Honestly don't remember drawing with chalk much as a kid but Jack is obsessed. I find the chalk all over the yard and "drawings" on rocks, chairs, toys and my car. We have so much fun tracing Jack's body and drawing in his face.

Peanut Butter- it makes me sad that so many kids are allergic. I don't know what I'd do without a PBJ at least once a week.

My dad playing in a pile of leaves- I think this may have been his first time playing in them too!

Leaves- OK so after growing up in SoCal,  I can't really say I had this experience as a kid but I think everyone gets a little giddy in a big pile of fall leaves.

The Moon- Its pretty sad that I have trouble driving at night because I'm hardly out at night anymore! But lately Jack has become obsessed with moon. We sit out on deck, he sits on my lap and we howl at moon every night. It's at these times I channel my dad and really "cherish the moment".

Halloween- I admit it, I was one of those once a year slut-it-up costumed girls for Halloween (candy striper anyone?). After two c-sections those days are soooo over. Now its about costumes for my kids, "ghosting" the neighborhood and pumpkins.

Today we went to the grocery store as a family and Ryan remembered he loved crumb cake and grape juice as a kid. I think I may have to whip up a batch for him this week.

Green

Yesterday, Jack and I were cuddling and enjoying a typical 2 year-old/mommy conversation.  We talked about bubbles in the bathtub and spending time with his buddy Jude. He told me he wanted to watch Elmo and I said no, we are not watching Elmo for 3rd time today. Then he started looking into my eyes, in a very serious sort of way. Then he pointed to my eyes and said "Green face!". Oh my heart just melted, "Yes, mommy's eyes are green". My little guy was thinking about me. Then he started trying to poke at my eyes saying "green, yep, greeeeeeeen" Oh boy Jack, you are so sweet- yep mom's eyes are green. Then he stood up picked a piece of broccoli off my forehead.

Green, yep, green.


It's moments like this when you take a step back and stop taking life so seriously.