Communication

Or lack thereof. For a long time we have been a cellular free family. (Long time meaning shortly after Olivia entered our family). It wasn't to make a statement, or to get back to an older and calmer way of life, or to free ourselves from the hussel and bussel associated with "I can get a hold of you whenever I want" type of living associated with the 21st century. We like crazy, we LOVE hectic. I consider the Internet to be a close personal friend of mine. Money got tight, so cell phones were the first to go. And oh how I mourned their loss.

Meet my 'lil beaut!

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The whole year+ that we went without them I mourned them. I never once thought "Oh, this is so great to live a simpler life." With Marcus leaving soon (2.5 weeks) it was high time to get one again. On the off chance that Marcus will get phone privileges, it would suck big time to miss that one call because the girls and I were playing at the park or something.

Apparently this is called a qwerty phone because it has ALL the letters of the alphabet on the keypad. Word on the street is this makes for much easier texting abilities. Texting has been so much fun! I didn't really text much before when we did have cell phones, but I am making up for lost time. It also has a camera to take pictures!!

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Does this make me sound like I am ONE HUNDRED years old and living in civil war reenactments? Yes! Do I care in this least of how dated I am? NO!

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It's my new phone. I absolutely love it. Right down to its snazzy blue protection case. Excuse me whilst I sigh in euphoric contentment.

MMMmmmmm, like lick your fingers good!

Don't worry, I am not crazy. I understand that this is indeed a book and is not safe for human consumption. But it IS delicious... equally so for my brain and my tummy. Confused much? Allow me to explain.

This my friends is a CULINARY mystery. Kaitlyn loaned it to me and I will be forever grateful.

Here is an intro about the book.

A recipe for murder!

-5 families living on Peregrine Circle

-1 flowered curtain tie back

-1 missing child

-1 one body in the field

Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains!

Such a good read, so fun and so many twists and turns. I kept picturing Sadie to be this Angela Lansbury type gal. Plus a lot of the food mentioned in the book during the story are detailed in recipes at the end of the chapters.

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I have tried out a few of them and OH. MY. HECK. They are amazing!! Best brownies ever and the cookies were to DIE for (he he he, get it ... to die for... it's a murder mystery... alright I know I am lame!). I have further found out that the author used her family's favorite recipe's in the book. My tummy will be forever grateful. There are three in the series so far. I can't wait to read the next one. It is titled..... wait for it.... wait for it...

ENGLISH TRIFLE

Trifle might be the most amazing invention mankind has ever made. I will be reading this book at the very least for no other reason then to get my hands on the recipes. It is an added bonus that the author is a pretty amazing writer! Please read these, you will be so glad that you did!

Operation Milk Parlor Status Update

Who knew? Who knew how much of a difference getting a full nights sleep could make?

Baby is happier. Momma is happier. It's just so magical.
For two nights there was crying off and on from 5:30-7, and then on day three she slept straight through and has for every night since. I left her in her crib until 7 the first days because if I was going to train her to sleep straight I figured might as well shoot for the moon and pick a wake up time that worked good for the whole family.

I forgot how good it felt to sleep straight through like that. Both of my girls have been waking up between 7 and 7:30 and it has been perfect. I know I am jinxing myself and now for two weeks they will wake up at 5 am ready to party, but I just couldn't resist. All this extra sleep makes me want to sing hallelujah from the roof tops.

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I'm also kinda kicking myself I didn't crack down sooner, we had Olivia sleeping through the night for a while at this stage. Oh well, at least she is on track now :)

Mekup

We have been having a situation in our house the last couple of weeks. A Mekup situation. Two weeks ago Olivia got the stomach flu, and there was quite a lot of throwing up. The nauseated feeling was a little confusing to her, so she ended up coming up with her own word that she would yell right before she would loose her breakfast.... MEKUP!! MEKUP!!
Just when I think that she is over it, and there is a day or two of no upchucking, she will throw up again. Not on purpose or anything, she just gets super nauseated and then looses it. We had to show her how to use a bowl to cut down on the laundry I was doing. Now my house is scattered with mixing bowels and Tupperware containers. If her stomach got queasy she would raid the Tupperware cupboard and then leave it when she would feel better, then run and grab another one 5 minutes later.

The most interest she has shown to food is her pretend kitchen stuff, which is really weird for me because this girl LOVES to eat... just like her Momma! It is hard to tell exactly when and for how long she feels nauseated for. I know for certain that there are some times that she is faking it (like to get out of a time out or brushing her teeth). She thinks yelling "Mekup" is a get out of jail free card, which I never let her get away with but she keeps trying it none the same.

There are also times that I know FOR sure that she isn't feeling good. I mean besides when she actually throws up, I can tell she is just off or really tired etc. It's just weird for it to last this long. Her surprise mekup attacks have really thrown me off, and have also resulted in some pretty big clean up jobs (like our car in her car seat and Kaitlyn's car in Isla's car seat).

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The first week of her being sick, Konks also had the runs from teething and was pooping out of every diaper. So between my two girls I was running 2-3 loads of laundry just from their messes. Thankfully Konks digestive track is now on a more even keel and I have yet to have Olivia mekup for 2 days. I am hoping we are done with mekups for real now! So if you are around Olivia and you hear her yell Mekup, make sure to run for your life ;)

We so pweety!

"Mom?" .... "Mom!"... "MOM!!!" ..... "Yook Mom, we so PWETTY!".

The girls got into my makeup, more specifically my mascara (you can see the tube under Konks seat). They (meaning Olivia) then decided to beautify themselves. There is no more black substance in that tube. (Substance?? Seriously I don't know how to categorize mascara. Is it a paste? Schmear? Liquid? Very tricksy mascara is... very tricksy).

I think Bianca was tickled pink to be apart of the action. Olivia also used the wand as a paintbrush. You can see some of her artwork on the table behind Konks.

Olivia got ONE eye pretty heavily with some added body paint for fun. I took these pictures before I saw Olivia's bedroom. I was pretty amused with everything up until this point, although we had some pretty big talks about how makeup is only for Mommy's ("No makeup for Daddy??" Olivia asked this of me, which only made me laugh more).

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Then I saw her room 5 minutes later. All the rest of the mascara substance/liquid/schmear is all over her walls. Then I didn't find it that funny, at least at the time I did not feel inspired to take pictures of it.

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Crazy highjinxs girls!

Jane Fonda, eat your heart out.

So firstly, Konks (and I) have commenced "operation milk parlor shut down". First to go is that dastardly 5am feeding. Lots of crying on both ends. She's crying, well because she wants me to feed her and I'm crying cause I am so dang exhausted (she wants to eat out of habit, not because she really needs it. Plus she is 10 months and it is high time for her to sleep through the night). This morning started with lots of poop from the bigger one and the little one, resulting in lots of soapy water for clean up. I thought I would make something magical for breakfast for my big little girl, so I whipped up some steel cut oats. Only to have her decide she didn't really feel like eating.
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Then everyone proceeds to have major meltdowns (if you can't beat em, join em... right?).
I decided right then and there to have a very productive day today. Nothing can turn around a rough start day like a glistening clean house. To also brighten my mood I decided to put on the most colorful clothing that I have. The result:

Hot pink yoga pants and teal blue shirt. I feel like all I need are leg warmers and then I could be an extra in a Jane Fonda work out video. So today I am going to clean, organize, take a deep breath and tell myself "I am trying as hard as I can."

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I did make a glorious batch of brownies yesterday. They are sitting on the counter, just begging to be eaten. Eating one wouldn't be so bad... would it? Especially if I burn the calories off with a good bathroom scrub down! MMMmmmm, brownies for breakfast....

A girl can dream.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

I have been getting increasingly more domestic, especially in the past year or so. Experimenting with new recipes, venturing into the precise and exact land that is baking. It is has been so fun, therapeutic, frustrating, exhilarating, tear jerkingly rewarding and delicious. Every time I start whipping up something magical I am painfully aware of two key things missing from my arsenal.

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Exhibit A: Cuisinart Food Processor. So many recipes and techniques either rely on this machine or would be made significantly easier with it. Just think of all the shredding, pureeing, emulsifying, slicing and combining I could accomplish with this beast!

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Exhibit B: Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. My hand held mixer will work for most baking recipes, but since I have been delving more and more into the land of carb heaven, I have realized that this machine is almost a must for making any kind of bread, unless I want to get carpel tunnel in my wrists from kneading. I especially dream of exhibit B on an almost daily basis. There is the one fact that it costs about a kerbillion dollars (or might as well because of our limited budget!).

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If only I had invested in these babies when we were newly wed, you know, back when we were BB (before babies). Back when there was always oodles of cash just lounging around our apartment (thank you waitressing job). If only we would have eaten out only one day a week instead of three. But no, instead I had to galavant across the countryside getting pedicures left and right and having luxurious, lazy afternoon lunch dates with girlfriends. I had to spend a ridiculous amount of money on scrap booking supplies that I would never use (seriously anybody interesting on acquiring some scrap booking gear?). If only....

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Oh well, I can dream of the day when I will one day own these bad boys. A day when, with my arsenal complete, I can mix and bake and whip myself into a coma.

Gotta love...

... when he comes through the door he only has eyes for his baby girls.
... when he immediately gets down to their level to ask questions about their day in a quiet and soft way.

... how he snuggles and cuddles them right from day one.

... how the only thing that matters most is his family.

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I love him so much, words could never express it. I loved him when we first started dating and I could never imagine the man he would become after becoming a Daddy (I mean I had a pretty good idea, but he blew every expectation out of the water).

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I love it when he tries to diffuse a "heated" discussion by calling me the wrong name, with a totally straight face to make me laugh and break the tension (that name being Barbara).
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I love that with his departure date getting closer and closer his only projects are things to make my life easier when he is gone. His whole focus is on us and how to make things as smooth as possible for us in his absence. I like to think of myself as a planner, but he is SO ahead of the game for me and it is SO comforting!

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Every day with him is an adventure and I am so happy that he is the Daddy to my girls.

Shout Out

Consider this a public service announcement.
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We left our house, headed for some vanilla cones at McDonald's and then last minute decided to go to Edaleen dairy instead. We were thinking that we would splurge tonight, assuming that a place that makes it's own ice cream would be more expensive.
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MORE EXPENSIVE?!?!?
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We seriously feasted like Kings for $2.85 (no joke, that was our total bill). Olivia had a small vanilla cone, Marcus had a medium chocolate soft serve (that was as tall as a chocolate mountain) and I had a single scoop of Cheesecake hard ice cream. The portions were amazing (as in my single felt like a double) and it was less money then had we eaten at McDonald's. Plus it was amazing tasting! Plus it was so cheap! Did I mention how awesome the ice cream was?
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If we are going out for an ice cream treat we WILL be heading to this magical land of heaping portions, luscious tasting, way inexpensive dairy extravaganza. Heaven help my waist line.
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You are now informed, I can rest easy knowing others out there can be enlightened to this dairy wonderland.

Nearing the end of the line

I have tried to hold off as long as I could. It was starting to get to the point where Olivia's diapers were diaper bikini's (or more like diaper thongs). I couldn't ignore it any longer, it was time for Olivia to move up to size 6 diapers.

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We keep testing out the potty training business, but she just isn't ready for it yet and I am not going to push her into it. I was starting to get antsy about it, but my friend (aka Kaitlyn) reassured me to just chill out and let her tell me when it is time. So I am okay about that now. But It got me thinking, at the rate my kids grow what happens when she doesn't fit a size 6 anymore (that is an eventuality, not a possibility). I researched that they do in fact make a size 7, but I am hard pressed to find that readily available and stocked on the shelves.

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So do I special order them for her? Maybe commission Huggies or pampers to custom design a diaper for her bedonk? Diaper couture perhaps??

I guess I can always fall back on good old depends. They were my personal lifesaver after having both of my girls (yes I proudly rocked depends for about 2 weeks post baby), maybe they will save my bacon when the baby sizes of diapers run out? Quite the quandary! Does anybody else breed larger children? What did you do? (Please tell me I am not alone... Please tell me I am not alone...)

What happened?

So I was trying to organize some of my pictures and came across these ones. I honestly feel like this was yesterday, but look at how little my girls are.

Olivia is practically bald! And Konks looks like she could break she is so tiny.

How did it happen so fast? How did my babies turn into these big girls?

I just can't get over it. It is a good reminder for me to savor the time a little more, because before I know it Olivia will be in school and Bianca will be running circles around me!

I remember how totally freaked I was when I found out I was pregnant. Olivia couldn't even walk yet and I was already growing another one inside! Of course now I am so glad that it happened, but at the time I was about having a panic attack (Konks wasn't in the plans when Konks happened if you catch my drift). I was so nervous for the transition and braced myself for the worst, and then she got here. She is so chill and... and laid back... and... she is just so HER! I can't describe it. Olivia handled everything so well, I was bracing myself for that side of it too, but everyday she kept surprising me and surprising me. Taking upon herself the mantle of big sister so wonderfully.

Sure all of the normal toddler and baby shenanigans happen in my house, those days when I just want to escape all the crying and the poop (today was a big time poop overload day). But every week I still think to myself "how could I be this lucky?".

Regular Food for a Regular Gal

There are some things in life that I simply cannot do without. The first of those being my elixir of life, bliss in a cup, chilled perfection that is wild strawberry crystal light.

I drink between 3 and 4 "big cups" of this sweet stuff everyday. I do not like it full strength so I have these 24 oz plastic cups that you can buy for your patio wear, and that sucker filled up with a little ice and my magical elixir is perfection. And I have to have a straw, simply a must. My dear friend Kaitlyn got me re-usable plastic straws and I LOVE THEM!
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I look forward to sitting down with a big glass after a long day, or chugging one after a good work out, or sipping one while watching my favorite show. My body just craves all those liquids and after having babies I need all these fluids to keep things "moving" along.



Speaking of keeping things regular, there is also a second item that I cannot do without. No it isn't rabbit food, it is Kellogg's All Bran. It has worked wonders on my system and I feel a little tweakish if I have gone a day or two without it, not to mention a little bloated. .
They are kind of random items to be my favorite-most-favorite, but I honestly get a little freaked out when my supply starts to dwindle. I usually try to have a few boxes of crystal light on back up, as well as at least one box of back up All Bran.
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Settling into my normal routine, after being out of town for a wedding, it makes me feel at home to open my cupboards and see my stockpile there waiting for me. Speaking of which, I am starting to get a little thirsty...

Goings On

This one is eating all manner of people food now. Waffles, pancakes, banana chunks, cucumbers, pasta. She follows every bite with a satisfying "MMMmmmm" noise just like her Momma! Both of my girls are VERY enthusiastic when it comes to eating. Plus her two bottom teeth are through and she is looking less and less like my little baby!
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She is crawling around everywhere and climbing into everything. She has no fear about hiking up and over every obstacle and I caught her doing a cliffhanger move hanging off the side of our dining table, like trying to do a pull up. She is so happy and so chill, content to just putz around the house all day exploring each room.

This one isn't as enthusiastic about her food today. (This picture is not from today, I just wanted to post a cute one of her!). Me thinks she has a 24 hour stomach flu or something like that. She woke up this morning saying "owies" and then proceeded to upchuck. I thought at first that it might have been a fluke. It has now turned into projectile stage, like she is auditioning to be the understudy of the little girl in the exorcist movie. I have had the foresight to not feed her solids so we don't have a pea soup situation on our hands, but I have had to change my outfit twice today already. She runs to tell me she is feeling sick and arrives to me at just the crucial moment when all heck breaks loose in her tummy.

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She passed out on the couch to a DVD of little people and I am hiding in my room (blogging) so as not to wake her. I think I am going to get a head start on laundry because I have a feeling I will have to run many a load today in between bleaching down every surface of mi casa.

Dear Everyone

I'm going to confess it. I love reading blogs. Probably more than watching TV even. Like if I have some down time I would much rather read a friend's blog than watch a show, unless if it is barefoot contessa.
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I love reading about your dates with your husbands, all the crazy highjinks your kids get up to, your awesome recipe that you cooked for your family and swear it is the most magical thing you have ever eaten (and then I make it for my family and it IS the most magical thing I have ever eaten!). I love learning your parenting tricks and then using them myself. I love seeing how you had a hard time with x y and z and how you made it through. Of course I love to read about whatever embarrassing predicament you got yourself into.
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I love how inspired I feel after reading this post or that post, or feel like I am not alone with all the craziness that happens in your life when you have kids. Knowing there are people out there that have the same challenges as me and make it through.
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So if you don't feel as inspired to blog just think about how journaling your life like this will be such a wonderful gift for your posterity to read. Or if that isn't enough motivation just think how it will keep Vashti sane during her job as a stay at home Mom. AND if you are reading this and you don't have a blog.... what are you waiting for!?!? Jump in on the action! It is so much fun! (In my book there is never a problem of having too many blogs to read).

Funksville

Oh how I love them! There aren't enough pictures of my love on this boggity blog.
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This week I was in a funk. Not one particular thing happened to put me there and at the same time everything happened to put me there. I just couldn't pinpoint it, but it was staring me in the face all day everyday.
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It would be in my closet when trying to find and outfit to wear and just feeling like I ain't got no style. It would appear when trying to style my hair and it just wouldn't behave. It would be there every time I felt like I just wasn't do "it" for Olivia, not quite parenting her in the way she needed. It was definitely there when family drama hit the fan. Everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.
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Bleck.
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It apexed on Thursday night as I laid on my kitchen floor, barely able to move and tears streaming down my face. My back decided to join in on the funkiness of my week by throwing itself out. I literally could not get up and then it hit me. What will I do when something like this happens and Marcus isn't here to help me? How will I do it? I went to bed discouraged and feeling useless.
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Double bleck.
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How did I depart the Funksville that I had unwillingly become a resident of? My sweet toddler showed me her love and compassion by kissing my owies better and asking if Mommy was happy now. My Mother came over with kind words and caring hands to work the kink out. My husband loved me, supported me, filled bags of ice and whipped up a delicious glass of elixar (aka crystal light). My friend called to see how I was doing, and just as I was pouring out my heart to her about all the fears that were threatening to take a hold on my heart, there she was pulling into my driveway. She cleaned, we talked, I cried, we laughed.
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We are never really alone, I realized that today. Heavenly Father is always here for us, and when we need hugs and loves he sends his angels to help. So many angels were sent my way that I feel like my heart will burst open. That, my friends, is a wonderful feeling. Dear Funksville I am no longer a resident of your bleck town.

Sassin'

We have been working on not "sassin" when we talk. Which basically means not talking in a snarky or snappy way (and by we I mean EVERYONE, not just toddlers). It's not the word necessarily, but the manner in which the word is said. We successfully broke Olivia of saying "stop it!!!", which she would yell and snarl anytime you told her to stop something. (Geeze that makes her sound like a bad kid, I just have no tolerance for disrespect so I am trying to nip things in the bud. It's not like she walks around all day yelling and growling at me).

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So the words sometime change but the tone of voice is the same. I tell her not to "sass" me because I figure that covers the tone, instead of just getting her to stop a certain phrase and then just move on to a different phrase with the same tone. Wait, I don't mean I would let swear at me as long as she was doing it nicely.... Wow... I'm not sure I am explaining myself very well.

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Okay carrying on. Lately it has been "what" whenever I call her. When you read "what" think "What MOM?!? I can't possibly have a spare moment to listen to anything you have got to say and you are wasting my time." Not that that is what she is saying, but the word "what" comes across like a thirteen year old rebelling against her parents. I had deduced that half the time (or 3/4 of the time) she does it TO sass me, but the other times she just says it like that in that way out of habit because she had been saying it every five minutes all day.

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My assessment was right when I called her and she yelled out "WHAT?!?" only to quickly correct herself and say "yes Mommy?! I'n sowie... It was an accibent". I hadn't realized that she had caught on to the meaning of what an accident was. She had been saying "what" so often that she would just blurt it out without thinking, but this time she caught herself and changed direction. Then she told me "I try harder next time... OKAY?".

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She understands a lot more than I give her credit for and it just reminds me I need to be really watchful of the things that I say and do because it is all coming across to her, the good and the bad alike.

Barefoot Contessa

I love to eat. Seriously. Like I mean I REALLY love to eat. I love to chop, saute, whip, mince, knead and/or bake my way through a good recipe. It is the whole process for me, seeing the raw ingredients become something magical and delicious. I also REALLY love to eat things that I did not make myself. If I had to choose to have one amazing treat for myself I would pick going out to eat above going to a spa or shopping or anything like that.

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Basically if it's food related, chances are I will be in love with it.

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It goes without saying then that my favorite channel is Food Network. And by far my most favorite favorite FAVORITE show EVER is Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten.

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It all started when I was pregnant with Olivia. Towards the end of my pregnancy I was actually home during the day. I would have the food network on while I putzed around the house.

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Then I saw it. Saw HER! The food she was whipping up was like something out of a dream. Every episode revolving around her fabulous friends and her fabulous house and her fabulous life in the Hampton's. I DVR'd the series and since then there has always been an episode (or five or seven) recorded on my TV. In all seriousness I have seen every episode probably no less than 10 times. It is the perfect amount of time to watch while I am eating lunch, nursing, folding laundry, making dinner. Some hour long shows are too much of a commitment to watch for me.

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Every recipe I have tried of hers is perfection, I have yet to try them all though. Marcus alternately goes bonkers every time I put it on. He can hear the intro music from the other room and will declare "Seriously Vashti?!?! Can't you watch ANYTHING else?". I can't help it! I just love her and it puts me in my happy place to see her cooking up a storm.

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I like to pretend that we are best friends and that she invites me over to her house so we can eat lunch out in her garden after which I go into a food coma and die happy.

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Hello. My name is Vashti and I am an Inagarten-a-holic and I approve this message.

Table for Two

Gotta love the adjustable high chair. Bianca joined Olivia for dinner at the little table. Olivia thought it was about the coolest thing ever.

This is Olivia's shy face. Konks is really excited about eating her chicken pot pie... kinda reminds me of someone....like I am pretty sure I have raised my hands in the air in excitement over a meal MANY a time!

Has anybody else seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?? Olivia's expression reminds me totally of "Ruprect". Anybody else see it? Maybe this will remind you

"Excuse me, may I go to the bathroom?"

"Why yes of course you may Ruprect, thank you for using your manners".

Long pause while Steve Martin stays seated at the table with the exact expression that Olivia has on her face.

"Thank you"

Oh how I love that movie!

My grocery bill has been getting out of control. I don't even have a child in school yet and I feel like they eat me out of house and home. It's gonna get even crazier now that Konk is on to more regular people food. My kids can put food away!

We're Pooped

I turn my back for two seconds, and this is what happens.

They were both out cold! We had a crazy, zany, fun, exhausting weekend with the kid zoo that became my house. Blaine and Olivia got into all kinds of crazy high jinks and had the time of their lives. They slept in magic bed every night which was an air mattress that took up the whole floor of Olivia's room (they coined the term magic bed because... well I guess they just thought it was so magical!). I didn't get any pictures because my brain got kinda fried after day two.

The two younger ones were teething so I didn't get much in the way of sleep and all of us were in bed early last night. Like I was asleep before 9, and that was with my trying to stay awake to watch Army Wives.

I made a batch of my favorite cookies to treat ourselves from the busy weekend and they are already all gone, and now I have a stomach ache... I should really learn restraint. All is quiet now and it is really nice to get back into my regular routine!