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!