Aunt Flo...

I hate her so much... I wish she did not come to visit me every month... she ruins everything for a whole week straight!!

The one thing I hate the most is the cravings I get when she is here. I swear I eat like I did when I was pregnant... everything that stay clear from the other 3 weeks of the month, I am like a magnate to during that time. Like tonight, I picked up Applebee's for us... I got what I have been craving all day, boneless chicken wings with sweet BBQ sauce!! It tasted wonderful, but now I feel so bad and keep thinking that I need to go to the gym to try to burn off at least 1/4 of what I just ate :-( Yesterday we had pizza for lunch and I am not going to lie, I ate most of it!! At this rate, I am going to gain 10 pounds over the next week!!! :-o

As soon as she is gone, I am back to normal eating yummy salads and high protein meals... I just do not know how to get through this time not having these crazy cravings, caving into them and then feeling super bad about it after... uggggg

The Scream!!

Today has been very rough! Brock has been screaming and crying all day... which would not be that be of a deal, but today Landon had his preschool field trip so we were all the way over in BP this morning. I had a ton of errands to run while Landon was gone and Brock was an absolute nightmare... he was trying to get out of the cart, tried throwing everything out of the cart and screamed like I have never heard before.

I would consider myself a pretty patient parent, especially when I am out with the kids shopping... I have learned over the years to not over react when out in public because the kids will feed off of of your reaction and will be 10 times worse if you freak out. I was able to keep my cool on the outside, but on the inside I was so mad. I can't complain because Brock has always been my good little boy, especially when out shopping. He is getting his molars in right now and I am sure that is a good part of way he was having such a hard time... that scream is just like no other and it has started to escalate up an octave over the last couple weeks!! Ugg

Boy, my ears are still ringing and I am so happy we are home now and he is fast asleep in his crib :-)

This is the face that I saw all morning!!!

I feel kind of bad...

Landon has his first preschool field trip tomorrow and they are going to the Fire Museum in Minneapolis... he is very excited to say the least. I could have gone to be a chaperon and chose not to and now I feel super bad about it because I am going to miss out on this experience he is going to have :-( I am really just living out my own past and fears through him.

When I was growing up, my mom was a SAHM and we did everything together... I was so dependant on her and she was happy to do almost anything for me. When I started school (Kindergarten/1st grade) I really struggled adjusting being away from her. I just wanted to go home and be with my mommy... she fed into it, which did not help. Anywho, whenever we had field trips at school, my mom HAD to go or I would have a panic attack. I could not go without her.

Well, I got over that stage pretty quickly and by 2nd grade I was completely embarrassed when my mom even showed up to school!! lol

So, that is what is bringing me to Landon and his field trip... I am so afraid that he is going to get dependant on me always being there and I do not want him to go through what I did. I want him to be at school and feel confident, independent and happy being with other children... I can honestly say, he is all of those things and I am beyond proud of him! He is going to have so much fun and I can not wait to hear all about it... maybe I will go on the next field trip ;-)

Pet Peeve of the Day: Hold the Door

I seriously can not stand when people do not hold the door open for you... especially for a mom with kids! I just do not understand what has happened to our society when you can let a door slam shut on a mother with a stroller, kid in tow and two bags in hand!! This happens to me ALL the time... I do not believe people need to stop the world because we are coming, but really?? I find that the only people who are more than happy to help are other mothers, because they know what it feels like!

I think the world would be a better place if everyone just held the door open for someone, with kids or not, once a day... because random acts of kindness are few and far between these days.

Oh, and if anyone ever sees a mom with a stroller walking up to a door, hold it open for her... you might just make her day :-)

DIRT & WORMS

This is one of the most popular dishes that I bring to gatherings... if there are kids there, this is a must!! I have seen people trying to scrap the last little bit out of the bowl with their own spoon before :-)

1 pkg. Oreo cookies, finely crushed
1/2 stick butter
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
3 1/2 c. milk
2 sm. pkgs. instant pudding (vanilla or banana cream)
12 oz. Cool Whip
Gummy worms

Cream together butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar. Combine milk, pudding mix and Cool Whip in separate bowl. Add cream cheese mixture to pudding mixture. The original recipe calls for you to alternate layering the pudding mixture and cookies, but I personally like to mix it all together. Cut gummy worms on half and press onto the top for decoration. Chill 3 to 4 hours. Use a plastic sand bucket or I like to just put it in a large bowl for family events.

PUPPY!!

We are going to be adding a new member to our family in 2 1/2 weeks and we are all soooo excited!! We are getting a little Weimaraner and he is so cute :-) He is currently only 6 weeks old, so we need to wait another couple weeks before we can bring him home. I feel like we are nesting for a new baby around here... puppy proofing the house, buying all of his essentials and reading everything we can about the breed! I think Breezy (Brie) will love him too, she is in serious need of a new doggie friend! Every time we are outside with her or out walking, she goes crazy when she sees another dog, she just wants to go over and play so bad :-D

Here is a super cute picture of the dog and boys... he is the one in Landon's lap with the baby blue collar on! We are thinking of naming him Sky :-)

Our Spring Project!!

I have been trying to think of a good Spring project to do with Landon this year. Last year we planted flower seeds, but since it was so cold out it took forever for them to grow and Landon was pretty bored with it.

So, this year I am going to get and keep his attention with... BUTTERFLIES!!! I thought it would be good for him to see how they start off as caterpillars and metamorph into beautiful butterflies. I am hoping after they become butterflies, we can bring them up north to my parents cabin and set them free!

I am very excited to get them to start the process... Landon and Brock are going to love it :-)

Here is the website: http://www.nature-gifts.com/1402-butterfly-kits-garden.html

Easter

We were blessed yet again with a wonderful Easter! The boys had fun with their Easter baskets in the morning. Brady made his famous french toast and then we attended St. Anne's Catholic Church for mass. From there, we went to my Grandparent's house for lunch and on to Brady's parent's house for dinner. Somewhere in that chaos, we did get home for Brock to have a 2 hour nap, which did not seem to make a difference for him... he was still in a crabby mood when he woke up ;-)

Wonderful food, wonderful family, wonderful day!! Thanks be to God!!!

WEIGHT WATCHERS LASAGNA

Here is another one of my favorite recipes and of course it is Weight Watchers!! My Mom always cooked WW recipes while I was growing up, so that is what most of my recipes consist of :-) I will only make this lasagna, because it is the best and I know it is not full of extra fat and calories!

1 lb. ground turkey Italian sausage

1 lg. onion, chopped
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can stewed tomatoes

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 c. water

2 tbsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. basil

2 2/3 c. low-fat cottage cheese

4 oz. Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. oregano

8 oz. lasagna noodles, uncooked

8 oz. Mozzarella cheese

Brown and drain turkey and onion. Mix together stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, parsley flakes and basil. Mix together 2 2/3 cup cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes and oregano.

In 9x13 inch pan sprayed with Pam, layer: 1/2 sauce/meat mixture, 1/2 noodles, all of the cheese, 1/2 noodles, remaining sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour covered, 15 minutes uncovered. Let set before cutting. Each serving: 1 bread, 4 protein, 1 vegetable, 35 optional calories.

KEENS!!

Brady has had a pair of Keen sandals for about two years and loves them! So, when we asked Landon what kind of sandals he wanted this year, he said ones like daddy :-) We went to Dick's Sporting Goods tonight and let him pick out a pair and they look so cute on him. He is very excited!!

After Landon had found his pair, Brady looks at me and tells me to pick out a pair too... I was thinking this is definitely not my style of sandal, but they do look comfortable and I really have no need for too many pairs of dressy sandals when I am home all day. I tried a pair on (of course the purple ones) and LOVED it! I was so surprised how comfortable they are and they actually do look cute. The most important thing is, Brady likes them on me ;-) He really likes the sporty look on girls and I am trying to be better at dressing "sporty chic."

I am really excited to try them out tomorrow :-D

Here is the pair I got.

Clothes... it's a Love-Hate Relationship!

I am so frustrated right now!! I just went through my closet and threw away5 pairs of jeans that are too big for me... that is a good thing, but now I only have one pair that fits :-( I am so happy that I have lost over 25lbs since having Brock, but now my closet is no use to me at all!

I gained 50lbs while pregnant with Landon and was able to shed off about 10lb after... I was overweight for about 2 years and then I got pregnant with Brock and ate sooooo healthy and only gained 25lbs the entire pregnancy... was able to shed that weight pretty quickly. My clothes are ALL too big now and everything that fits from before Landon is so outdated and ugly. Everything from after Landon is huge! I love to go shopping but I hate how things look on me, because even though I am about 10lbs from my pre-kids weight, my body does not look the same and things definitely do not fit the same :-(

I am just in a crappy place right now because I would like to loose another 15-20lbs to get back down to my college weight and this transitional period is killing me! Brady and I went to Macy's a month ago because he wanted me to get a nice pair of jeans and cute shirts... needless to say, we left with nothing but underwear for Landon. I am sure there was plenty of things there that would have worked, but nothing made me "feel" cute like I did before kids. I just have to accept that my body will never be the "same" and no matter how much weight I loose and things will never "fit" the same. I love to shop for clothes, but I don't have that same excitement that I used to have about it :-(

One of my favorite pictures of my sister and I the summer before I got married... my goal weight!! Hey, it gives me motivation ;-)

Church

Yesterday the boys and I went to check out a Catholic church just up the road from our house. Neither Brady or I even knew it was there since it is up on a hill in the old downtown of Hamel. So, we went and LOVED it! The people working the office were so nice and inviting and showed us around. We even got to see the Sunday School room for Landon. The total parishioners is 400 families, which is super small for a Catholic church... I think this might be the church that we haven been looking for!!

This has been quite the journey finding a church that fits us. I was brought up Methodist and was pretty active in the church growing up. Brady is Catholic... so, after we got married and I became pregnant we decided it was best for us to be apart of one church. I decided to become Catholic. I went through the 9 month long class and was re-confirmed as a Catholic. It was a great experience and the church we were going to at the time made it much easier for me because they said to take my Methodist upbringing along with me during my new journey with Christ.

We have been off and on going to church over the past 3 years because we have not found "the" church. I am having a real hard time adjusting the largeness of the Catholic churches... there is just too many people and I just do not like that atmosphere. The Methodist church I was brought up in was big for Methodist standards, it had around 200 families. I want to feel like a member, I want to feel like I can make a difference, I want to know all the people in the church and I don't want to feel like 1 in 5,000.

We will be attending Mass on Easter Sunday there and we will see how it works... though we will need to try a couple Sundays being Easter Sunday is CRAZY!! I can not wait for Landon and Brock to feel apart of a church the way I did when I was little... wish us luck :-)

St. Anne's in Hamel, MN

Little Yellow Man

Tomorrow I am going to go out and buy what I like to call the "Little Yellow Man." He is a plastic little man that stands up holding a red flag... the point of him is to call caution to drivers who are driving down your street that there are kids playing so SLOW DOWN!! We don't live off of a "busy" street per se, but it is the main streeting heading into our development and people drive so fast! I get so mad because Landon is riding his bike, scooter and trike on the sidewalk in front of our house and I get so nervous he will fall or something and get hit by one of these speeding cars.

Landon is now 4 1/2 years old and knows not to go in the street and I trust him now. He so far this Spring, he has not let me down and has been a very responsible outside player. It is the other people that I am worried about. Unfortunately, I am not able to follow him around anymore outside since I have Brock to take care of and I usually keep him up more by the house and driveway and Landon wants to be a big boy and ride his bike without mommy following his every move.

So, the tacky Little Yellow Man is going to have a home at the end of our driveway while we are outside playing. I am not sure what our neighbors will think of it, but I don't care! My kids safety is more important than what people think of the crazy red flag guy. Now, I just hope nobody runs over my LYM!!!