???

When I go through out my week, I have so many good blog entries, and some very funny stories. Once I finally force my self to sit down and do these, they just are not as good and funny! I was really pumped to do this all day, but now I sit here at 9:39 pm wishing I was in bed. I am so tired, and there is still so much I have to do, I just now have the dishwasher going for the 3rd time this weekend. How do we do it, how do we get so many dishes so fast?

The worst part about right now is, while I type I am listening to Harrison scream. Scream like someone is ripping his arm off. This is sooo hard, one of the hardest things I think I have done as a parent. I didn't have to do this very much with Ryan. He has now been crying for 13 minutes. I have already went in there once after 5 minutes of crying then 10 minutes, I gave him the rest of his milk he did not finish at 8:15. So now what?!? This has happened 3 nights in a row now. And each time it has taken about 1 1/2 hours to get him to go back to sleep. We had no problems laying down tonight like we did the last 2, but dang it, I forgot my phone in there and I got a text, then an ambulance went by. So I am really mad at my self too. I am going to give it 6 more minutes then I am going back in...

Okay enough of the pity party!

So this week was a fun good meal. I made Taco Bowls. The bowls were grands biscuits, baked in mini loaf tins, I didn't have custard tins, like it said to use. Then when they were down baking we just filled them with our taco fillings of choice. They also suggested using chili beans, so we used them along some rice. It was really good!
We all went to the Musuem of Trasportation last Monday since we all had it off. Ryan loved it, and we all had a good time, and we even decided to become members. It will give something for the boys and I to do during the week if we get bored, especially this fall when it gets cooler out. I think Harrison really enjoyed himself as well.



We finally got that forever needed bubble machine. He is always wanting me to blow bubbles, so here we go, we got something that I don't have to do, something to keep him busy without me. Well not so true, the first day I guess he wanted to see if it could make sand bubbles too!
Harrison also received a new food today. He was supposed to get it Monday, but I guess 6 days later is better than not at all. It was all about that good intention again, that never made it to the table. I made him some carrots today, he seemed to really enjoy those better than the greenbeans I made for him. Once again, he is just so much harder to feed than Ryan was. He is just so messy. I need to quit worring about it, and let it be. He is just going to be that messy baby...but a cute messy baby!

This along with some other things...Harrison started sitting. I just sat him down and poof he was sitting. Which makes me wonder how long he has been able to do this. Just another thing the poor baby has been neglected on. And he sits so well, and for a long time. Ryan is really enjoying this new phase, its more play time for him. And he thinks its so funny when he falls over. We are trying to show him how to help him sit back up. But he pulls on his head and shirt and lets him drop again and laughs and says "baby fell again". Thank goodness Harrison didn't mind cause it had us all laughing. Shame on us as parents.


Oh, I have one other thing that makes me a great mom. We were at Wal-mart on Saturday afternoon with my parents, hoping for the extra care and EYES with the kids. We went to lawn and garden to check out, Ryan was in my parents cart since I could no longer stand him, and I was checking out with Harrison in mine. I looked back at my parents and my mom has her hand over her mouth looking at my dad saying " I don't know what to do!" I look over and Ryan is in the middle on top of a 6 foot charcoal stack with a huge smile of achievement. Oh the embarrassment, everyone's eyes were on me, and I know they were all thinking " my child would never had made it that far", or "my child never would have done that". When did something like this turn into embarrassment and not concern for the safety of your child? Is it wrong to have wished he at least would have stubbed his toe on it, and felt a little bit of pain to understand the reality of how much pain he could have caused him self? In stead he is nothing but proud of himself. Now on the other end of it, as mad as I was at him, I couldn't help but laugh when I told Matt the story. It was really cute to see him up there. But, he will never know that!

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater!

I was a cheater this week, well at least at the beginning of the week.

We had a roller coaster of a week. I worked a lot this week. I am not used to working this much, and boy did our home life show it. But that was okay, until Thursday night...I came home and our house was 84, and it was like 80 outside. Go figure right, not only is this going to happen over the weekend, but of course over a holiday weekend! It was pretty cool sleeping that night, but of course we got the smell the sweet aroma of SKUNK while we so desperately tried to fall asleep. We did finally get it fixed mid afternoon on Friday. We just had to replace a part and get more refrigerant. All is cool now...ha ha ha!

My mom called me on Monday and told me they had a dinner for us. Which is weird by itself. My father made them a taco casserole, which sounds fabulous. But my ever so observant father bought HOT SAUCE instead of salsa. So you know where this is going...see picture below. That is a huge bottle of HOT SAUCE, not salsa, and all that is gone is in the casserole!!! Yeah they each took a bit, then it became ours. And whew, was it hot, we had to add stuff to it, I used it as a filling on a soft shell with added beans and cheese, and sour cream for the cooling effect. 3/4 of it got frozen. It made me cry, but IT was good! So that was our new meal for the week.


"Toy Story 3, Toy Story 3" and interprarite dancing/sneaky moves is all that has been going on at my house all week. We took him to see the monvie last week. To say the least he loved it. We took Harrison with us, and the both of them did fantastic. I was very proud of them. Well except for Harrison's blowout mid way through the movie. but was all say there from the beginning to the end. And some one needs to tell them...not so many preview, you almost lost us then!



This week Corie invited us over to her house for playgroup so the kids could swim. It was a nice change of pace. Ryan actually burned his back a bit, he never burns, he always tans right away just like his daddy! His back is tan now. Poor Har is going to burn just like me!!!


I was given this 'easy' recipe for oatmeal bars. Well it didn't go to well, they were super mushy. I doubled the recipe, and maybe I should not have. So that was a waste, it tasted good, but it just wasn't edible.
We decided to make pancakes this morning for breakfast, and we added chocolate chips, I tried a smiley face for Ry...go ahead and laugh at it too, Matt did!

While making breakfast, we saw a recipe for chicken strips on the Bisquick box. WOW were they good, that was our lunch. They were super easy and low in fat, no breading or grease, you just bake them. It was really easy, so that will be made a lot now, even Ryan ate them, so that's huge.This week might have been a bummer on cooking, but I did pretty good today. Harrison even got new food today. I decided to go ahead and give him some food. We made him green beans. Once again, Harrison is so different from Ryan. Harrison is just so sticking messy. He is just yucky. Not only that, Ryan loved food since day one, not Harrison, he even quivers when he is eating it, but he ate the whole bowl. It was just about 2 tablespoons, but it wasn't easy feeding it to him. I wish I knew how to download videos, because that's where the action is! He likes to confiscate the bowl and spoon from me. He is such an aggressive eater!

busy busy week, lots of news

This was our wonderful meal this week. It was, breaded pork chops, the breading was a Bisquick and a cracker mixture. New potatoes and green beans boiled in beef broth (thanks Corie, really glad we had that conversation that day at the Mills). And some Bisquick bread, that turned out to taste just like Red Lobster biscuits. This whole meal was GREAT. I could have done with out the pork chop, no matter how I cook them, I have never found a way I love them. Well, one time I butterflied them and stuffed them, and put them in the crock pot, that was pretty good! Maybe that will be on the menu soon!
We had Father's Day over here last Sunday. We haven't held an event for...um like maybe over a year. So it was nice to be able to do that again. I tried my hardest to let go of the control thing. Let things happen when and how they would happen. And if I didn't get everything done, the party was going to go on anyway, so why not let it and enjoy it with out being stressed. So maybe with some hard work and dedication, I can actually hold some bigger parties like we used to and not get all anxiety ridden, making sure everything is perfect. We had a wonderful day.


As you can tell in the pictures, we found a baby bird in the yard. The 3rd in 2 days. From different nests. I looked online on how to care for the one we found the day before and it said to leave it and their mom would come get it. NOPE! It died. So when we found the other one the next day, Nurse Karen (Matt's mom) wanted to nurse it back to health. And what better to do that with, but than breast milk! I think he was getting better. I was a little scared we were making some kind of new hybrid bird with Harrison's milk, but nope it was reverse, he also died. Karen took him home and he didn't make it through the night :( Of course that was the first thing Ryan asked about the next morning.



Another wonderful cake made by Matt's mom. And when I asked her where she go the idea for a TV cake, her response was, I made it up, can't you tell. Um, NO, it looks like she followed a design. This can also keep up for every event, every year... HINT HINT
We also had a water balloon fight. A much needed stress reliever for everyone taking part. It took me parts of all morning to get them filled, because you know no one else knows how to fill them and tie them. I did so many, that I have a blister! And this fight took less than 5 minutes. I really wish I had someone taking pictures of the fight! It was so much fun, I hope we make this an annual thing.
Today was Jason's 'surprise' 30th birthday party. We had a lot of fun, but whew was it a scorcher. Got a little worried about Ry for a bit, he started to act all goofy, but after some water and some time in the shade, he got better. I never did get a picture of Jason and Loni though!


Last but not least. We decided that we were going to go ahead and start Harrison on some cereal. I know, I know, we are supposed to wait until he is 6 months old. We started Ryan on solids at 4 months...but things have changed. Plus Harrison is breast fed and Ryan was not, well not nearly as long. But, I just thing he is ready, he needs something more in his tummy. Something to tie him over till his next bottle. So we decided to give him cereal tonight...and he LOVED it. He was either trying to take the spoon out of my hand, or he was holding my hand holding on to it...like please don't stop, I love this stuff. We are just going to be doing it at night time now, during dinner. I don't think I will start foods for a bit though.

As much fun as all this was, he is a messy eater! For those of you who know me, I can't stand to touch food. It really makes me gag. I was so incredibly lucky with Ryan, I could use his bibs for multiple feedings...from the get go. He took to eating with a spoon and keeping it in his mouth with no messes, right away! Not this stinker. He is so going to be the things that I was happy I didn't have happen with Ryan. But in Harrison's defense, he is everything that Ryan didn't have in a positive way too...like his sweet sweet laughter!

Chicken and Dumplin's

Well I kinda kept up my end of the bargain.

Nothing like waiting till the last minute to update.

First things first. We made chicken and dumplin's in the crockpot Monday night for dinner. It was awesome. It was an old recipe. But, I added carrots this time. I took a picture but on Wednesday in my tupperware container I took for lunch, because of course I forgot to Monday night. But its not worth going out to my car and getting my camera for, its not a good picture. The kids are quit in the living room and I am not going to risk walking past them and them realizing they need me for whatever. So no picture this time.

Let's see whats new this week? Another crazy week for my parents. I had a dentist appointment, have to have a few cavities filled. One is under a crown that I had put on over a root canal, that I paid around $1500 for...not happy, boy did that dentist get an ear full, but some what politely. I was having a really bad day, and it was not a day to cause me pain and tell me I have cavities and gum disease. That is a whole issue with in itself. :{

Ryan got really sick for about 12 hours. Didn't know if it was a head injury due to falling of the couch, food poisoning, or flu. We still don't know, he had a pretty high fever with it all, so some stomach thing I guess. But he is back to his normal crazy self, but more demanding since he was babied for 12 hours.

Matt FINALLY took a day off work to be with us and help us out. Huge obstacle for us.

Matt got his father's day gift early. Ryan (well me too) couldn't wait. He FINALLY got his blu-ray player he has been begging for, for about a year now.

Those are the highlights...nothing to exciting I guess.

Have a good week...

Normalcy...

Normalcy.

I want, no excuse me, I urn to be normal, to have a normal life.

What is normal? I ask myself that everyday. I still don't have an answer to that question. Over the years, even before kids, I have listened/read about peoples personal lives. Usually through a story they are telling or blog or even now facebook. I have built up so many of these peoples lives to where they live these fairytale lives with a perfect (clean) house, king of a husband, and the best, well behaved kids...oh and not to mention their million dollar bank accounts. And the more I build on their lives, the more, much more my life seems so dysfunctional.

Why do I do this? I have no idea, I think envy has a huge roll in it. But I only know what goes on behind my closed door. I have no idea what goes on behind yours or my neighbors, but I can tell you what I think goes on behind your door. And believe me, your life is AWESOME!

But what is reality, and where is it? What is normal? Do we make our own norm? I think we do. I am not an unhappy person. I am not unhappy with my life/husband/kids. I love every aspect of our hard worked for lives. But why do I constantly think our lives are so upside down compared to others. We just do everything backwards. For starters we eat dinner any where from 5-11 at night. We have always had screwy work schedules that make our hours weird, but with kids, this just isn't working any more.

I can no longer blame it on the fact we had a baby, our first baby, that is now 3! I can't blame it on toodlerhood. I can't blame it on a pregnancy. I can't blame it on an infant. I can't blame it on nursing. My life is what it is. And its going to remain this way. I have to adjust to my new normalcy. I can't try to change my life to make it like yours, or Joe's or Jane's. It can only be Matt, Amanda, Ryan, and Harrison's life.

So a few weeks ago I decided to make small changes/actions in my life so I can adjust to this. It started with painting my fingernails once a week. I paint them on Sunday and keep on top of them all week. Once I realized all I need is polish, not to buff/file/base coat/polish/top coat, it made this task much easier. I was trying to live up to some else's standards that I just can't have...I am a mommy of two you know :) I have that task down, its no biggie, and my nails always look great!

So starting this week, I decided to start making one new/old recipe a week. I used to cook all the time, and good stuff too! Over the last couple of months we have been in a rut with the same stuff, and not very good. And lots of take out, since "it's just easier". I will work my way up to more a week once I can get down once a week.

This week was meatball subs, per Matt's request. And it was yummy!I am going to try to post once a week, giving weekly updates on us and the kids, along with a picture of my new food.

Once I get this down with no problem, I will start a new task...and all in the search/goal to normalcy.

awwww

I have not words for these pics...they are just priceless!