I'll take a pack of Pretzel Lights please

I thought these were cute...they resemble candy-corns.  I wanted to make a fun Halloweeny treat, so I gave it a try.

I didn't read the recipe, it's pretzels dipped in almond bark, right?  How hard can it be....

* I decided to use small pretzels, I thought they might be easier for Willie to eat.
* I also decided to change up the color scheme a bit (I can't remember what order the colors are on a candy corn)
* I used sparkly orange sugar that I found in the cupboard for the tip (who knows how old it is)
* I found out I hate, hate, melting almond bark and dipping pretzels in it...it doesn't work well with a 23 month old running around (I burnt the bark and started over twice)

This is what I ended up with:

Hmm...that doesn't look right.  Oh, I see, I made child-size candy cigarettes   Happy Halloween.

Thirsty as a racehorse??

My son, Willie, is now 15 months old.  We are still breastfeeding...not all the time...usually 3 or 4 times a day.  Morning, nap time, and before bed.  And, sometimes if he's just grumpy.  And, sometimes if he grabs the boppy pillow and starts crying, saying "bob bob bob".  He's missing an "o", but you get what he means!

Now, I know this may be uncharted territory for many of you...it is for me too!  Haha.  But, it's awesome.  And, it's healthy.

According to one of my fave "peaceful parenting" websites,  http://www.drmomma.org, "The World Health Organization, UNICEF, American Academy of Family Physicians, and essentially every pediatric health organization in the world recommends a minimum 24 months of human milk for human babies (with at least the first six months being exclusive breastmilk)." 


So, there's that.  I'm not gonna preach about it (ha, I kind of just did), to each their own.

Anyway, Willie has been very generous lately...especially with our dogs.  He gives them nearly all of his supper...every. single. night.  How nice!  He has also been holding his sippy cup up to their doggy mouths.  Aww, what a nice boy!  So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised the other day when he was nursing with one of his toys in his hand...

and then offered my milk to his little horse.  Haha!  I've never had a plastic horse pretend to suck on my nipple before.  It was weird.  And, kinda cute.

My son, the proctologist

Somewhere around 9 months of age, Willie started pointing his finger at things.  I take that back, he didn't start pointing at things, he started pointing at EVERYTHING.  Although, I know this is a totally normal phase for babies, I wonder where they learn this behavior!?  It's not like I go around pointing and grunting at the things I want.  And, neither does my husband...most of the time.

Anyway, at some point over the next few months, this pointing became poking.  So much more fun.  He especially liked poking things that are little round circles.  Why??  Again, I have no idea!

It started with eyeballs.  What baby doesn't want to poke that nice shiny circle??

He then moved on to poking other body parts...

Dad's belly button!

And, then he moved on to another fun circle...

Dad's chest button!

(Side note: I have never, ever referred to a nipple as a "chest button" before)  

And, finally, he found a little round circle that I wasn't at all prepared for!  I turned around, and to my surprise, he was poking....well....a different "button"

Ahhhhhhhh!  You think I was surprised?  You should have seen the look on the poor dog's face!  Haha! So, for one whole day, Willie was obsessed with the dog's butt button!  I can't even tell you how many times we washed that little finger of his.  

And lucky for us, after one day, he completely forgot about it.  That's how those little toddler brains work!  Well, unless it's Finding Nemo.  If they see that movie once, they will be obsessed with it forever...

My body is a wonderland?...More like a playground...

Just wanted to post an update on our sleeping situation!  We are still co-sleeping, which has turned into a new adventure...with a toddler!  I thought Willie moved around a lot in his sleep when he was a baby, but I had no idea!  Now that he can stand and walk, he's all over the bed!  But, mostly, he's all over ME!  He wants to sleep with his face on my face, or his butt on my face, or his tummy on my face.  However, that's not the worst of it!  Since I've weaned him from the ALL NIGHT NURSING, he still wants to hold on to some part of my body.  And, lucky for me, that body part is my eye lid.  Yep.  He sleeps on my head, holding onto my eye lid.  It's been interesting to say the least.

And, if he isn't on my head, he's usually perched somewhere else on my body.  I definitely feel like a midnight jungle gym!  Fun for Willie, not so much fun for me!  The other morning I woke up to find Willie sitting on top of me, ROARING like a dinosaur.  I'm not gonna lie, that might be my new favorite way to wake up...well, aside from a smooch from the husband of course ;)

Before Me, Now Me: A Mom's Body

Unfortunately, the layout of most bathrooms includes a giant mirror directly across from the shower.  Being confronted face to face with my birthday suit every day used to be fine.  That was in my 20's.  That was before the baby.  Like any woman, I examined every detail....making a mental list of what could be tightened, trimmed, and toned.

Then I gave birth...which was beautiful, and lovely, and all that good stuff (if you would like the gory details...a post will soon to come!)  But, that first shower at home, and that first look in the mirror was a little startling.  Everyone told me, "you will leave the hospital looking the same as you went into the hospital".  And, I believed them, but....I didn't believe them.  My butt had inflated during pregnancy, and now it looked plain 'ol big, but (no pun intended) saggy.  My boobs...well, they were still hormone-crazy-huge, so that was ok.  My stomach...oh boy!  It was big indeed...but big and squishy, like pizza dough.

 However, the months went by, and my body continued to change.  My stomach went back to normal, my boobs went weird, and my butt remained saggy.  So, one year after giving birth, this is how I am now vs how I was before.  Note: I have left out the more personal details, such as what now appears as more of a "70's style" than a "modern day style"...

Morning walk : FAIL

On Monday, I thought it would be a good idea to go for a walk a little bit later in the morning than usual.  This was partially because the baby slept in, and partially because I was feeling sluggish...it was Monday after all.  The baby had started yawning, sporadic yawns, so I knew it wasn't quite nap time...but we were close!

I've got an idea: Let's go for a Walk!  This will be perfect.  The fresh air and exercise will snap me out of my Monday Funk, and in the meantime the baby will fall asleep.  Nice and easy.

So, we started our journey...the 2 dogs in tow.  It was a beautiful day.  Flowers were everywhere.  I started to feel better, heck, I was feeling great!  I even attempted jogging in intervals...something I haven't done in MONTHS!  We took a different route than usual, an extra long route.  Like I said, things were going great! 

The baby was getting over a cold, and had a bit of a snot-nose.  I started to wonder if this fresh air was helping it or hurting it.  I wanted to peek inside the stroller to check on the snot situation...but I've made this mistake before.  Once we lock eyes, it's all over...the baby is no longer content in the stroller.  The baby wants to be held.  BUT, today was going so well! 

So, against my better judgment, I peeked into the stroller, and found the baby with snot all down his face.  He was smiling, but the poor guy had a serious snot situation going on!

I couldn't leave him in that condition.  He looked pitiful.  So, I put the stroller in "Park"....now, I'm not that super paranoid mom who normally feels the need to take such safety precautions, as if the stroller will magically start rolling on it's own...but, I did have 2 psychotic dogs tied to the handle! 

Anyway, I pulled back the netting.  I wiped his nose.  And...we locked eyes.

It was all over.

He started whimpering.  I quickly put the netting back down.  He started squirming.  I took the stroller out of Park.  He started crying.  So, I began walking fast...thinking the quick pace might help.  Why?  I don't know.  By now, he was screaming.  It was too late, the damage was done.  I peeked back into the stroller, his face was red, he was all tangled up in his buckle, his body was twisted sideways.  Snot was EVERYWHERE.  And, we were a long ways from home.  Great.

I couldn't leave him in there crying.  So....stroller went into Park, netting pulled back, baby unbuckled....

And so, we finished our long walk home with snot on my shirt, dripping with sweat, and with the baby under my arm... he only wanted to be carried like an airplane...he was feeling great!  It was, after all, a beautiful day.

The Midnight Snacker - OR - My Breastfeeding Monster

We co-sleep in our family.  All 7 of us...Mama, Dad, Baby, Big Dog, Little Dog, Furry Cat, Naughty Cat.  For the most part, it's good.  However, I think I might have created a breastfeeding monster.  My son wants to snack ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  I will get into more details of the breastfeeding acrobatics in another post.

Usually, the baby nurses, eventually falls asleep, and comes free of the boob.  We then sleep side by side, but not connected.  But, on this particular night, I awoke on my back to find my baby on all fours, ATTACHED to the boob, sound asleep!  Haha!  It looked like he was mid-crawl, fell onto the nipple, and zonked out!

So, there it is.  Our family bedroom on that fateful evening of the Midnight Snacker!

Please note the toys on the floor (this is the case for every room in my house, including the bathroom and kitchen). And also notice my husbands dirty boxers and socks that are always. on. the. floor.

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