February 2014

Month

Fri
28 ^th

7 Stages Of PMS – A Husband’s Helpful Guide

Posted by Pinparent — 26 Comments

I am having a bad week. I started a cool new job, I no longer have to work evenings, I have more time with my family. It doesn’t sound so bad does it, well it is. The monthly ritual of misery & mood swings has reared it’s ugly head. For the past two days my poor husband can do no right. Last night I was particularly ornery & told him that he needed to pen a book on what not to say when your wife is pre-menstrual. Since it is highly unlikely that he is going to compose this helpful bit of literature, I thought that I would help out instead.
If you are one of the fortunate men out there that is not married to a victim of PMS, read on anyways many of these stages are seen in pregnancy as well.

1. The emotional stage: Guys, we know that we are oversensitive & emotional during this time. It does not need to be pointed out to us. I can cry at the drop of a hat. I broke down in tears last night because my daughter wouldn’t eat her peirogis. Is this a bit of an over-reaction? The answer is no…just go with it.
What you can do: Be ready with a box of Kleenex and avoid Lifetime & the Hallmark channel.

2. Irritability: I am typically a lovely person, but for about 3-4 days out of the month I turn into a miserable flesh eating monster. A former co-worker of mine used to lock herself in her office for days until I was over the worst of it. Sorry Michelle.
What you can do: Say nothing! If you open your mouth, it will almost certainly bring forth a tidal wave of rage. If you must speak, these are the only acceptable phrases, Can I …give you a foot rub, bring you some wine, take care of the baby so you can nap?

3. Hunger: My belly is rumbling as I type this. I am a bottomless pit that is stuffed full of chocolate, frozen yogurt & any comfort foods that I can get my chocolate covered paws on. DO NOT point out how much I am eating.
What you can do: Go get me a bag of chips..no really, go get me one. I’m starving.

4. Bloating & weight gain: If you are not already cranky & emotional enough, try on a pair of jeans. What once was just a little muffin top has changed into more of a pound cake.
What you can do: Roll back the weight on the scale and tell me that you accidentally shrunk the laundry.

5. Fatigue: As the mother of a toddler, I am tired all the time to begin with. Add the crimson tide to the mix & I might as well be sleep walking. Yaaaaaawn!
What you can do: “Honey, let me get up with the baby, You go back to sleep.” Ahhhh, that’s nice, but I am still mad at you for absoluuuutely nothing.

6. Cramping: Here is my favorite part of it all. The mind numbing pain almost makes me forget about all the rest of it.
What you can do: Trade bodies with me for the day

7. The Gassy phase: There I said it..I fart a lot during my cycle. It is not pretty or sexy but it is true. I hold it in at work all day & once I finally get home, it sounds like test day at the Kazoo factory.
What you can do: Hide all the cans of beans, broccoli or other gas producing edibles. Do not laugh & ask me if I just farted? Do not start a “Mommy farted” chant with our daughter.

Follow these simple rules & we can all get out of the next few days unscathed.

Related Topics:

http://nodivingintheshallowend.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/emotional-rollercoasters/

Thu
27 ^th

Phonics Muffins – Phonics Lessons With Muffin Tins & ABC Magnets

Posted by Pinparent — 20 Comments

Toddlers are incredible. The amount of information that they take in, learn and retain on a daily basis is astounding. I am fascinated by my daughter & also often surprised by her as well. From the time she was an infant, we surrounded her with the alphabet. I sang the Abc’s to her when she would cry, which was all the time. We also had a few visual aids…

Mai’s Nanna made this beautiful ABC quilt for her. It hangs on the fence in her playroom.

With all of the alphabet jammed down her throat, it was no wonder that she learned her Abcs early. She has been sounding out her letters for some time now. She will play with her refrigerator magnets often while I am cooking. “B! Bbb bbb boy” You are right baby, B is for boy. She is growing up so fast that I can hardly believe it. With Mai sounding out her letters so much, I came up with a game that could hopefully challenge her phonics learning and entertain her.

This was a cheap and easy to make activity for my toddler. Just line muffin tins with pictures of different animals & objects and let her match up the alphabet magnet to the coordinating word. For example, matching the A to apple or B to banana.

What you will need:

2 muffins tins

Printouts of clip art objects to cover every letter of the alphabet (There are only 24 spots in the tins but you can switch out the other 2)

Alphabet magnets

Using the muffin tin as a stencil, outline the clipart & cut to fit inside of the tin.

Gather your magnets.

Watch your little one with pride as they pick up the letters and place them on the correct pictures. “M! Mmmm mm m monkey.”

I was overcome with pride watching my daughter do this activity. I have to admit that my eyes watered a little as she completed the tins. I could tell she was proud too. Next step…reading.

Related Topics:

http://littlehousecharming.com/2014/02/26/6-toys-approved-by-my-toddler-and-me/

http://raisingkidswithlove.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/tools-of-the-trade-for-literacy/

Tue
25 ^th

My Daughter Is Skinny & My Dog Is Fat… Getting My Toddler To Eat.

Posted by Pinparent — 13 Comments

There has been a year long power struggle in our home. My loyal readers know of our battle with getting our daughter to eat. For the first year of her life, Mai was such a good eater. She nursed every two hours until she started solids.. We started her on solids early because she was always so hungry. Mai was a cute roly poly infant. She would eat just about anything mama & dada put in front of her.

Then one day, a switch flipped. My child lost her desire for food.

All of a sudden, we had to get sneaky with our food preparation & find ways to entertain her to keep her in her seat long enough to take a couple of bites. It seemed as if anything we would try to feed her would go untouched. There were days at a time that she hardly ate a thing at all. This is a major cause of anxiety for my husband & I. Duke, our dog is grateful for all the extra food though.. He is currently about 20 pounds overweight.

At her last doctor’s visit, the doctor informed us that Mai had dropped into the 30th percentile for her weight when she had once been in the 90th. He understood our dilemma, but told us that if she did not put on at least a pound by her next visit, she would have to have testing. I do not want this.

Mommy was desperate. After speaking with the doctor, he got me to realize something. I needed to loosen up. I was so concerned with feeding her the right foods at the right times, that I was missing opportunities to get my child to eat. It was time to change our more structured ways & kick up the creativity a notch & get this baby to eat. While she is still not on board 100%, we have made some progress. Here is what works best for us because airplane just won’t do.

1. Reading to her during meals. This is our most common and successful method. We refer to this as “Mai’s dinner theater”. She has special book reserved just for dinner. It keeps her from squirming and asking to get down.

2. Add a dipping sauce. Our daughter is a dipper. Whether it is ketchup, syrup or salad dressing, she loves to dip her food.

3. Bribing her with rewards. This is probably a bad idea, after all my daughter is not a dog, but it does work on the same principle. Mai loves her fruit snacks. When I am having an evening that she is just playing with her food & asks for a snack instead, I break out a packet of her favorite snack. We trade a half of a fruit snack for a big bite of food.

IMG_20140409_191321447 — A eating medal for my munchkin made out of foam cutouts and a ribbon.

4. Get over the mess. Toddlers are messy. They will learn to eat in a neater manner as they get older. Struggling with them over clean eating causes more frustration than eating.

5. Let her eat someplace different. Our daughter is not a fan of her booster seat but she loves her safety stool. Sometimes giving her the option to stand in her stool at the counter helps encourages her to eat. Since it is important to us that we eat together as a family, mommy & daddy will bring our plates up to the kitchen island too.

6. Let her be the mommy. The other evening, she wanted her Teddy in the high chair to eat instead of herself. She wanted to feed him. She grabbed the fork intended for her & brought it up to her bear’s mouth.

I told her that she needed to take a bite too to show Teddy how to eat. This worked.

7. Serve fun to eat food. I have tried dressing up her food by making cute little characters out of her meals. Mai is actually not too impressed with decorated food. What she does like though are easy to eat finger foods. Whenever possible, I make things in balls or muffin form. Check out my French Toast Balls: http://thepinterestedparent.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/french-toast-balls/

8. Let her eat when she is hungry. I was so concerned with meal schedules that I was ignoring my daughter’s hunger cues. When we are hungry we eat, why should it be any different for my daughter. While routines are great, our tummies don’t always look at the clock.

9. Don’t force your child to eat or get frustrated. This will discourage them from eating. I am sometimes guilty of this & I have to remind myself not to get upset. Here is Mai doing an impression of an exasperated mommy after she refuses to eat. “Mai Mai copy Mama.” She nailed it!

Related Topics:

http://raisingkidswithlove.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/picky-toddler-eating/

http://alittlehousework.wordpress.com/2014/02/24/nutritious-toddler-super-muffins/

http://highchairsandheadaches.com/2014/03/15/you-know-you-have-a-picky-eater-when/

Mon
24 ^th

Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole

Posted by Pinparent — 15 Comments

Because sometimes you just need comfort food…

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground meat (for this recipe we used venison but any ground meat will work.)

2 Cups of chopped peppers (red,yellow & orange)

1 cup of shredded cheddar

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 packet of sloppy joe mix

1 can of tomato paste

1 1/4 cups of water

1 box of Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 egg

1/3 cup of milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown the meat in a large skillet & drain. In a separate pan, add oil & peppers. Cook until tender. Add the peppers to the cooked meat. Stir in a packet of sloppy joe seasoning, can of tomato paste & water. Stir well, bring to a boil & then simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix Jiffy mix according to directions using the egg & milk. Stir the cheese into the Jiffy mixture. Pour the meat mixture in a baking dish evenly. Spread out the cornbread mixture along the top of the meat & bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool & serve.

CJ’s Baked Greek Casserole

Gnocchi Mac and Cheese

Sat
22 ^nd

Asian Drumsticks & Family Selfies

Posted by Pinparent — 8 Comments

When you have a toddler, there are good days & there are bad. Some days, you want to just rip your hair straight from your skull and others like today make you grateful beyond belief.

Our daughter is such a love bug & loves when mommy and daddy are both home together. They don’t happen often, so when they do she takes advantage of it. I was equally as happy to have us all together this evening. Since we were all home for a family dinner tonight, I made one our favorite meals, Asian style drumsticks over rice.

Asian Style Drumsticks

Ingredients:

12 drumsticks

1/4 cup of orange juice

1/4 cup of soy sauce (Golden Mountain or Maggi are recommended)

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Flour for dusting

Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. In a bowl mix orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, cayenne & honey. Stir well. Dust the chicken with flour lightly & place in a baking dish. Pour marinade over the chicken, turning and coating each piece well. Add pepper to taste. Place them on a foil lined baking sheet. Spoon the marinade over the top of each drumstick. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, flip & move the chicken around in it’s sauce occasionally.

After dinner, Mai wanted the whole family to retire to the couch & sit under the blankets. We were snuggled up so sweetly that I wanted to take a family photo to capture it. I set the camera on the coffee table on self timer & took a photo. What developed from there was a fun filled selfie evening that had all of us smiling. Even Dukey got in on the action & fun.

Related Topics:

http://joshuathomasbrown.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/boneless-chicken-thighs-with-a-sweet-spicy-twist/

http://dinnerforbrian.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/mango-chicken/

http://simplyfantasticbooks.com/2014/02/21/a-quick-meal-thai-chicken/

Thu
20 ^th

Paper Bowl Animal Crafts

Posted by Pinparent — 17 Comments

Tue
18 ^th

Cheese Filled Turkey Meatballs

Posted by Pinparent — 4 Comments

Tonight was a dinner-time victory for mommy. Every evening it is a roll of the dice as to whether we will actually get our picky little monster to eat dinner with the family. The biggest cause of stress currently in my life is my daughter’s diet. She hates to eat. I have spoken to the doctor, talked to fellow mommies & Googled advice on how to get Mai to eat. Nothing works. She eats on her terms.

Mai likes bite sized foods & anything in ball form. Meatballs are hit or miss with out finicky eater, but tonight it was a rare win. I am a very happy mama tonight. Maybe these meatballs will be a hit with your picky munchkins as well.

Cheese Filled Turkey Meatballs.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb of ground turkey

2 egg whites

1/2 cup skim milk

1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

3 sticks of mozzarella string cheese

1/2 cup wheat bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. In a medium sized bowl combine turkey, bread crumbs & spices. Add egg whites, Worcestershire sauce, milk & mix well. Add parmesan cheese & mix until all ingredients are well blended. Slice string cheese into 3/4 inch pieces & set aside. Grab a spoonful of mixture, place a piece of cheese in the middle & roll a 2 inch ball around it. Place on a cookie sheet. Continue until you used all of your mixture. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Related Topics:

http://susancancook.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/baked-pasta-with-meatballs-and-spinach/

http://hestayedforthefood.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/waikiki-meatballs/

http://foodisthebestshitever.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/baked-pasta-with-pork-and-sage-meatballs-and-kale/

Mon
17 ^th

Things You Don’t Realize Until You Have Kids

Posted by Pinparent — 46 Comments

Today my husband, posed a question that got me thinking “What would our life be like if we never had our daughter?” This question shocked me because I never thought about it once. He referenced the change in our coffee table since we had a child. Where there was once a beautiful contemporary glass and steel table now sits a wooden one with drawers and crumb filled child bumpers. What once only held just a small decorative frame is now filled with dried up chunks of Play-doh, crayons, puzzle pieces, etc..etc… etc…It is amazing how such a small thing, such as a coffee table can even be impacted by a child.

I used to think that I did not want children. Life was too good. We were happy. My husband and I both had great careers, lived comfortably, traveled around the world and enjoyed each other. I would watch my friends with children. I would see their children have tantrums. I would watch their frustration and hear them complain. One of my girlfriends would often in the same breath, yell at her kids, complain about what they had just done & then end our conversation with “I can’t wait until you have kids.” Whooooah! What?! Are you kidding?

I did not understand my friends. I never understood why my friends didn’t have the time to do the simplest things. My husband & I would always scoff and say we wouldn’t stop our lives if we had children. What I realize now is it is not stopping your life, it is just changing your priorities.

It used to annoy me when my friends would refer to their children in terms of months for years.
“How old is she now?”
“She is 18 months.”
“Oh, you mean a 1 1/2.”
Boy, I was a bitch. I often joked that I was going to start referring to myself in months. I understand now why we use months to measure our toddler’s age. The changes that occur from month to month are so vast that every month counts. Incidentally, this year I will be turning 480 months.

It drove me nuts when they would do nothing but talk about their children, Isn’t there anything else to say? Now who is the worst offender? I talk about my kid so much I have to blog about her.

So to answer my husband’s question. “What would our life be like if we never had our daughter?” If we never had our daughter, I am sure that we would have been perfectly content continuing to live the life that we were living, because we would have been blissfully unaware of what it was like to be parents. We would not realize the amount of joy that this little person could bring into our lives. We wouldn’t know how it feels to have her say mama or dada for the first time. We wouldn’t comprehend the euphoric wave of happiness that can come over you from a single sweet kiss. We would not understand it as we did not understand the rest of these things. Life would be good… but with her life is better.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

DIY Toddler Learning & Playing Cards

Posted by Pinparent — 17 Comments

I know most mommies are biased about their children. We all think our children are the most beautiful, the most brilliant, the funniest kids in the world. I am no exception. I find my child absolutely fascinating. She is so bright and continues to get smarter everyday. She is very proud of the new things she learns and likes to tell us and show us how much she knows.

Sat
15 ^th

DIY Braided Hair Clip Holder

Posted by Pinparent — 12 Comments

My little girl was born with very little hair. She, like her father had a receded hair line. (Sorry Honey!) There was no hair in the front, but there was quite a bit in the back. As time went on, the back of her hair continued to grow, yet the front stayed hairless. She started to take on a sort of baby mullet. I dressed her in pink as much as possible to avoid the “Isn’t he cute.” “Thank you, SHE is cute, isn’t she?”

So, when Mai was finally able to pull her hair back into pigtails, mommy was elated.

I bought hair clips & barrettes galore. Every time we left the house, I had to throw a pretty clip in her hair. The problem is I had no where to put all of these little hair pretties and they ended up all over the house and lost.

Braided Hair Clip Holder

What you will need:

A sturdy piece of cardboard

Elmers glue

Modge Podge

A print out of a pretty princess

Yarn

Glue gun & hot glue

Adhesive picture hanging strips

Directions:

Print out a picture of your favorite princess on your home printer.