A Comedy of Errors

We are back from our trip to Dallas to visit Gammy. Gammy is my mom and her name changes from time to time depending on what grandma name she is favoring at the moment. But we think Gammy might be here to stay.

Auntie Rosita was also in Dallas and we all helped Gammy move in to her new house. I have mentioned before the amount of toys my mother has saved from our childhood. Seeing it all at once was a liiiiiiittle overwhelming. I should probably rephrase and say she saved them from Auntie Kandida's childhood and threw in a few from mine and Rosita's. That being said, my mother should be ashamed of the amount of money spent on toys for Auntie Kandida! I think that kid (and my mother) had every Beanie Baby ever made. The sad part is that my mom sent about a bajillion Beanie Babies to Iraq, we sold a TON in a garage sale last year and there is still 2 HUGE tubs of Beanie Babies! Yikes.

We had so much fun going through the toys, it was hilarious to pull out old Barbies and doll clothes. I wish I could explain the hilarity that those toys brought about, but unfortunately, it's one of those "had to be there" moments and I wouldn't do it justice writing it out.

I can't count the number of times one of us slipped, ran into something, tripped over something or stumbled while we were moving things in and back out of the house. How my grandpa and his walker get around that place I'll never know.

My cousin Valerie got married over the weekend that we were there, however, she got married in Lubbock. This meant we had to drive 6 hours to get there. Of course, with a baby a 6 hour trip is never only 6 hours. Especially when she poops and it seeps out all over the car seat. It also doesn't help when you and your mother have bladders the size of a peanut. I wish I could blame this on having a child, but sadly I went to the restroom just as much before I had Sweet P. It also didn't help that Sweet P was having major meltdowns the entire car ride. My mother can't handle a baby crying so we stopped more times than necessary to try to soothe the little monster. What can I say? My child is not so fond of the car seat. So we made it just in time for the rehearsal (did I mention I was in the wedding?).

The scene of the crime
On the day of the wedding we got to have a quick breakfast with Nana Nancy and Papa who drove over to see us (our hometown is only a few hours away). The day of the wedding was the first time I'd been away from Sweet P for so long. Until the reception, I really only got to see her when she was ready to eat. But I'm pretty sure she had a great time with Gammy and Auntie Rosita who both spoil her rotten. I must admit that a tight on the top bridesmaid dress isn't the best outfit to nurse in, but we made do. It just wasn't ever in public!


We made the crazy mistake of driving back to Dallas overnight which put us in at 3:45am. Can you say EXHAUSTED?! For the last 2 hours or so we played the celebrity name game. It's a game where I say Steve Martin and then you have to think of a celebrity who's name starts with an M and so on. We'd been playing for awhile when Rosita has said a name and was waiting on my response. I was taking awhile and finally said, "Wait, what was the name you said again? I fell asleep." It was rough.

We got home to a sleeping Auntie Kandida who had flown to Dallas for the day from Baton Rouge. She hadn't seen Sweet P since she was 2 weeks old and may not see her until Christmas so we're glad we got to see her for a few hours (literally).

I just wanted to recap on the trip before getting into details. My next post will be about our flights. Sweet P did amazingly well on them, no meltdowns! But for now, I need to catch a quick nap since the monster is sleeping.

Table for 1, please

When I was pregnant, I ate pancakes at least once a week (sometimes twice, but who was counting). I have no shame in this, especially because it's not like I was eating IHOP pancakes every week. I was making my own. I eyeballed the ingredients to see how much I would need for one serving. Now don't go thinking I was only making for myself and not my cute little husband. He was usually out of the house looooong before I even got of bed while I was pregnant. In my defense I worked until 10:30pm most nights (until the last 4 weeks) and didn't get to bed until usually 1am. I did make them for him one weekend that I remember, but usually these are enjoyed by myself. I had them for the first time since I had Sweet P on Saturday morning. The farmer had already gone to the farm and I wanted something more than cereal. I don't know about you, but the weekend mornings always seem to deserve a better breakfast (like a donut at church on Sunday) than the weekday mornings.

All that to say that I am posting the recipe just for you! So you can have your very own single serving pancakes! I tried to make them as healthy as possible, but sometimes that just doesn't work with pancakes.

Single Serving Oatmeal Wheat Pancakes
(w/ Strawberries & Syrup)

1/3 c. whole wheat flour
(don't bother substituting that white flour stuff, it's not good for you and you won't get the same result)
1/3 c. oatmeal
1/3c. plus 2 tbsp soy milk
(you can use regular milk if you'd like, we just have the soy stuff around here)
1 egg
(here you can also use 2 whites, but you should really just buck up and eat the whole egg)
1 tbsp sugar
(just for fun, sometimes I use brown, sometimes white)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
(you don't have to use that much, but do you know how many antioxidants are in that stuff? Me neither, but I've heard it's a lot)
A handful of nuts
(optional, especially because we don't always have nuts around. I use hickory nuts, walnuts or pecans.)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Heat the skillet between low and medium, oil the pan (I use olive oil for everything I cook in the pan, but if you must please feel free to use butter. Pam also works.). Sometimes I like to make a few small ones, other days I'm feeling adventurous and make one BIG pancake.

Toppings: Strawberries, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, the possibilities are endless. I usually top it with whatever fruit I have on hand, syrup (sorry I just use any old kind, if it was less expensive I might buy real maple syrup) and powdered sugar. Yum. Oh, and heat up the syrup. It just tastes better that way.

Did you forget something?

Today has already been quite annoying and I've only been up for about an hour and a half.

May I remind you I have a 2.5 month old so you understand a bit of how the morning has gone. She, however, is the least of our problems. And I think once I type it out I'll realize, it's really not that bad and could be a whole lot worse.

Actually, the morning didn't start out so bad. We woke up at 6:30am. Sweet P had been asleep since 9:25pm so obviously that is NOT a bad thing for her to have slept for 9 straight hours. I got up, nursed her in bed and my dear husband took her to change the stink that went on while I was nursing. I got out of bed to get some water, show my husband how much I know about Photoshop (not much), then re-swaddled Sweet P and we both (the baby and me) got back to bed.

Meanwhile, my husband has his breakfast happily thinking about all the great things he's going to do when he gets to the farm today. I'm sure he was checking his email, MLS scores, MLS blogs and other soccer news as he ate. I also assume he made his lunch judging by the empty jar of peanut butter on the counter (only one more jar to go! but that's a story for another time). At approximately 7:40am I was jarred awake (wasn't really that sound asleep anyway, but was dreaming of something kind of good I think) by a horn honking car alarm. The patio door was cracked and I winced as I heard Sweet P snort and move her legs around (all that she can move in her SwaddleMe). I jumped out of bed and closed the door (but the horn continued) praying that she'd return to dreamland. Finally, the poor soul, who was probably also jarred from sleep by their car alarm, shut it off and we went back to sleep. Sort of.

So, the day begins. The farmer comes in to say goodbye for the day and Sweet P beams up at him (she's awake, I am not, at least not wanting to be). He unvelcros (not a real word) her swaddle and hands her to me. I promptly lay her on my chest (crossing my fingers that maybe, just maybe we'll be able to sleep a bit more). I pat her back and suddenly, she coughs, gags (which she does A LOT) and throws up all over me. The poor kid has puke all over her face because she was tummy down on my chest. I scream for my husband to come back and help me and he enters, laughs and says, "Hold on! I have to take a picture." Our poor, exploited daughter. Several pictures later ("Wait, that didn't come out," "That was blurry," "Turn the light on") and we have our shot. It was up her nose, in her neck folds and all over me. Awakened by puke, my favorite way to start the day.

Out of bed we go, say bye bye to daddy and get a load of laundry started. I had no sooner put the baby in her swing, cleaned myself up and brushed my teeth when I heard the lock in the door.

"What did you forget?" I asked my sweet little husband.

A sad face appeared in the bathroom door. It was even more sad because he's wearing his farmer gear, complete with his little brimmed hat (that he wears for sun protection, yay!). He looked at me and said, "Someone broke into my car and stole my iPod."

The only thing worse for the thieves to have taken would have been me or the baby (or our computer). If you know my husband, you know his love for music, and you know that he has an original white iPod circa 2002 with the sort of gray screen with black print. The backlight doesn't work any more and I wanted to get him a new one for his last birthday, but he loves that thing and said he really didn't want/need a new one. It's been through so much with him and he actually uses it solely for listening to music which is what the iPod was intended for in the beginning. It's a good thing all the music is also on his computer otherwise I think there might have been tears.


We think they saw the iPod plug in the cigarette lighter and figured the iPod was in there somewhere. Unfortunately, they were right. He had it in the console. They also stole the charger and a phone charger. Luckily, they didn't break a window. The messed with the locks and while it's lose, it still works. It's just one of those ARGH moments. Frustrating more than anything else. That and the fact that we can't really afford a new iPod right now. But as with most things in life, we are blessed because it could have been much worse. According to the police, there were a few other break-ins in the area so at least they may be patrolling a bit more. The problem is, we live in an apartment, and as long as you live in an apartment you stand the chance of having your car broken into. More so than if you lived in a house. Which has always flabbergasted me because there is so much more of a chance to get caught in an apartment complex with all of the people around. I suppose though that if they aren't breaking windows, it doesn't look like much more than someone getting into their car.

I only wish that annoying horn honking car alarm had gone off when the thief was doing his damage.

Busy Little Bees

I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up! She is getting bigger. I know, I know, you're thinking "How much bigger can that little chubby bunny get!"


We had quite a busy week this week! I joined a few "mom's groups" and we've had a few "playdates" this week! Sweet P isn't much for playing yet, obviously these are much needed social outings for me. On Wednesday we went to a park and sat under some trees at a picnic table. We met 4 other moms. One who makes her own cloth diapers! Let me repeat that, She MAKES them! When she said that I had major sewing envy. Don't get me wrong. I can sew. Sort of. I have had my go with a sewing machine a few times. I made a t-shirt quilt out of old sorority t-shirts a few years ago while recovering from hip surgery. Wow, that just made be sound like an old woman. And the day I went into labor I made a "hooter hider." I get the funniest looks when I say that. I suppose it's much easier to say nursing cover, then people don't look at you and say "A what?" I'll post a pic of my cute "hooter hider." I'm 40 weeks pregnant in the picture! All that to say that I was really impressed with her cloth diaper making skills.

Thursday we played clean up the house. Well, I did anyway. Sweet P isn't much for cleaning, yet. But I like to tell her as she watches me load the dishwasher that one day it will be her job. She'll definitely be a vacuumer as well because she is fascinated by our little vacuum (the one we use for the kitchen, the big one scares her to death because it's so stinkin' loud). Our reason for cleaning is because we had our first guests over for dinner! We've had people over before, but they were all visiting from out of town so they don't count. Heath's assistant coach, his wife and their 3 month old came over for some yummy baked pasta that I made and an awesome salad (lettuce courtesy of our garden!). Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the food (it might have been a little awkward to stop dinner for a photo session).


We've been married a year and haven't used most of our FiestaWare so I busted out the good stuff for our friends. I even got out a table cloth! It didn't take much to make our every day table into a dinner table. We have FiestaWare in 6 different colors so there are 2 of each color in the place settings. How cute is that tablecloth?! My sister found it years ago at a sample sale. Ohh, the days of the sample sales. How I miss all the goodies she'd bring us when Macy's had them. But, I digress. Did I mention that we had an awesome salad?


Today we had another mommy group playdate and went to the Better Homes and Garden Test garden. BH&G's parent company is located in Des Moines so we have a cute little test garden right downtown! You can't even tell it's there because it's shielded by walls and only open to the public for 2 hours a week! It's really cute and there's a neat little spot with a fountain to have lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was a bring your lunch event and sat there wishing I had known. Especially when I started to get dizzy. I've had some dizzy spells lately and after having a doctor make me want to punch her (and learn that my thyroid is normal and it's not anemia) I figure it's my blood sugar getting out of whack. It really is important that you eat every few hours when you're nursing. Especially if you have a 15 pound 2.5 month old. I talked to one of the moms about hummus and was licking my chops staring at hers that I had to make it when I got home. I took a few pictures of the garden so I could show The Farmer because he's got big plans for a new garden on the farm next year. He's started the digging for it already.


And finally, we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant tonight. We have a staple Mexican food restaurant we like to eat at, but decided to go out on a limb and try a new. Bleh, we should've stuck with our regular. It was clear the red sauce was out of a can and the rice was definitely packaged. You can't fool us, we're New Mexicans! It took me a long time to realize why people always laughed when I said I was a New Mexican. And I'll end here with a funny story. We were telling The Farmer's little cousin one time that we were from New Mexico and his grandparents tried to explain by saying "Remember we went to Mexico, but they are from "New" Mexico and he said, "I want to go to the new one!!"