Mom Confessions

Last week I read another article about kids and television.  Of course it was about the fact that kids watch too much t.v. and that the recommendation was still no television for kids under the age of 2.  Television watching, according to the study, can lead to sleep problems and delayed speech among other things.  This got me to feeling guilty, again, about how much t.v. my kids watch during the day.  Way more than none to be exact.  And I hate that, I hate that guilty feeling that comes along with just about every decision I make as a mother.  So I decided to make a list for you, a list of my mommy confessions about things that make me feel guilty as a mom.

Hope you can maybe relate somewhat to some of these!  If not, you are one super momma!

1.  My kids watch television.  I won't try and justify it by telling you what they watch, though I do think certain programs have got to be better than others. 

2.  There are days when I look back at what my kids ate for the day and realize there wasn't a single vegetable, green or otherwise.  Yesterday they had yogurt for breakfast with toast, then pb&j for lunch with fruit, and pancakes for dinner.  Not the most healthy day at our house. 

3.  Some days I spend a little too much time on the www. and not enough playing toys.

4.  It is hard for me to remember to brush their teeth twice a day every day.  I can't do it at the same time I do mine as they are usually in bed before I brush my teeth for the night.  So, some nights they go to bed with dirty teeth. 

5.  I also don't read to them every single day.  Most days, yes.  Every day, no.  Sometimes I just don't have the patience to force them to sit still and listen.  So on the days they aren't into it, I don't force it.

There you go, five of my mommy confessions.  These are the ones that bother me the most.  The ones I am constantly trying to get better at.  I have more things that I could list....like how I sometimes have to walk away from the changing table while Molly is lying there so I can go get something...like a diaper out of the dryer, but that is another confession for another day.

What are your confessions?  The things that make you feel guilty as a mom?  I would love to know I am not alone in all of this!!!

Things to Remember

Awhile back I did a post about things I wanted to remember about the girls, and I figured it was about time for another one.  So here goes.  Here are some things I never want to forget!

Belle saying that something happened lasterday.  I don't know why I find this so cute, but I do.

Molly being the world's biggest cuddle bug.  She is a momma's girl for sure and she loves to cuddle up with me whenever she can.

Belle's talking in general.  She comes up with the craziest things to say.  She has such a great imagination.  And I know that she should be quiet when going to sleep, but it is pretty presh to hear her singing and talking to herself at bedtime.

Molly saying, "hold me, hold me." 

Molly eating anything and everything she lays eyes on.  I am sure this will stop at some point.  But seeing her shove a fist full of vegetables in her face is something I think I should remember for that point when she won't touch anything green.

I want to remember how great the girls get along.  Of course we have our moments of kicking, pushing, hair pulling and hitting, but for the most part the girls love each other.  I can't get enough of them spontaneously giving each other hugs and kisses or when they play together outside holding hands and walking all over the yard.  Isabelle won't even go in the older kid class at Bible study because she wants to stay and play with Molly.

Isabelle telling me I am her best friend and then saying, "I love you, friend."  I know that one day I will need to remember this piece of information.

Isabelle calling everyone by their full names, including Jason and I.

Molly copycat-ing everything Isabelle does.  It is so adorable and yet so irritating.  Adorable when she copies her singing or dancing, irritating when she copies Isabelle putting her food on the kitchen floor.

My girls are pretty amazing, adorable, wonderful, funny, crazy, adventurous, energetic, determined, smart, creative, beautiful little ladies.  I am so blessed to be their mom, and I hope that I can remember most of the fun things they do!

Bad Blogger

I have been neglecting my blogging duties.  And, well, today isn't really going to be any different.  I am a little under the weather.  Okay, maybe more than a little.  And hopefully, fingers crossed, the fact that Isabelle is now complaining about her throat does NOT mean she is coming down with whatever I have.

My mom was gracious enough to stay over today while I took a much needed nap.  I slept for two hours and think I will probably still go to bed early tonight.

All that to say, sorry for not updating or posting anything this week.  I have lots of exciting things to talk about and even have pics for Embrace the Camera next Thursday.  See you soon....

Friday.....

I feel a little like a wussy even talking about this.  For one, lots of women have lots of children and none of them seem to be going crazy.  Second, I have a dear friend who in May will have three babies all under the age of two at her house.....SO, it seems a little silly for me to say anything about my worries about having three children ages three and under.  But, I am going to do it anyway.

My Friday Five:

Fears of having three children.

1.  Meal times.  How in the world can I feed Molly, over-see Isabelle and feed an infant?  The only solution I can think of is to spread them out, but I fear that then the only thing I will be doing all day is preparing food and feeding children. (oh and then cleaning up)

2.  Nap times.  Is there ANY way to get them to all sleep at the same time?  Belle and Molly are good about taking naps at the same time, so hopefully I can get jr. on the same schedule.

3.  Babysitters.  Will I be able to find anyone to watch all three kiddos for longer than a couple of hours?  What if J and I want to go on a long weekend?  Is there anyone who will volunteer for that job?

4.  Alone time.  Will I ever have any?  This is coming from someone who used to loathe alone time.  Now I dream of it.

5.  What about my house?  Will it ever be clean again?  Will the laundry ever be done?  Currently I have trouble keeping up.  I can't see how this improves with another person to take care of.

So that's it, five of my concerns about a new baby.  I would love to hear from moms of big families where kids are close in age saying how easy it is and how going from two to three is super awesome.  Seriously, find those women and have them email me!

Adventures in Cooking-Crockpot Edition

Since I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had not been trying new recipes, things have taken quite a turn around our house.  I have actually been cooking new recipes and trying to find new (and economical) things for the fam to eat.  I know there has been a big crockpot movement on facebook, and if you haven't visited the crockpot girls, you should.  They have a ton of great recipes and who doesn't like an easy dinner once and awhile?

These are two recipes for crockpot dinners that we have had recently.  Both yummy.  Both easy.

First up,

Holiday Bean Casserole.

I found this recipe while searching for a vegetarian meal to make for dinner.  I was thinking more beans and cornbread, or red beans and rice type of meal, but it is so hard to find a bean recipe that doesn't involve PORK.  And in case you didn't know it before, I don't eat pork.  So this recipe looked perfect.  It also looked different, which I liked.  It is easy to prepare, and delicious.  As far as the kids go, Molly refused to even try it and spent her time squishing the beans on the table.  Belle, on the other hand, picked out all the "pink beans" or kidney beans and ate just them, but at least she was eating!

Next,

Creamy Ranch Chicken.

There is no link, you will just have to copy it down!  I honestly don't know where I got this recipe.  I copied and pasted it into a word document and saved it.  It is from someone else, not me, and the poor person isn't getting any credit for it.  Sorry.  It is too yummy not to share even if I can't say whose recipe it was originally.

3-4 Boneless chicken breasts


4 Tbsp melted butter (divided)

1 packet Ranch dressing mix (divided)

1 package cream cheese (8 oz.), cubed

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth -or- 1 bouillon cube and 1.5 cups water

Wash and dry chicken and place evenly in crock pot. Sprinkle about 1/2 of ranch packet over chicken. Drizzle with half of melted butter. Combine remaining of ingredients in bowl. Mix well and pour over chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Stir occasionally. Serve over noodles or rice.

We had this served over jasmine rice and it was very, very good.  Kids ate it up.  One of few dinners both kids will eat and ask for more.

What are your favorite crockpot meals?

Camping 101

This past weekend we went on our annual family camping trip.  It was a memorable experience to say the least!  Here are ten things you should know when taking a camping trip with toddlers.

1.  God made dirt.  Dirt don't hurt.

This summer was particularly hot and dry, resulting in the dirtiest camping experience ever.  Molly was tripping over rocks and tree roots and.....okay, she tripped over everything.  In the process she became one dirty child.  She was covered in dirt pretty much all day, every day during our trip.  Belle wasn't quite as bad, but she got pretty dirty also.  I had to surrender to the fact that they were going to get VERY dirty on this trip.

2.  When an airbed gets a hole the size of your finger at three in the morning, everyone will wake up.  It will not be easy to get back to sleep after that.  Perhaps having a backup airbed would be a good idea!

3.  This is more for pregnant people than people with children, but when said airbed gets a hole, and you have no backup bed, sleeping on the ground produces very sore hips.  (Children don't know the difference between the bed and the ground though, so don't worry about the kids.)

4.  Bring lots of helpers.

Having lots of extra hands can allow you to not be taking care of children the entire time you are camping. 

5.  No matter how horrible something might seem at the time, kids only remember the good stuff.  My example:  Belle and Molly were so filthy that I thought taking them to the showers to wash them off was a great idea.  They screamed and cried like someone was torturing them.  It seemed very traumatic at the time.  I am assuming that since Isabelle has already asked to go camping again it didn't scar her for life.

6.  Bring lots of donuts.

Molly asking for more donuts.

Belle posing with her donuts!

On the morning we are packing up to come home we usually bring donuts for breakfast.  They are fast and easy and don't require any dishes or clean up.  Molly put entire donuts in her mouth and after six!!! (mini donuts) she still wanted more. 

7.  Taking good family pics is hard. 

I suppose this is true for all of life and not just camping, however when camping you feel you should capture a moment with everyone looking like they are having a GREAT time.  Not going to happen.  Check out the kids faces.  Not really the portrait of sheer bliss.  We were on a nature walk, and they were having fun, just doesn't come across in the picture.  Oh well.

8.  Bring food that everyone will eat.  My kids are picky eaters.  I should have planned better for mealtimes.  Instead I planned normal camping food.  Lucky for me we had pb&j also.  I am pretty sure Belle had a sandwich for lunch and dinner two days in a row.

9.  Relax.  Camping is supposed to be fun, right?  Who cares if the kids eat a few more cookies than normal, or cheese for breakfast, or miss their normal nap time?  Try to be more relaxed than I am and go with the flow.  I am working on it, but it is a slow process.  Go to the playground, let them play in the water, get dirty, and don't freak out if something doesn't go exactly right.

10.  Keep your trip to a reasonable length.  We go for two nights and with both girls that is a perfect amount of time.  Any longer would not be fun and any shorter would be a waste of energy!  Maybe someday when they are older I will brave a longer camping trip, but for now the close to home, short trips are best!

We had a pretty good time overall!  This time was better than last time and that has to be a good sign, right?  I will probably avoid camping while preggers in the future, but otherwise I am glad we are getting our kids into the camping tradition early.  They love it and it is good to get away from it all once in awhile.

Do you camp with your kiddos?  What tips do you have to make the trip more enjoyable?

Cheap Sunglasses

I bought Isabelle a pair of sunglasses at Just Between Friends.  They were actually for Molly and for $1, I couldn't pass them up.  Somehow they have ended up as Isabelle's sunglasses and the ones Isabelle had are now Molly's, but they don't seem to mind.  Isabelle has become a little obsessed with her new sunglasses.  Here are just a few of the pics of her in her new sunglasses.

This is first thing in the morning while drinking her milk and watching Yo Gabba Gabba.

During bath time, obviously.

During the garage sale!  She had to try on the bike helmet and play with all the old cell phones.

Eating lunch.

On our way to church.

On our way home from church with her crown that says, "I obey when I'm away."

 Isabelle cracks me up pretty much every single day.  She is such a funny girl.  And, she loves her sunglasses.