Tag: parenthood

T-Town Bound

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We made a quick trip to Tucson this weekend and had a ball. Normally I am opposed to overnight trips – they’re just too much work. Packing up the kiddo’s stuff, bedding and “just in case” supplies is a pain in itself, but I have to find someone to check in on the BearMeister, pack myself and PW…it’s just a lot of work for 24 hours. Not to mention that this weekend we had stuff scheduled on both Saturday and Sunday so we were litterally zipping in and out of town. But to my big surprise, it all went very smooth and was a ton of fun!

We arrived with enough time before dinner to walk around campus. It was so much fun to see The Phi, Peter’s fraternity house (which is currently being occupied by another fraternity and caused PW to hold back a few swear words), buildings that we each attended classes in, our favorite resturants, our respective dorms…the list goes on. It was amazing to think back and realized how much life has changed in the last *cough* eight years since we graduated. The campus has changed so much, yet all the amazing memories are still there. It’s even more fun that PW and I were there together so it wasn’t me showing him, but rather getting to tell each other our favorite memories. At one point Baylor sighed and asked when we were going back to the “HO-teeeellll”. Apparently memory lane was not as exciting for her.

Ah The Phi. I lived in the window right above the “Alpha Phi”

Next we were off to dinner with the family I babysat for while at UofA. It’s scary to think that Madi is now graduating high school and headed off to college herself! Amazing how she’s grown and I haven’t aged a day…to say that it’s wonderful to catch up with the L family is an understatement. They are truly amazing people and even when we haven’t seen each other in years, it’s like we just talked yesterday. Dinner was at one of our collective favorites: Rosa’s. I had forgotten how amazing the refried beans are and I said a little prayer of thanks that the morning sickness has passed so I could enjoy every stinking last bite of my enchilada and tacos!

After dinner it was the UofA baseball game – PW’s reason for planning the trip. The team has moved off campus to Hi Corbett Field which turned out to be awesome. The stadium was packed, they served beer and there was a jump house, what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, a win! We got that too.

Pretty sunset

We had to teach Baylor not to cheer for the other team. She broke out her signature “dirty look” instead.

PW and BW

The Super Moon! The camera phone didn’t do it justice.

We headed back to the “ho-teelll” after it was looking promising that the Cats would pull off the win. We were impressed with The Lodge on the Desert. It was close to the hotel and campus, full remodeled and a nice price. Bay was excited to try out her new Pea Pod sleep tent and it went swimmingly. If you have any traveling to do with a toddler soon (especially one that sleeps in a crib but has out grown a pack and play) then I highly recommend the tent. It has an air mattress, is one piece that folds flat and doubles as a play area. It was perfect way to divide a room for her and us so we could do crazy stuff like brush our teeth and watch TV without waking her up!

We’re already talking about another slightly longer trip later this summer to one of the resorts. Sure there are two world famous resort just down the street, but there’s something about getting out of town, visiting places you haven’t been to in years and a long drive that make a trip even better.

 

Things One Should Never Say to a Pregnant Lady (and my responses)

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“OH! Don’t you LOVE being pregnant??”

~While the end result is worth it, no, pregnancy is not top on my list of awesome things to do. Weeks of feeling like everything, including my hairstyle, is going to make me throw up – no wine – uncomfortable belly – yeah, it’s a real thrill ride.

“Get lots of sleep while you can!”

~First of all, shut up. Second, I’m what you call a belly sleeper and do you know what you can’t do when you’re pregnant? That’s right, sleep on your stomach. I spend all night thinking about how I could totally be asleep if I could just get a few minutes on my anterior.

“You look so tiny? Are you sure the baby is ok?” This is an actual question someone asked me with Baylor

~What in the world would make you feel that that was an appropriate question to ask?? Your head looks a little deformed, is everything ok with your brain?

“You don’t really look pregnant, you just look like you have a belly.”

~This is a quote from my mother. When I responded with “is that some kind of complement?? Gee, you don’t look pregnant, just fat!!” she fell apart laughing realizing how horrible it sounded and then admitted, yes, that was what she meant. Thank goodness I share her sick sense of humor.

Interesting Enchiladas

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I think *no jinx* I might be through the morning sickness business. I say this because over the last week I’ve stopped being totally repulsed by food and even, dare I say, started to get hungry for things besides turkey sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls. That said, I got a huge hankering for sweet potatoes…and black beans. A quick trip to my Pinterest “YUM” page and I found a recipe for sweet potato and black bean enchiladas. I added the ingredients to my grocery list and headed out the door.

While I was mixing, I started getting second thoughts. Who they hell thought sweet potatoes belonged in enchiladas?? But I was already knee deep in the recipe and thought we could have quesadillas if it turned out as wrong as it sounded.

To my, and PW’s surprise, they were DELICIOUS! I put my own spin on the recipe by adding some frozen corn – a yummy addition if I do say so myself. I love how easy this is since most of the ingredients will last for a few weeks in the fridge and pantry making it a “go to” meal since it won’t require a trip to the store for fresh stuff. Also, I think it would freeze nicely AND would be a  nice gift recipe – you know, when someone has a baby, is sick or just needs some home cooked food!

Ingredients:

Small corn tortillas at room temperature (so they break less)

1 large sweet potato

1 can of black beans – I like Bush’s

1 small jar of salsa – I used Newman’s Own

1 can of red enchilada sauce – I used Hatch

1 small bag of frozen corn

Mexican shreded cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Peel and cube the sweet potato into bite sized pieces. Put into steamer basket and cook until soft – about 15 minutes.

3. Drain can of black beans and pour into a large bowl. Add cooked sweet potato and about 3/4 of the jar of salsa. Mix in about half the bag of frozen corn. Add several good shakes of salt and a little pepper. Stir until combined.

4. Using a greased baking dish – take tortilla, spoon in mixture, roll and place seam side down in dish. Don’t panic if they break or spill, just squish them together. Repeat, lining them up side by side until the dish is full.

5. Pour can of sauce over the top of the tortillas so that it’s evenly distributed. Cover top completely with cheese.

6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the top is getting crispy. Serve with a big dallop of sour cream.

 

*this is where a picture would be…but since I thought they were going to be crappy, I didn’t take one! Oh well, use your imagination 😉

 

 

Aunt Beth

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I’ve been a step-aunt for several years now, but last Thursday I became a full fledged aunt when Mr. Mason finally made his entrance into the world! At 7lbs, 19 inches and just a smattering of hair, he really is cute!

And thankfully his mother was able to talk his father out of naming him Vercingetorix. Not kidding. That was on the table. Gary finally relented and said that it would be up to Ali to explain to him some day why his name isn’t as cool as it could have been. Ali was happy to take on that responsibility knowing that Mason would probably endlessly thank her for talking him out of it.

Easter Fun

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We had a great Easter filled with fun and family. Smarty pants B, upon discovering the bunny balloon she had been eyeing for weeks at the grocery announced “the Easter Bunny shop at Safeway too!!”.

A little baffled by the chick that makes cheeping sounds when you hold it

After mass we headed to my mom’s house for brunch. It was amazing as always and included lots of running on the golf course.

Zoe and B sharing some bubbles – well, in theory anyway

Big kids, little kids and the big kids at heart playing catch

After a little spillage in her dress, she changed into one of Noni’s shirts (which she spilled on) and then enjoyed her gardening themed Easter gift from her buddy Joyce.

Working Girl

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One of the appeals of starting to work for the family business two-ish years ago was that I would be able to do it around Baylor’s schedule. And it’s worked great especially since she started preschool. 12 hours a week plus nap times is just the right amount of time to get stuff done.

Last Friday was a rare day when I had to schedule a meeting for an onsite inspection during a non school day. It also meant I had to head South to Arizona City  which would add and 2 hours + to the meeting time for commute. Thankfully Grandma had coordinated a day off of work so it would all work out brilliantly – Bay to Grandma’s house, me to AZC for a meeting with enough time on either end to get some work done around the house.

And then pneumonia.

After much discussion, PW and I figured out that with a lot of tag teaming and Grandma’s help, we could both make it to our meetings and get the munchkin healthy. I would do the x-ray as soon as the place opened at 730 while PW worked and took a meeting over the phone. I would spend the next hour prepping for my meeting and then tag PW to take B to the follow up appointment with the doctor. PW would then tag Grandma to take B home to play, eat and nap. I would return home around 2 to tag Grandma and then B and I would spend the rest of the afternoon watching Mickey Mouse in a daze of sleep deprivation and Albuterol.

It was around 1030 that morning that I realized we were going to make it. It was all going to get done and get done without being too messy. The end result was total exhaustion from the past 2 days and scrambling for the past 5 hours. I’ve always had so much respect for friends who both work AND raise awesome kids, but now that I’ve tried on their shoes, I’ve realized they should really have a super hero cape to match!

Pneumonia Sheumonia

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Phew  is the only word I can think of to describe the last 5 days.

Baylor came home crabby and running a slight fever on Wednesday last week. By Thursday afternoon, it was a full blown 104.5 fever with a cough, wheezing and labored breathing. Any one of those would mean “get to the doctor” but all four meant get there pronto.

I fully expected the doctor to say “it’s a virus, nothing we can do” and send us tired and crabbily on our way. But then he listened to her chest for a solid 5 minutes. He asked a lot more questions and then determined that her asthma might actually be pneumonia. His suggestion was a full workup of meds including a shot that makes adults cry, chest x-ray, two inhalers and oral antibiotics as well.

The good news is that her x-ray came back clear, but since it was a day behind the beginning of treatment, they moved ahead with the meds. After a few fitful hours of sleep (normally I compare sleeping with her to sleeping with a badger – this was like sleeping with a hot,  clingy badger), her fever dropped and she was able to get some real sleep. By Friday afternoon, her fever was gone and she was hungry and happy. We kept her mellow the rest of the weekend with lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and M&M’s to bribe her into taking the “yucky” inhaler. She was mellow to the point where she was restless and making herself and us nuts so she went happily off to school today. Fingers crossed there won’t be any calls from Teacher Jackie and we’re on the road to  really getting better this time.