Sisters are special....

When I found out we were adding another kiddo to our family I remember being overjoyed with that fact. I was just so happy, we'd spent a number of years wishing for this addition. Part of me wanted a boy because we already had a girl, but when I found out we were adding another girl to our household I was thrilled (that was Jamey's wish all along!). I have a sister and I can't imagine what my life would be like without her. She's my best friend, my confidant, my absolute other half. I have two brothers and I'm super close to them as well, but my sister is just well special. I was so glad that I was going to give my daughters the gift of a sister. There's no other relationship quite as complicated or quite as wonderful as sisterhood. May my daughters always have the joy of each other in their lives....

14 weeks

I took this on the rug in Alyssa's bedroom. My friend Jaime made this darling bow, a friend of my mother in laws supplied the adorable outfit, and I produced the adorable baby...with a little help from my husband :)

New Years tradition

My husband actually started this tradition last year but everyone liked it so much that it's going to be a New Year's tradition keeper in our household. Last year at our New Year's Eve party Jamey had everyone write down something they wanted to work on about themselves in the New Year on a piece of paper and then throw it in the fire. I can't remember his rationale behind this but the kids loved it, so we did it again this year with our family. Here are our resolutions. I did Amelia's for her this year.

And there they go....
Maybe it'll help us achieve our goals :) Happy New Year everyone!

Motherhood and other mothers

This is sort of a rant and it isn't directed at anyone before anyone calls me about it, it's a general frustrated rant. Being a mother is hard work. It's equally rewarding and exhausting. It's hard enough by itself without getting criticism from other mother's about how "wrong" you are doing everything. (People fail to notice what all you do right) I get frustrated at times when I get criticized when my kiddos are having a bad day. Sitting still while you are eating out was hard when I was a kid and I don't think it's gotten any easier over the years. It's boring for a 4 year old and picking up random scraps of goodness knows what off the floor is way more amusing than listening to the grown ups talk. If you put a big pretty glass bird on the shelf it's like asking tiny little hands to take it for a test flight...and said bird might get broken. Just saying....

It's frustrating when people expect my child to be as angelic as their own little angels. My kids aren't angels. I'm not fooling myself a bit there. If you know me at all you know that I am 100% realistic about my strengths and weaknesses as a mother. I want my children to be wonderful, expressive, curious little people and sometimes they like to throw themselves in the floor and kick and scream and pound their adorable little fist. Is this embarassing? Yes it is. You looking at me like I'm a awful mom while it's going on isn't helping anything. People fail to realize that for every 1 time this horrid humiliating tantrum happens there are another 50 times that we managed to go out in public and walk quietly beside mom and be completely well behaved. It's hard, I'm doing the best I can, I love my little monsters and you telling me how you think I'm doing and what you think I ought to do different really isn't changing much. Every child is different and I'm sorry if I don't like the off hand comments about how awful my kids are. I don't expect them to be perfect and I'm extremely realistic that they aren't. They are kids. Kids are kids and some days kids aren't good. Period.

I find myself drawn to mom's who know that their children are imperfect. Children that sometimes climb furniture and color on the walls. Mom's who have found a half empty jar of their expensive lotion and find the other half smeared all over a window, or the kid. Mom's who's kids get into their makeup and make "bad boy" badges up and down their arms. These mom's help me laugh at the little things that drive me nuts and help me realize that I'm not a bad mom and that my kid isn't a bad kid, she just a kid and kids do crazy stuff. Mom's who come home from outings with their kids that feel like they got hit by a truck in the process. Those mom's are so easy to be around because you can call them when your newborn blows her diaper up all over you in the car and you have to improvise because you forgot to restock your diaper bad and laugh hysterically along with you. Who completely understand what you mean when you say that you have had a completely horrible, not so good, very bad mom day.

It's been awesome being a mother with my sister. Our girls are 2 months apart almost to the minute. We didn't plan it that way at all, it just happened. Alli and Alyssa are so much alike. I've had numerous phone calls from my sister that begin with this statement "If someone came to the door and offered to buy my child today I'd totally have sold her." I've made this same observation I don't know how many times, I never meant it (well not totally...). Amanda makes me feel so much better, and that's what parenting our children should be like. Mom's should lift each other up, not tear each other down with hurtful comments about how awful your kid is. So any mom reading this, next time you start to rip down another mom, or look on disdainfully as a child throws a big public fit remember being a mom is hard work for ALL mothers (and if you found motherhood to be so easy please lord let me know what crazy pill you are on so that I can get myself a prescription). Lift each other up. That's what all of us should do as mothers, and if you aren't doing this then maybe you just found something to work on in 2012.

End of my mothering rant. Now off to scrub crayola off the wall.....

Annual New Years Resolution post

I think that the years go by too quickly now (I'm getting old. I'll insert a rant about teenagers these days later to reinforce this sentiment). Seems like I just did this and well it's been a year!!!

2011 was a wonderful, wonderful year! We welcomed another sweet girl (and our very last baby...or she better be!!!) into our family. Amelia was not in our "plan" for 2011. We never imagined that we'd ever get pregnant and we finally did. Years of practice finally paid off haha. It was truly the best surprise ever. I even have a funny story about taking my pregnancy test. She's 2 1/2 months old now and it's gone by too quickly. She full of smiles and laughs and LOVES her mama so much that she'd probably still be in my womb if she could. She's also spoiled so rotten she stinks, but I love her anyway. She looks a little like me, a little like her daddy and a lot like herself. She's beautiful....tonight she smiled at me while she was nursing and reached up and touched my face. If my heart could melt it would have.

Alyssa's grown bigger, taller, leaner and meaner. Every day is a joy, although some days are a challenge. She's halfway finished with her pre-k year and she loves school. She also loves her teacher. She constantly is having class and pretending to be her. She sounds just like her too it's hysterical. Mrs. Burroughs even agrees. She's just such a good kid. She's a awesome big sister, she's never ever jealous. I thought this would be an issues because she loves her mama as well, but it hasn't been at all. She climbs trees, sings constantly (and verybadly, bless her I don't see being a rockstar in her future...), dances all around the house and draws beautiful pictures. I love this kid. She's so much like me that some days I feel bad for my mother. She's beautiful as well and has such a big heart. We talk a lot about when she was a baby and what she's going to do when she grows up. I hope she's a hair dresser cause lord knows she does like to cut her hair. I think she's out to beat some kind of hair cutting record in her childhood. I need to hide the scissors better....

So now on to my resolutions: drum roll...ok they aren't really all that exciting.

1. I would put my usual resolution to lose weight, but since that's probably been number 1 every year for the past oh 15 years and I'm still fat I'll just skip that this year.

2. I'm going to learn something new this year. Last year I learned to can jam and veggies and all. The year before I learned to sew. Very domestic I know, but hey I'm domestic. This year I want to learn to crochet I think, but I keep it pretty vague cause I learn something new everyday. I learned to dance to the tutti ta song here recently. It was...well something. Thank goodness my only witnesses were a 4 year old and a 2 1/2 month old....If you don't know about tutti ta here's a link. Everyone should know about it...seriously it's a lot of fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF1BrP-vLpI

3. I'm going to work on my relationships. Making them stronger, weeding out the ones that bring me down, nourishing the ones that bring me up. I think we all need to occasionally work on doing this.

4. I'm going to get more organized. I currently have a organizational system that lacks a system. It needs a system.

5. I'm going to think before I speak. I have a hot temper and sometimes I say things that I don't mean. I'm going to work on my filter this year. It's never been good, it slips at the most inappropriate times sometimes.

6. I'm going to complain less. This resolution might be a hard one. I am a complainer. I'm going to work on this. It sorta goes along with 5 and my filter. Gold star to my husband for enduring almost 9 years of marital bliss :)

7. Savings. Jamey's switching to the reserves in about a year and a half and we are moving HOME. I'm very excited most days about this. He'll start his master degree and we'd love to see him graduate with no student loan debt. We managed to accomplish this with our undergraduate degrees working pretty low paying jobs so I want to do this with his masters.

8. Gasp here it comes....I'm going to spend less time on the computer. Yep I said it. I need more time to crochet, sew, can and all....hehe. I'm just on the computer too much. I fuss at my child spending to much time on the leapster and I'm always on the computer.

9. Alyssa and I read every night at bedtime, but I want us to read more together. I'm going to work on us reading more than just at bedtime. She really only likes to read right now because it prolongs the bedtime routine. I want her to enjoy reading more.

10. I'm going to "pass it on." Let's just say that I've been very lucky. I have so many people who love me and who I love and I've been very fortunate. I'm going to pass a little kindness on. Very vague I know, but passing it on should be pretty vague.

Family photos

I'm probably the worse ever about having our family photos "made." I never ever get them done, I never ever get pictures of Alyssa "made" either. That being said I do take TONS and TONS of pictures of my girls. I just never take them and have them posed at the photo studio and have them done "professionally." Why? I don't like that style picture. I think that it's because I see my little munchkin as this ball full of nonstop energy and her sitting still having her photo made with cute little bows in her hair doesn't add up to the fiesty, uneven haired (she cuts it on a regular basis herself...ok I should probably figure out to stop this problem, but I just figure when she's 15 and wants to know why she has such a stupid looking hair cut from age 2 to 10 that I'll be able to let her know she was her own stylist), smiling, laughing little child that I have the true joy of watching grow everyday. Picture day at her school this year was a disaster. I attempted to send her to school in a really cute dress my mother in law made for her and to fix her hair all up. She completely refused the outfit I picked out, grabbed her rattiest (and favorite) sundress, ankle boots with the scuffed toes and looked at the bow like I asked her to smear poop in her hair, and headed out the door to school. There went my idea of a adorable photo right there.

With all that being said I like my house being filled with photos that I take of my little monsters and their doting, serious, quiet papa. The disadvantage of my desire to document every smile, and fit that happens in our lives...I drive my husband and children absolutely crazy. Currently Alyssa gets irritated anytime she sees me with the camera and I imagine that will get worse. The other disadvantage is that it's been said that I don't have any "real" pictures of the girls either. But does it get any more real than this photo?

If we went to have our pictures made they would never have gotten this picture of my husband. He would have a really stupid look on his face and wouldn't look near this happy. I'm thrilled to be a 'snapshot' photographer and I'm happy to display these snapshots of our lives in our home. Meet my newest snapshot. I'm hanging up as soon as it gets here :)

Thanksgiving goodness

We celebrated our Thanksgiving on Black Friday this year. My dear husband had to work at the hospital on Thanksgiving. (Appreciate your nurses, doctors, police, fire fighters, military and anyone else who doesn't have holidays off folks!) My wonderful mother in law takes a cooking class once a month in the town we are from and we benefit from her culinary experience because she sends me all the recipes! Every month I get a packet of recipes in the mail from her class. It's usually a soup/salad/appetizer, a main course, sides, and a dessert. All of which are WONDERFUL. I keep trying to take a class with her when I'm home visiting but it just never works out for one reason or another. Anyway this year she sent us the recipe for Beef Wellington knowing that we'd be doing something extra special for Thanksgiving. They were beyond good seriously....anywho here's some recipes and some pictures for your dining pleasure and such!

Grilled Caesar salad

Sounds weird huh? I thought so too, but I saw the Neely's make this on the food network and thought it'd be something different to try. It was pretty darn good and here's the link to the recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/grilled-caesar-salad-recipe/index.html

Jamey doesn't like turkey or ham so our main course was Beef Wellingtons with mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese and a side of roasted carrots. Wonderful...melt in your mouth goodness! It has a recipe for a sauce and I didn't make it. They didn't need it either they were so good. Jamey already told me that he wants these again for Christmas when his folks come in and Alyssa ate a massive amount herself. Our 4 year old has really expensive taste. One day she'll be a really expensive date for some poor fellow.

8 -1 1/2 inch thick center cut filets mignons (about 5-6 ounces each)
8 large mushrooms (about half pound total)
2 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs finely chopped shallot
2 Tbs minced garlic
1-2 large eggs, beaten(this will be wash)
2 puff pastry sheets (one package frozen puff pastry), thawed (thaw 45 mins. at room temp. on parchment paper folded, but unfold when it is easy to do so during the thawing process.
8 slices Gorgonzola cheese (about 4 oz.), cut butter pats (2 per bundle)

For sauce:
1 Tbs veal or beef demiglace
2 Tbs Madeira
1 can Campbell's Beef Consomme (reserve 1 Tbs to mix with arrowroot or use water)
1 Tbs arrowroot (or other thickening agent)

Pat filet mignons dry and season with salt and pepper, and ,if , desired Montreal Steak seasoning. In a large saute pan(nonstick), brown the meat 2 mins. on both sides and then do the sides for about 1 min. so that the entire surface is seared. Remove to a platter and cool(filets will be baked again after being wrapped in pastry). Chill filets in refrigerator, covered, until cold, about 1 hour at least.
Thinly slice mushrooms and half them again. In a skillet or saute pan, cook in butter with shallot, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste over moderate, stirring, until mushrooms are lightly browned and softened. Transfer mushroom mixture to a bowl to cool completely.. In a small bowl lightly beat egg to make an egg wash. 1 egg may be enough to coat all the pastry, but 2 may be needed.
On a lightly floured surface roll out puff pastry sheet into a 14 inch square. Trim edges to form at least a 13 inch square and cut square into four equal squares. Lay individually on lightly on lightly floured parchment paper. Repeat with the other sheet if making 8. Save trimmings to roll out if you wish to cut out decorative shapes for garnish, or plan to use another sheet for your cutouts.
Remove beef filets from the refrigerator and lightly pat with paper towels. Prepare a non-stick baking pan by lining with parchment paper, or use a pan with a non-stick rack.
Put 1-2 pats pf gorgonzola in the center of 1 square and top with 1/8 mushroom mixture. Top mushroom mixture with a filet mignon, pressing it down gently, and wrap 2 opposite corners of puff pastry over filet, overlapping them and sealing them with some of the egg wash with your finger. Then wrap remaining 2 corners of pastry over filet and seal in same manner. Seal any gaps with egg wash and press pastry around filet to enclose completely. Arrange Beef Wellington bundles, seam side down on a non-stick baking pan lined with parchment paper and place Beef bundles on rack. Make 7 more bundles.Chill 1 hour up to 1 day.
Chill remaining egg wash for brushing on pastry just before baking. Remove bundles from frig to bake. Preheat oven to 425.
Brush top and sides of each bundle with remaining egg wash and bake 20-22 minutes, pastry should be golden. Remove from oven and allow to sit 3-5 minutes, uncovered
Make sauce while bundles are baking. Bring beef consomme(minus 1 Tbs) to gentle boil. Add the demiglace, whisking to blend and dissolve. When it's dissolved, lower heat to low and the Madeira, whisking 1 minute. Then add arrowroot and whisk. Can thicken with more arrowroot. Keep warm.
Serve bundles with sauce.

I guess since this is my Thanksgiving post I'll tell you what I'm thankful for. I'm so thankful for my wonderful, kind husband (even though he wouldn't press my call bell for me when I was in labor). I'm so grateful that he loves me despite all my whining and complaining. That he loves me just how I am, including the 50 lbs I've packed on since he married me in 2003 (more to love folks, more to love!). I'm so happy to be raising two wonderful, sweet little girls with him. I'm thankful for those little girls who make every single day more exciting (including when I'm dragging them through the grocery store whilst they are kicking and screaming and crying for candy). I'm thankful for their sloppy kisses and super tight hugs and beautiful smiles. I'm thankful for my family. Parents who love me and are always there for me and who helped shape me into the wonderfulness that you see before you today :) and siblings who grew up to be my best friends. A sister who I talk to at least twice a day everyday on the phone and who is truly my very best friend. Brother's who always make me laugh. I'm thankful for all my many friends all over the country and my friends who are "home grown" Thankful for the love and the support they always show our family. I'm thankful for my furry critters who drive me crazy with the cat hair and the yapping but who we adore! I'm just so thankful for all the many, many things in my life!