Nice Baby Bangs

There are so many things that change when we have babies.  Some things are WAY too personal to publish on the blog and fellow mommies, you know what those are.  Others are blog appropriate.... like hair.  I wrote about my extensive hair loss in this post.  It was 5 months of tragedy for me and for my vacuum.  At 8 months, postpartum, I finally stopped losing my do!! YAY *clap clap clap*

~wait, hold the applause~

I am now in the re-growth stage. 

My first thought was, 'finally, my hair will replenish itself'. 

Now that it is happening, I look in the mirror at the short, wispy, wiry, untamable mini hairs of re-growth and think, 'ugh, why don't you just fall out'. 

Do you know of these rebellious hairs?? In some spots mine stick straight up submitting to NO product.  In other spots there are so many I think, 'wow, I was truly bald there'.  And to top off those woes, my hair is naturally curly so these new little guys look like they have been hit with the humidity of the deep south and you can't straighten them because the heat will fry these fragile babes leaving them worse off than they already are.  (hmmm was that a run on sentence??  Maybe but all the information in it was pertinent - so I am leaving it).

OH THE MADDENING WORLD OF BABY BANGS!

________________ Its What's for Dinner!!

A while ago, I came to the realization that, for the rest of my adult life, I will ask myself the dreaded question 'what are we going to have for dinner?'

*This is a life sentence people.* 

If you are a wife and/or mom THIS IS your lot!!  If my man was contributing to this post he would probably be happy to tell you that I have re-surfaced from the 'new baby' tidal wave that knock me over 8 months ago.  People, what has my poor husband been eating for 8 months?

Because I hate the question of, what's for dinner?, I thought maybe we could share recipes?   Or at least I would tell you what I am cooking, that way if you are stuck maybe something we eat will sound good to you.  If you would like to share, please do, my tummy will thank you!! Link up or post the recipe in the comments.

Chicken Tacos
Cooking my chicken, I used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog as my guide.

Jarrod's plate...mmmm

In a big skillet cook up the following:
-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into small chunks
-1 can of diced green chillies
-1/2 white onion
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp chili powder
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (did I mention these were spicy)

Tacos need toppings.  Our favorite topping for tacos is a yummy cabbage recipe from my friend Ally.

You will need:
1 head of Cabbage
1 red onion
2-3 limes
1 bushel of cilantro
salt/pepper

Picture is missing the onion

Chop cabbage into small shreds, dice onion, chop cilantro (mix all three of these in a bowl)
Squeeze the lime juice into the cabbage, onion, cilantro mix to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Add other toppings as desired, we used tomatoes and cheese

We ate the tacos on corn tortillas.  Yum o Yum.

Can you tell I don't type out recipes....ever.  This could be a recipe bloggers nightmare! HA!

Got Smelly Bottles??

No matter how many times I cleaned and steamed/sterilized my bottles I couldn't seem to get that stinky 'milk/formula' smell from them. YUCK!!

Are you in my boat?

Are you afraid to admit that your kid has been drinking from a CLEAN yet still stinky bottle? Don't be because mine was!! I am here to offer a solution!!

Can you see the fine print of 'deodorizing'.........HALLELUJAH!!

Soak your bottles and all their parts in a solution made of baking soda and warm water for about 2 hours or longer if you like, it will not harm anything.

Solution: 4 tablespoons of baking soda per 1 gallon of warm water

I will be doing this every so often to help keep the stink away! Thanks Arm & Hammer

Stay-At-Home-Mommy-Syndrome (SAHMS) Episode #1

SAHMS is a real thing and I am about to prove it to you.

Definition
SAHMS : A non-treatable condition in which stay at home mommies crack and do whatever it takes to liven up their days.

Symptoms: can be but are not limited to:

Forcing your 7 month's itty bitty fat hand open to make a Christmas Tree craft even when he is screaming for you to stop (side note: baby's fists are ALWAYS clamped shut in a fist like ball when you want them to do something)

Setting up a 'photo shoot' and realizing it might be a bad idea when your little one puts Christmas lights in their mouth but you keep going anyways, continuously swatting the lights out of their mouths even though they are ninja fast at putting them back in because....what else are you gonna do with your afternoon.

The one shot that made all the craziness worth it.....

Treatments: Giving into your urges as long as they are fun and you and your little one(s)are safe. 

See, I told you I would prove to you that this is real!

Stayed tuned....I am positive there are more 'episodes' to come.

What do you do that an outsider may think....um why is she doing that?

A time out for a time out

I must blog about this now so I can remember it in a few years.

I am thinking Dr. James Dobson's 'The Dare to Discipline' and this may do the trick one day!

New Year, New Joys, Same Jesus ~ John Piper

Happy New Year + 6 days!! Welcome 2012!

How many resloutions do people make at the start of a new? 1? 5? Lose weight, read more, spend less.  Laugh more, relax more, worry less.  How many resolutions are kept? How many goals are actually met when we look back on any given year?  If you are like me, most of the time, the answer is none.  Oops.  I have the best of intentions but somewhere between January 1st and January 31st I allow life to drown out my 'resolutions'.  I give the gym back to those who were going waaaayyyy before January 1st! They are the rightful owners and its only fair I give them back their treadmills!

There is one thing, though, that I want to make sure I do not let life drown out this year (and every year) and that is Jesus.  Time with Him through prayer and through His Word is the insurance that I have to know that I will be victorious in 2012.  Walking with Jesus will ensure that I will be more than a conqueror in 2012 (Romans 8:32).  Time in His word will guarentee that when the enemy sends his flaming arrows, I will have the armor of God on which is able to extinguish them (Ephesians 6:16).  Knowing His truths will renew my mind when the world tells me lies (Romans 12:2).  And trusting Jesus each and every day with each and every thing will show my son that we serve an all powerful, infinate God that really is all powerful and infinite.  But what I see now more than ever is showing Jackson means living it for myself.  Lord, help me do this.

'Start off children on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.' Proverbs 22:6.

In the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:19 'pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.' 

THIS is what I want 2012 to be about. 

New Year, New Joys, Same Jesus!

Never say Never

Somewhere between 5 months and now, 7.5 months, this mommy was able to finish a few books, a few movies with my husband and Season 1 of a TV series.  Its a miracle.....wait, no, its just what happens when your baby gets older!  Truth be told, I thought days like this were gone forever....

~ cue weird dream-like music as we travel back to a not so distant memory ~

When Jackson was about 5 or 6 weeks old, my man and I rented 'The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader' thinking we would enjoy our son's nap time with a movie....WRONG!!! He was awake within the first 20 minutes of us starting it and screaming by the middle of it.  It took us a full day and a half to finish watching it and I stood, bouncing that baby for the rest of it.  After that fiasco, we decided to cancel Netflix because and I quote myself 'we will never quietly watch a movie snuggled up on the couch again'.

Guess what new mommies of the world, those days are NOT gone.  They are just on hold for a bit.  I am here to report that, while it is you may not renew your subscription to Netflix, you will be a patron of a RedBox near you!  And if you like to read, nap times become more routine in these months so you will enjoy a good book again. 

If you are looking for some I recommend a 2 part series written by Francine Rivers.  It is about legacy and now that I am a mom it resonated with me in a deep way.  I want my legacy to include a whole lot of Jesus.  I want to maintain a close walk with Him so that my children see His goodness.  I want to thank my mom for giving me the best life her and my dad could.  I want to thank them for teaching me by example.  I am so thankful to know that He can change our destiny if we respond to His calling.  I can't wait for to see where He will lead the generations, our legacy, after Jarrod and I.

First Book

Second Book

I also loved loved love The Hunger Games Trilogy.  Do not be fooled by its popularity for those of you who do not like to be 'bandwagon' readers.  It is worth EVERY page.

So, again I find myself writing about things that I am accomplishing that at 6 weeks, I thought I would never do again.  Mommyland is demanding but oh so rewarding.  I am still ME even thought I double as Jackson's mommy too!  It is a beautiful balance that I am learning to master day by day.