Entries from June 2009 ↓

The house was [fairly] clean and we didn’t have any appointments to go to, plus we had a bunch of bananas that needed used up. It seemed the perfect combination for a Baking Day!

First we scoured the internet for recipes. Forest, chocolate lover that he is, chose this Chocolate Banana Bread recipe. Warrior, however, does not enjoy chocolate at all. (Who’s kid is he anyway?!) So we picked out a ‘reg-a-lur” banana bread recipe that sounded good.

First, we decided to attack the bananas. It was rather fun watching the kids peel the bananas and mash them. They were like little monkeys!

We made two loaves of the chocolate and one loaf of the regular. Both recipes called for sour cream, which I had never used in banana bread before, and it gave it an awesome moistness. I don’t think I will ever revert back to sour cream-less banana bread!

The chocolate banana bread was delicious. Just enough chocolate, just enough banana, that you could actually taste both flavors! I was a little skeptical about the flavors, at first, and wondered how they would mesh, but they did and it was fabulous!

The regular banana bread was equally as awesome. We only made one loaf and I wished that I had made more. The recipe calls for slicing the bananas rather than mashing, but after reading the reviews, I decided to mash. The recipe was one of the best, pure, banana breads I’ve ever eaten and the recipe is a keeper for sure.

Silly me got all in to taking pictures of the baking process but I totally missed taking pictures of the end result. A photo could never capture how wonderful these recipes were though, anyway. And I will say that I had planned to freeze some of the bread, seeing as how it freezes well, but we ate them all in 4 days. Pigs, I know!

You can check out this and other Tackle it Tuesdays at 5 Minutes for Mom!

A couple of weeks ago, Forest informed me that he had a loose tooth. About a week after that, he got another loose one. I couldn’t believe my baby had loose teeth. I took a photo of him with a big baby-toothed smile because I always want to remember all those little teeth in that big smile.

Upon further inspection, I saw that a big tooth was coming in right behind the first loose tooth, so I encouraged him to wiggle it. A few nights ago he got it so loose that it was barely hanging on. I was afraid that he would lose it in his sleep so I told him to pull it out. He was too squeamish to do so (taking after his Father there!), so I asked him if I could pull it. (I always did love plucking my teeth out! I’m a picker and a scraper and apparently a puller too. It does give me a little thrill to pluck things out/off!) So I pulled that sucker right out for him. He was all sorts of excited! He kept hopping around saying things like “Look! Look! No tooth! And bloods. LOTS of blood! (There wasn’t.) Wow, blood in my MOUTH! I’m so proud of myself!” He was up until midnight with the excitement.

The next day he handed me the tooth (the tooth fairy did not come - he doesn’t like any of the make-believe characters that just show up at your house) and I looked down at it in my hand and got all emotional.

You see, teeth and I have a sort of emotional relationship. I don’t really get that upset at birthdays or milestones usually - I’m just not that emotional of a person. But teeth. Oh, teeth. Teeth get me every time.

Holding that little tooth, which ironically was the first tooth he ever had come in, took me right back in time.

I love toothless, gummy babies. I love the smell of baby breath. I want to eat their little mouthes up. I just adore it. I can’t get enough of it.

Then that first little sliver of pearl comes shining through. And it signals a change. Usually, if they haven’t already, it means they’re about to start solids. It means they’re going to start crawling and running and climbing. It signals that infancy has gone. Which was why the first tooth is always so bittersweet for me. Bitter, because infancy is gone. But sweet, because who can resist a one (or two) toothed baby? Certinaly not I!

And that’s what that little tooth in my hand took me back to. I see him there, in his little high chair in front of the window, with his bright blue onesie and his big brown eyes and that little greedy mouth opening up for more sweet potatoes. Which incidently were all over his face and in his hair. And his smile. It’s a million dollar smile that boys has.

And now, here I am with a piece of his babyhood in my hand. Now this chapter of his life isn’t signaling just running and clmbing (although he does plenty of that!) — it’s signaling things like reading, school, baseball — things that really shout “INDEPENDENCEat me. But now it’s not just Independence from the breast, independence from being constantly in my arms — it’s a whole new, and more in-depth type. And just as I mourned the days of departure from infant-hood, I also mourn the departure of toddler/preschool-hood. But also, not unlike that first baby tooth appearing, there’s something to celebrate as well. I get to experience the joy of watching him become a beautiful and wonderful young man. One step at a time. One step at a time. And before you know it, they’re there.

So, have you been following the whole Jon & Kate Plus Eight drama? It’s everywhere. It seems like no matter where you’re going or what you’re doing, it’s in your face: magazine covers, show clips, even headlines on CNN’s website. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the subject.

I have to admit that I’ve only ever watched the show twice in my life. (Back in the old days when we had cable television.) I thought the kids were cute. Also, it made me feel like my life was sane in comparison. (Not a lot makes me feel that way.)

Even though I don’t watch the show regularly, or feel much of a connection to them, I have to admit that I am really sad for them. I understand that life with multiples, and especially that many, is super hard. Marriage takes work at times and when you have no time, that sucks. Big time. Sadly enough, though, that was their choice. Maybe they weren’t aware that is what they were choosing at the time but inadvertently, it was in the end.

I can’t say that I  agree with them renewing their contract for another season back six months ago, or whatever (they had to know at that point, the road they were headed down) but, unfortunately, that’s what makes a reality TV producer’s dream come true. It equals big sales.

Speaking of reality television and viewers, I  have to admit that I’m curious now. Much more than before. I want to watch it a little bit too. What is it about human nature that makes you want to watch a train wreck? We just can’t look away. Especially when it’s everywhere you look.

I know a lot of my friends are tuning in too. What is the saying — any press is good press?

So have you tuned in to Jon & Kate? If so, are you a new viewer? Or an ol’ faithful? What’s your take on the whole shebang?

Dear Forest,

   I’m watching you sleep beside me tonight. Your little eyes are closed and your long lashes are framing them so beautifully. You’re growing so fast that it scares the life out of me when I stop to think about it. While I love watching you grow, it breaks my heart that life is moving so quickly.

  Watching you grow older, I wish I could convey to you, and have your five year old mind understand my inner struggles regarding being your Mother.

   I fought you tonight, to go to bed. You didn’t want to, but you have a baseball clinic in the morning. One you want to go to so badly. So I had to make you go to bed early and you were unhappy.

   I’m sorry I couldn’t go to sleep with you in your bed tonight but I stayed up late, like almost every night, washing the dishes, folding the laundry, cleaning the bathroom. I don’t do these things to have a ’show house’ (ours is far from that!), rather, I do these things so you will have a clean spoon and bowl to eat your ‘white cereal’ each morning, wear your favorite camoflauge shirt nearly every day, and have a  clean toilet (that you seem to so frequently have a bad aim on).

  I had to turn your offer down, yesterday,  to play video games because I had work left to do on the computer. That work gave me the money to buy you those games you love so much.

  When you see me pouring over store ads and cutting coupons, it’s not because I’d rather do that than play with you. I do that because I want to save money so I can stay home and play with you.

  When I had to take you to the hospital to have the Pulmonary Function Test and Echocardiogram the other day, I know it was scary, and you didn’t understand. I know that it seemed cruel and heartless on my part. It was all because I wanted to keep you well.

   I had to give you a serious talk the other day about Stranger Danger and I tried to be as gentle as I could but it scared you to think about strangers being bad and you got upset with me. I didn’t want to upset you; I just wanted to keep you safe.

   And when I said no to throwing the baseball yesterday, it wasn’t because I was being mean. It was because your baby sister kept getting in the way and I didn’t want another trip the Emergency Room.

  I wish that you knew all that. I know that you think that other people, even your dad, are more fun than me. That they want to play with you more than I do. I wish that you knew I would rather play with you every second, that I’m not favoring your brother or sister over you; they’re just smaller and need more attention, that the Motherly things I do, that seem like they are for me, even though you can’t see it now, are actually for you.  

  I don’t get the luxury of having our relationship be all about sitting and doing arts and crafts or playing legos with you constantly (but oh, how I wish I did), instead I’m all too often stuck showing my love the practical way; by taking care of you. I don’t think it’s always fair either and I promise that I strive, on a daily basis, to get those things done quick enough so that I can spend more time being with you.  It’s an inner struggle that I have every single day, regarding you and your siblings.

    I know you won’t understand this now. Perhaps you won’t until you’re 6, or more, times older than you are now, and have children of your own. Perhaps you never will. But please know that every single thing I’ve done, every single thing I do, is to make your life better the best way I know how.

  Please never doubt that you have my heart. All of it. Every single piece. I want to savor each moment we have together. I want to do right by you. I want to be the best Mother I possible can.

Love, Mom

My 5 year old came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “What smells so good in here?” he asked sweetly. That should have sent my alarm bell ringing but surprisingly it didn’t. I was just confused. It smelled kind of like garbage, to be perfectly honest, because I had not taken it out last night before bed like I should have. Instead, I said “Huh?”. “It smells so good in here, Mommy!” he said.  I looked at him blankly and he just kept going; “You’re my little bundle of love, Mommy! And your hair is sooo beautiful!” Thoughts running through my head: Um, where the heck did he hear someone say “bundle of love”? And my hair?!? I have not even showered yet today! I KNOW that it is not beautiful. So it was only then, that my alarm bells started ringing. About .02 seconds after the bell started to ring, he leaned over and whispered the following in my ear: “I know I haven’t cleaned up my toys yet, but can I watch a movie on Netflix?”.

Um…wow. It’s not even like he progressed at this wonderful, um, art that he has. It just evolved. Who knows what he’ll be saying tomorrow! Today, I’m his “little bundle of love”. Tomorrow he’ll tell me I’m so beautiful I’ll have the need for weight loss pill reviews. And you know what? Geuine or not, I’ll take it!!