Balance

The majority of the time I feel like I am a pretty good mom. There are times I look around at what I have accomplished in a day and think, "Damn. I'm good." My baby is happy, when she is not upset that she cant run around holding scissors, my husband is happy, I am happy, usually. I have a great family, loving friends. A dog, that even though he has been exiled to the back room and backyard, still optimistically looks through the window thinking he may be let it today, or may get a good pat on the head, or may be let in to clean up Delilah's dinner off the floor.

It's good.

And then, there are those days. Days where I feel like I am not doing anything right. Where I actually think, "Is there something wrong with my child?" Days where I let Delilah watch way too much tv, eat questionable food, and am way too quick to lose my temper. 

One of the hardest things about motherhood, I have found, is balance. How in the hell are you supposed to play with your baby, have conversations with your husband, keep up friendships, get back into hobbies you loved, and take time for yourself? If I keep up with one of these things, I feel like something else gets ignored. Something gets sacrificed. And let's face it. This something is usually me. Or my hair. Or my feet. Or my clothes. Or my life.

I am in a constant struggle with day to day chores. Keeping up with the house, laundry, those damn dishes. The leaves that find their way in, the crumbs left on the floor, or the sticky spot on the floor where Delilah decided to test the strength of her sippy cup. It wasn't strong. They do not hold up. Is anyone going to ever invent a real spill proof cup?

I try not to focus in on that stuff. But, shit. It's hard.

As my Dad always said to us, "If one more thing happens, I'm going to Tahiti." 
"If you get another dog, I'm going to Tahiti."
"If you got another brother or sister, I'm going to Tahiti."
"If you fail your classes, I'm going to Tahiti."

Dad. I think it is time you and I go to Tahiti. 

Word.

What does going to Tahiti have to do with balance, I'm sure you're wondering? Nothing. But I am pretty sure that if I went, I would come back mentally locked and loaded, ready to get shit done. And have a nice tan. 

This is as close to a solution as I have come up with, when it comes to balancing motherhood, chores, marriage, friendship, relationships, cooking dinner, hobbies, making time for myself, taking a shower, grocery shopping, going pee, changing diapers, cleaning the car, paying bills, exercising........

At one point, those flowers were in a pot.

So helpful.

;)

xoxoxo 

Austin Rodeo

As we were wondering what we were going to do for the day, this was happening:

Delilah apparently loves a Chai Tea Latte ;) 

(Look at that hair! I can't even handle her cuteness sometimes.)

Byron had a great idea, Austin Rodeo! We packed up lunches, water, juice, the usual suspects and hit the road.

Delilah is loving all types of animals, especially farm animals. Horsey, pigs, cows oh my. I had a feeling she would get to see at least one of her new favorite animals.

At one point in the day, my hair was actually done, sort of. But since the wind has been strong enough to push over a cow, it went up. 

The highlight of her day: the pig! And in true Delilah fashion, she was yelling "no, no pig!", not sure what the pig did, but apparently it needed to stop.

She was able to see all the animals she has been talking about and seeing on her favorite shows. I am loving this age and loving experiencing life all over again, through the eyes of my baby. 

We left right in time, before shit hit the fan. Probably goat or llama shit, since walking around the petting zoo is basically like walking through a giant litter box. No meltdowns. No crying. Just a great morning. 

Added bonus, Delilah dressing herself this morning. She topped off this look with her new cowboy hat.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend. If you are in the central Texas area, I wont judge you if you want to walk around with goggles on. I may. So windy.

xoxoxo

Itty Bitty Thoughts

You think I am not listening, oh but I am. When you think I am saying "sit", I am really saying "shit". I hear it a lot and I am just trying to figure out the right context.

Also, the "oh, f*ck" you thought you said silently, I heard it. I am just waiting until that perfect time to embarrass you in public. 

Thanks for the new words mommy and daddy.

It might be time to filter what you say, just saying.

xoxo

Food for your Itty Bitty: Pasta & Peas

It has been for.ev.er. since I last did a Food for your Itty Bitty post. I have been busy and not too inspired by food, which is really weird for me. But, maybe just maybe, I will get back in the swing of things ;)

I have decided, documenting each step of the cooking process takes a little too much attention away from Delilah and trying to cook. So, in order to not have 52 burns on my fingers, arms, legs, etc, or burnt chicken, or a missing finger, or a couch covered in marker, I will photograph the finished product!

Pasta & Peas

 This is one of the easier meals I have made, and since Delilah changes what she will actually eat on a minute by minute basis, I am hoping that this one should, should, have a pretty low failure rate.

I am not saying this is a healthy meal by any means, but it tastes good and includes Delilah's 3 main food groups: pasta, cheese, and peas.

Also, as I have mentioned before, dinner time is usually one of the more stressful times of the day. And by stressful, I mean after it is over, all I want to do is curl up in a ball, in a dark cave, and silently count to 10 back and forth, a few hundred times, just to decompress and recover from what has just happened.

Not to be dramatic or anything.

But I have found that while she is screaming to want to go outside, while water is boiling, if I pick her up and ask her, "Do you want to cook dinner?" she will say yes very loud and stop freaking out for the moment. I hand her the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders one at a time and she ever-so-gently seasons the sauce. She loves helping and I swear she eats more knowing she had a part in the preparation. A little tip for you, you're welcome :) 

(I have not mentioned that there may be another freak out after the seasoning process is over. There is a point where too much salt, is too much salt. But, we take each moment at a time, right?)

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Pasta & Peas

1 lb of bowtie pasta

package of peas (I use the english peas in the produce section, they are so good!)

1 cup of half & half

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of cream cheese

1/2 stick of butter

salt & pepper

garlic & onion powder

mozzarella cheese

Boil 2 pots of water: one for peas, one for pasta.

Cook peas for about 5 minutes, drain.

Cook pasta until tender, maybe even a little bit longer for bebe.

While the pasta & peas are cooking, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Once melted, add half & half, milk, and cream cheese. Once everything is melted, add your spices. If the sauce is a little thick or you want a little more, add some of the pasta water. Or milk. Or hell, more half & half. Feel free to add anything else you enjoy :)

Chicken would be good too.

Mix everything together and top with mozzarella cheese. Done! Bam!

xoxo

Our Working Mom Routine

As I am typing this, I am considering going to get Delilah because it is 9:30 and she is now getting frustrated at the fact that: 

1. she is up 2 hours past her bedtime 

2. she can't get her socks back on 

3. she threw out "bookie" her blanket and can't get it back in the crib with her 

Just when you think you have the sleeping thing down, nope. Sike. I am sure sleep will be normal again. When Delilah is 22. 

I wanted to do a post on our new daily routine. It is a little bit different than the last one I did because Delilah is older and now I am working, and she is going to school. Our weekdays are pretty consistent. And our weekends are a little more relaxed. Though, we always do bath and books before bed. I have also, proudly, gotten over my weird, crazy nap obsession. If she naps, cool, if not, no big deal. 

Do you know how long it took me to relax about that? A very long time. I am no longer a crazy person. For the most part.

I am going to start with Sunday. 

Sunday: Do the normal Sunday, relax thing. After dinner, Byron will give her a bath and I start making lunches (Ideas for day care lunches here). I get her milk ready to go and pack her bag. I make sure extra diapers are in her back pack, roll up her nap map and nap time blanket, get her morning car ride snack ready, usually just cereal, fill up her water cup, and get anything she was out of at daycare in the bag. 

Here is the important part. I am a iced coffee drinker, always have been, always will be. I brew myself a cup of coffee in my trusty mason jar, put 2 teaspoons of sugar, stir it up, and put it in the fridge. That way the coffee is waiting on me in the morning. I add my cream, ice, and straw and drink away in the morning. Have to have coffee.

Coffee.

I take a shower and try and go to bed at a decent time. 

Monday - Thursday: I wake up around 6:30 am, get my coffee, that is perfectly cold, and get out all of the things I got together the night before, out of the fridge. I get my bag ready, with whatever breakfast I can throw together (usually Noosa yogurt, almonds, and a banana) and my water cup. I never leave home with out my water cup, my students actually comment about my large, Tervis cup and how they never see me without it. Must have coffee. Must have water.

I put Delilah's milk and cereal by the couch and go get dressed and do makeup. Sometimes I will do my hair. sometimes. 

After I am done getting ready, I go and start my car. I load everything in there before Delilah, that way I can minimize my chances of spilling my perfectly made coffee. I may have tried juggling 3 bags, a baby, keys, and coffee at one point, only realizing I do not have go-go-gadget arms and I helplessly had to choose between my baby or my coffee. Baby won.

It is around 7:00 am, I go and start picking out Delilah's clothes. This helps gets her stirring and I don't have to shake my baby awake. I have already turned on Sesame Street, so the ever so quiet voice of Elmo is enough to get Delilah up and she usually smiles and says "bird" points to her mobile, we hit touch it a few times and we go in the living room. I get her dressed and then we are off around 7:20 am or so.

I drop her off at daycare around 7:30 am and am at work usually by 7:45 am. 

It is so hard leaving this girl.

I live ridiculously close to my job and Delilah's daycare. I am lucky and now spoiled with my "commute".

I get off at 3:45 pm and will sometimes go home to get dinner ready. If the crock pot hasn't already cooked it ;) Sometimes I will go run to HEB and get something we have ran out of, sans baby. Or most of the time, I will be so ready to see Delilah, I will just go straight and pick her up.

We come home and I give her a snack, we play outside for a bit. Around 5:00 pm, I start cooking, which is terribly stressful because Delilah feels the need to play and sit right under my feet. 

We eat around 6:30 pm.

Byron gives her a bath, we love Tubby Todd bath wash and lotion, its the best! I clean up and start getting ready for the next day.

After bath, we play for a bit, then its time for books. (Here is a list of books Delilah still loves, I should do an update.) We read about 3-5 books a night, they are on rotation. When I would rather give myself paper cuts with the books than read them one more time, it is time for a switch. After books Delilah gives her kisses and we go sing and I rock with her. Delilah is usually asleep by 7:30 pm.

I am usually asleep by 9:30 pm. 

Friday: So Friday is pretty much the exact same thing as the rest of the week. Only, after we come home from day care in the afternoon, I immediately throw Delilah's nap map, blanket, and "bookie" in the wash. That way I don't have to mess with it on Sunday. And I grab a beer. Preferably a seasonal Shiner. 

And, instead of going to sleep at 9:30 pm, we may be wild and stay up until 11:00 pm. 


There you have it! Our weekly routine! 

I hope everyone has a great day!


xoxo

End of a Fun Weekend

Those of you in Texas, can you believe this rain?? I am so ready for the sun to be out, but April showers bring May flowers, right? Granted it is still March, maybe we will get April flowers ;)

As I start getting ready for the home stretch of school before summer starts, I wanted to just say that we had a really great week over here! We had company in and out, Delilah danced and partied for 9 days straight. 

A friend of our graduated from the Austin Police Academy and it was so neat to see that type of ceremony. I had never witnessed anyone being pinned and while they were saying the oath, I had chills! Before the ceremony started, they had all of the graduates stand in the hall for everyone to see and take pictures, it was really cool. 

Delilah did alright. And by alright, I mean she sat for maybe 2 minutes, ate through all of her snacks, threw her juice bottle down the inclined aisle, which was followed by "Were'd juice go?" during the moment of silence, that kind of alright. 

Her buddy Jack was running around with her, it was hilarious watching them run wild. 

Delilah clapped after each and every name was called. She loved the bagpipes. And around 9:30 pm, started going down each and every pew (the graduation was in a gigantic church), stealing the pens, and writing on each on of the little pieces of paper. At that point, whatever stopped her from screaming was fine by me. She also loved seeing the other babies, she is getting pretty obsessed with babies, actually. Cute, until she tries to poke the baby in the eye. 

We were very honored they invited us to be apart of such a big accomplishment, we wouldn't have missed it for the world! 

Sunday, we went to a birthday for our friend's daughter, she turned three and had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed party. Delilah kept saying "Hi!" and hugging a life size Minnie Mouse balloon. She got to jump and slide in a bounce house and had a blast! The only way she would actually play in the bounce house was if I was in there, so yep, you guessed it, I Cirque de Solie'd my way into the smallest little opening and gave myself a pat on the back for actually dressing appropriately and wearing shorts and not a cute dress. This party made me start thinking about Delilah's second birthday party, and what the hell we are going to do! I have a few ideas but nothing solid. I can't even believe she will be two in just four very short months. Nuts.

We are all tired and not ready for the week to start, but we have already planned for a nice, relaxed weekend. 

These are the only 2 pictures I took this weekend, Byron and Johnny having a good time outside, and Delilahs friend, Jack, making a fort out of our sheepskin rug.

I hope you all have a great week!

xoxoxo

Spring Break Day 5 - Momma's Day Out

Technically, it was more like Momma's Morning Out, but I will take it! I complain all the time about not ever getting time to myself and it is so funny, because when I am actually able to get away from my little one, all I can think and talk about is her! The first thirty minutes are usually me worrying about Delilah hurting herself, falling in a hole, and many other irrational thoughts, then the next thirty minutes are spent laughing and recalling little things she does that are just oh so cute, and after about an hour after I leave, I am finally able to relax and get on with my time.

I met a friend I grew up with, and we went to a neat little Italian place in North Austin. Had a glass of bubbles, ate way too much bread, and we talked and laughed and caught up. It was great!

I wish I had more time to get together with everyone but those times that we are able to meet are always so much fun. I feel like myself again. 

We also have some more friends coming into town today! Its getting busy over here! They are traveling from Fort Worth and bringing Jack, their 22 month old son. Delilah and Jack don't know this yet, but they are destined to be the cutest couple. We have a friend we went to college with graduating from the Austin Police Academy, so we will all be going to see him graduate. Congratulations Officer Danny!

The graduation just happens to be at 7. Which is usually Delilah's bath time. Which is then followed by bed time. It is a 2 hour graduation. Please, keep us in your thoughts ;)

In other Spring News:

Delilah's grandparents bought her a little slide and she was so excited when she saw it! I am not sure why, but there are millions of those damn mosquito hawks (that is what we call those big, annoying, long legged things) everywhere! We have to hurry up and close the door when we come into the house, otherwise 5 will be let in to meet their death. So, while Byron was putting the slide together, Delilah was being swarmed by those things, and she kept saying "No! No, rurrerfly!" I felt bad for the kid, and I wish is was that easy to get them to go away! Only a few more months until the real mosquitos get here, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining.

She was sitting on the slide and kept saying "Its stuck." 

Guess what happened next? Delilah looked over at me and said "Mommy, foot. Mommy, step. Mommy slide."

I couldn't say no. Almost got stuck. Hips are wider than the slide. But somehow managed to "slide" down. We had one happy girl.

Oh, and you better bet she spilled an entire bottle of bubbles down that slide. Yep.

Side note: I am so excited about Easter! We already have all of Delilah's presents for her basket, we just have to get some eggs and candy. 

I hope everyone has a great day! Sorry about this random post, so many thoughts, such little time!

xoxo

Spring Break Day 4

Well, poor Delilah is in culture shock now that the house is empty. I tried to keep her mind off not having "Rylan, Rylee, and Gonny" here, so went shopping for flowers and some shorts for myself!

We went to Whole Foods for lunch, which was great, until.... Whole Foods Meltdown of 2015. Holy shit. It's all fun and games until another kid wants to play in the car on the playground. We quickly left and Delilah fell asleep and I questioned my decision to push on to that last stop and regained my pride once we got home.

I tried getting my little well behaved angel to take a nap once we got home. Failed. So we went to the local flower shop and Home Depot to pick up soil. 

My little helper watched very diligently as I started putting dirt in the pots. She blew spilled most of her bubbles, then got in on the action. 

Then I got the hose out. She. Was. Amazed. She said water about 561 times, and I am convinced she thought she was making the water come out. She said, "bye-bye wader" and I shut it off. It was a magical moment for her ;)

This has been such a great week. I am really looking forward to the summer time and watching Delilah run around naked in a diaper and soaking up everything the summer has to offer!

xoxoxo

Spring Break Day 3 - bubbles, bubbles, more bubbles

We have got a bubble lover over here. If Delilah said "bubbles" one time, she said it 1,238 times. I am going to have to buy a super pack for the summer time, since more bubbles actually end up on the floor than in their lovely, iridescent final form.

Bubbles, are now also our new form of motivation. Bribe, motivator, whatever you want to call it :)

Believe it or not, she can actually blow them, and it is so cute to watch! A mess, but cute. She really loves wearing anything that she can twirl in, and when I got home from the dentist, my Mom had her in this little slip. 

My crazy sweet little prairie girl.

Welcome to Delilah's Hair Salon

More bugs. 

Bubble time!

Sadly, my mom, niece, and nephew are leaving tomorrow. I am not sure what Delilah is going to do. They have been entertaining her and keeping her going! We will miss you Ryan and Rylee :) And Granny of course.

We are having friends come into town Friday and then a birthday party on Sunday, so we will still have plenty to do before this Spring Break is over and we are back to reality. 

I hope you all have a great day!

xoxox